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23/1/2013

We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live

Museum of Contemporary Craft - MoCC, Portland

Curated by Cassandra Coblentz

Portland, OR – December 5, 2012 – The Museum of Contemporary Craft in partnership with Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) presents a survey exhibition showcasing the work of the recipients of the first nine Hallie Ford Fellowships in the Visual Arts, awarded 2010-2012. Opening January 24, 2013 and running through April 27, 2013, We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live fills the galleries at the Museum with work by nine accomplished Oregon artists. Curated by independent curator Cassandra Coblentz for Museum of Contemporary Craft, We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live is presented by The Ford Family Foundation, along with the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF), National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and the Oregon Arts Commission (OAC). Additional support is provided by Maribeth Collins, the Rose E. Tucker Charitable Trust, and the Ed Cauduro Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation.

“Museum of Contemporary Craft is honored to host this inaugural exhibition of work by the Ford Fellows,” says Director and Chief Curator, Namita Gupta Wiggers. “The Hallie Ford Fellowship in the Visual Arts not only makes a difference in the lives of significant Oregon visual artists, it also more broadly supports the sustainability of culture in the region. Both the Museum and PNCA have had relationships with many of these artists, and we’re delighted to welcome them back. We are thrilled that the exhibition will travel both in and outside of the state, too.”

The exhibition and accompanying catalogue recognize the recipients of the Hallie Ford Fellowship in the Visual Arts since the award’s inception three years ago: 2010 Fellows Daniel Duford, David Eckard, and Heidi Schwegler; 2011 Fellows Sang-ah Choi, Bruce Conkle, and Stephen Hayes; and the 2012 Fellows Ellen Lesperance, Akihiko Miyoshi, and Michelle Ross. Focused on these mid-career visual artists who demonstrate a depth of practice and potential for significant future accomplishment, We Tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live provides a glimpse into the work of nine distinguished Oregon-based artists who have and continue to make remarkable contributions to the region’s cultural landscape. The exhibition contains both past and new work by the Fellows as of means to demonstrate both a range of their talent and the progress they have made as they pursue their art as both a career and a personal passion. The fellowships honor the late Hallie Ford, co-founder of The Ford Family Foundation, Roseburg, Oregon, who was a life-long supporter of the visual arts and believed that all people should have the opportunity to explore and realize their talents. Each Hallie Ford Fellow is awarded $25,000 in unrestricted funds to pursue their creative passion and, thereby, enrich and enliven the cultural life of Oregon.

Taking its title from a passage of writing in Joan Didion’s 1979 essay “The White Album,” guest curator Cassandra Coblentz employs Didion’s text as an evocative lens through which to view the diverse body of artwork produced by the nine exhibiting artists. Coblentz explains that the, “range of media included in this exhibition demonstrates the vitality of the art scene I discovered in this community. That this exhibition of contemporary art originates at Museum of Contemporary Craft further supports a democratic turn in the contemporary art world. From video and digital photography, to oil painting, drawing, and sculpture, to ceramics and knitting, these artists all value craftsmanship and the hand of the artist. They regard their individual choice of media as the most effective way to express the crux of their ideas and they take great responsibility for excelling at their craft. This shift away from outmoded hierarchies of artistic media tells us something about the times we are living in. We are a dynamic culture that values the handcrafted alongside the digital as equally vital and necessary. Through this lens, we are in fact able to notice and learn more about this often times perplexing world in which we live.”

Norman J. Smith, President of The Ford Family Foundation, notes, “We are pleased to support this inaugural exhibition to honor the Hallie Ford Fellows for their commitment to a life of art. These Fellows are pioneering new methods of art practice, each with a distinctive voice and personal vision for their work. Of them we expect great things to come. They are the standard bearers who have set the creative bar at a very high level for future Hallie Ford Fellows.

“Equally important to us is to share their work more broadly in and outside of Oregon so that more people become exposed to the high caliber of artistic endeavor by Oregon visual artists. Therefore, we are extremely pleased that the exhibition will travel as far south as Nevada and as far north as Alaska.”

EXHIBITION PROGRAMMING

Curatorial Walk-through
Friday, January 25, 2013, 2-3 pm

Panel Discussions in the Lab
2010 Fellows: Daniel Duford, Heidi Schwegler, David Eckard
Tuesday, January 29, 6:30 pm

2011 Fellows: Bruce Conkle, Stephen Hayes, Sang-Ah Choi
Tuesday, February 5, 6:30 pm

2012 Fellows: Michelle Ross, Ellen Lesperance, Akihiko Miyoshi
Tuesday, February 12, 6:30 pm

Curator’s Lecture with Cassandra Coblentz
Thursday April 18, 6:30 pm

ABOUT CASSANDRA COBLENTZ
Cassandra Coblentz’s curatorial practice focuses on innovative approaches to engaging audiences and community as well as on producing new work with artists. Most recently she has been a curator at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA). Her current projects with SMoCA include: economy of means: toward humility in contemporary sculpture and managing the production of a publication for a mid-career survey of the work of Julianne Swartz. She initiated SMoCA’s Architecture+ Art program which explores the boundaries between architecture and art, producing large scale site-specific commissions with Annie Han and Daniel Mihalyo of Lead Pencil Studio, as well as with Jay Atherton and Cy Keener of Atherton|Keener. Among the many exhibitions she curated at SMoCA are Kirsten Everberg: Looking for Edendale, Jean Shin and Brian Ripple: Unlocking, Looking Through the Other End of a Telescope, Seriously Funny, Pae White: Lisa Bright & Dark, and Lyle Ashton Harris: Blow Up. Her professional experience also includes Head of Academic Initiatives at the UCLA Hammer Museum and working in the education departments of the DIA Center for the Arts in New York and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. She received her BA in Art History and English from Cornell University and her MA from The Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College.

ABOUT THE FORD FAMILY FOUNDATION
The Ford Family Foundation was established in 1957 by Kenneth W. and Hallie E. Ford. Its Mission is promoting “successful citizens and vital rural communities” in Oregon and in Siskiyou County, California. The Foundation is located in Roseburg, Oregon, with a scholarship office in Eugene. The Foundation’s seven-prong Visual Arts Program, launched in 2010, provides resources to support artists Fellowships; artists residencies in Oregon and out-of-state; exhibitions and documentation of Oregon visual artists’ work; small capital projects to Oregon visual arts institutions to enhance exhibition, studio and collection storage space; individual grants to fund unanticipated opportunities to pursue or showcase artists’ work; and ongoing critic/curator tours to provide feedback to Oregon artists and participate in community dialogue. For more information about the Foundation please visit tfff.org.

ABOUT MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY CRAFT
Committed to the advancement of craft since 1937, Museum of Contemporary Craft in partnership with Pacific Northwest College of Art is one of Oregon’s oldest cultural institutions. Centrally located in Portland’s Pearl District, the Museum is nationally acclaimed for its curatorial program and is a vibrant center for investigation and dialogue, expanding the definition of craft and the way audiences experience it. For more information about the Museum please visit museumofcontemporarycraft.org.

ABOUT PACIFIC NORTHWEST COLLEGE OF ART
As Oregon’s flagship college of art and design since 1909, Pacific Northwest College of Art has helped shape Oregon’s visual arts landscape for more than a century. PNCA students study with award-winning faculty in small classes. In the last seven years, PNCA has doubled both the student body and full-time faculty, quadrupled its endowment, and added innovative undergraduate and graduate programs. PNCA is now embarking on its boldest venture yet by establishing the Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Center for Art and Design as an anchor for the College’s vision of a new campus home on Portland’s North Park Blocks. Focusing on the transformative power of creativity, the capital campaign, Creativity Works Here, was launched in June 2012 with a lead gift from The Harold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation of $5 million. PNCA’s new home will be a bustling hub for creativity and entrepreneurship, reflecting the influential role of art and design in our 21st century economy – both in Portland and beyond. For more information, visit pnca.edu.

Media Contact
For media inquiries and access to high resolution images, please contact: Lisa Radon, Communications Specialist, Pacific Northwest College of Art, lradon@pnca.edu | 971.255.5528

Museum of Contemporary Craft
724 Northwest Davis Street - Portland, OR 97209
Hours
Tuesday through Saturday 11 am to 6 pm
Closed Sunday and Monday
Open 11 am to 8 pm with free admission the first Thursday of every month
Open 11 am to 2 pm Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve
Closed Independence Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day

Admission
General: $4
Students (13+): $3
Seniors (62+): $3
Free admission to:
Children 12 and under
Pacific Northwest College of Art faculty, staff and students
Museum of Contemporary Craft members
Advance reservations are required for groups of 15 or more persons. Special admission rates apply. Please go to our group visits page for more information.

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