01/19/2008

A Letter to the Arts Community

It is with great sadness that, after two incredible years, we must announce the closing of the Portland Art Center’s exhibition facility at NW 5th and Couch. We have been taking a long, hard look at the financial equation as it exists. Like many local non-profits, we find that the financial responsibilities necessary to continue the facility model of operations are huge. We had a tremendous response to our December fundraiser, and PAC was able to balance its 2007 budget. However, the funds needed to operate in 2008 are projected to far exceed those of the previous year. PAC requires an annual budget of at least $400,000 to operate our three large gallery spaces, a website and appropriate staff. We find that, despite our best efforts, this model is no longer feasible and we must shift our operations. The non-profit entity will continue, transforming into a project-based organization with a volunteer staff focused on our mission of building and fostering artist communities.

History
PAC was founded by Bryan Suereth and Gavin Shettler in the fall of 2002, with the dream of creating a contemporary art center that would provide alternative exhibition space and information resources. We wanted to create an organization that would directly serve the burgeoning arts community in Portland. Like many non-profits, we started with no financial backing - just ambition, grit, and the desire to make a positive impact on our city.

Our first great success was The Modern Zoo, an exhibition produced in St. John’s during the summer of 2003 with over 300 participating artists and 10,000 visitors. The response by artists and the public to this show demonstrated the huge demand for alternative visual arts programming in our city. PAC moved to its first space on SW Belmont in the winter of 2004. This small facility operated on the drive and passions of volunteers, artists, and an engaged board of directors. It was a bare bones space that could be funded directly by the board. We started both a membership program and a grant-writing program that began to see positive but modest results.

The Promise of a New Space
In 2005, PAC was approached by David Gold, a developer with a new building complex located in the heart of the city. Mr. Gold invited PAC to be the anchor tenant for the Goldsmith Building complex, providing us with a 10,000 square foot space and a landlord who was sympathetic to the difficulties of a non-profit and committed to providing below market rent. We believed that this ambitious leap of faith would be the first step in creating a real and lasting contemporary arts center for Portland. Our belief was founded on the idea that this risky move towards dynamic, large-scale exhibitions would attract the patronage and support and create a sustainable organization.

Indeed, financial support changed drastically with the move. Grants increased dramatically and our membership program expanded to cover 20% of our annual budget. The facility also provided a means of generating income through the rental of gallery space. After years of working various jobs, Shettler received his first paycheck as a full time employee of PAC in 2006. Kelly Rauer was paid marginally for her dedication, drive, and incredible skill. At times, she worked up to four other jobs while managing volunteers, exhibitions and press releases. In 2007, both finally received full time annual salaries, determined by the board.

The new facility provided space for up to six exhibitions to occur each month. Our first year drew an attendance of 15,000 and PAC established itself as a must-see stop on Portland’s First Thursday art walk. In the last two years, we mounted 72 exhibitions and welcomed over 40,000 visitors to our space. We provided opportunities for over 25 organizations and 700 local and regional artists, along with artists from Chicago, New York, L.A. and Paris. Artists at PAC exploited a freedom found at few other venues. John Mace poured six truckloads of sand through two floors of the building. Scott Wayne Indiana imbedded 39 axes in the ceiling. Blue Sky Gallery’s Grid Project showed 3,000 photographs by 25 artists. J.D. Perkins and Anne Thompson created a huge site-specific sculpture with 6,000 earplugs, 11,000 cigarette butts, 865 beer cans, 1,000 pounds of clay and a myriad of other materials.

The Portland Art Center’s mission has always consisted of two parts: in addition to a facility to house alternative exhibitions, we envisioned a resource center that would function as an information and communication hub for the contemporary arts. To this end, PAC produced the first Guide to the Visual Arts in Portland in 2006. This innovative guide map listed all exhibition spaces in the city free of charge. The first publication of 20,000 copies included 180 listings. Our second Guide to the Visual Arts was produced with 25,000 copies and 205 venues listed. PAC teamed up with city commissioner Sam Adams to develop the region’s first web-based, open-source, comprehensive arts calendar that will connect all of the contemporary arts community and provide a new level of public accessibility. With the help of the commissioner’s office, we wrote four grants and raised $30,000 in 2007. Over 300 programming hours have been invested in this multi-functional site, which is scheduled to launch in April 2008. For a complete project update, please contact Jesse Beason of Commissioner Sam Adams’ office.

2007 has been a year of profound change for the organization. While funding for PAC increased, it was apparent that a new type of board was needed. We wanted to transition from our dedicated founders to new board members who held a higher level of financial, professional and non-profit experience. As a step towards accomplishing this goal, we reached out to key artists with deep networks in the arts and business community, with the goal of creating a board culture that would have the capacity to sustain PAC. Those who served did so with great commitment and sacrifice but the goal of attracting strong community leaders to the board did not materialize.

A Shift of Focus
It saddens us deeply to close our doors and to cancel all of the incredible programming in place for 2008 and beyond. Despite all of PAC’s successes, it has been very difficult to create the infrastructure that a facility like 5th and Couch needs. Over the past two years, we have worked tirelessly. With the help of volunteers and interns, we were able to do the work of six full time employees. Unfortunately, we have exceeded our capacity to maintain this large facility. After close and painful scrutiny, we have come to the conclusion that the necessary staff and support are still too far off. We simply needed more time. Within the next year, we were on target to receive several large grants, to hire additional staff members and to build our contributor base. Our December fundraiser demonstrated a high level of community support. However, we still lacked the high-level individual donors and experienced board that would buy us more time and pave the road toward financial stability.
PAC will evolve into its next stage. First we plan to finish the website project, implementing and maintaining its operation. Along with the current board we will reassess our role in the community to determine how we can best serve. Freed from the constraints of managing a large facility, we are shifting to a flexible, project-based organization. We open the future to our primary mission - providing resources and mounting innovative exhibitions.

A special thanks goes out to the many organizations and individuals who have supported us over the years. We must thank all of the board members, the incredible artists, volunteers and interns have worked so hard to make this facility a reality. The dream of a contemporary art center in Portland is one we have all shared.



With kind regards,

Portland Art Center
Gavin Shettler
Executive Director
Kelly Rauer
Director of Programs
And Board Members Seth Nehil and Rhoda London

The following artists were programmed for 2008. A thank you to all of them for their hard work and dedication.
Agustina Woodgate
Ben Hirschkoff
Allan Bailey
Jason Frank & Andy Brown
David R. McMillen
Gary Wiseman
James O’Keefe
Heidi Schwegler & Jason Loeffler
Susan Murrell
Anna & Leo Daedalus
W+K 12
Rhoda London
Carolyn Hopkins
Mary Rachel Fanning
OSU BA Students
Noah Nakell
Jacqueline Gordon
OCAC BA Students
Kristine Marx
PNCA Masters
Mary Magsamen & Stephan Hillerbrand
PSU Masters
Vanessa Renwick & Stephanie Snyder - Swap Meet
Hilary Pfeifer
Diane Jacobs
TJ Norris
Working Artists LLC
Daniel Kaven
PICA
Dan Gilsdorf
Chad Stayrook
Stephen Slappe
The Refrigerator Project