It's common knowledge that while Portland can be a great place to live as an artist, it's not the most, um, affluent market for actually selling your art. Well here is one very consistent patron of the local arts: the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC).

Every year they put out the call to artists to submit for the year's annual acquisitions for their Visual Chronicle of Portland, a collection of over 300 works they've been amassing since 1985. Making regional art accessible to the community is one of RACC's core missions, so the collection lives in a rotation of public city and county buildings. The budget for this year is $10,000, and they're looking for "works on paper—prints, drawings, paintings on paper and photographs" that "documents, describes, or evokes areas, communities and issues that are under-represented... The bridges, the Rose Parade, Washington Park and other Portland icons, are all well cataloged, but the collection has fewer works that represent people and places that exist beyond downtown and outside of the mainstream."

If that sounds like your bag, you might consider getting some more in-depth info on the project and submission process: They're hosting an information session this evening at 5:30 at the RACC offices (411 NW Park Avenue, Suite 101, email to reserve a spot.) Even if you skip tonight's info sesh, don't wait around—submission deadline is coming right up on Monday, July 15 at 5 pm.

Get all Portland about it: a successful past submission.
  • Motoya Nakamura
  • Get all Portland about it: a successful past submission.