Community-Centered Process Launches To Identify Next Steward For Albina Arts Center; Facilitated By Black-owned Try Excellence, Process Involves Dozens Of Community Leaders (Photo) -03/23/22
For Immediate Release
Media Contact:
Stephanie Swanson, Vice President of Communications, Oregon Community Foundation
(503) 227-6846 | sswanson@oregoncf.org
Community-Centered Process Launches to Identify Next Steward for Albina Arts Center
Facilitated by Black-owned Try Excellence, process involves dozens of community leaders
Portland, Ore. – March 23, 2022 – Oregon Community Foundation announced the commencement of a community-centered process to identify the next steward for the Albina Arts Center, a process that will be informed by historic Albina community stakeholders, including Black business owners and community leaders as well as arts advocates.
“This is an opportunity for philanthropy to do things differently, to employ an intentional, community-led process that will center Black voices,” said Marcy Bradley, Vice President for Equity and Culture at Oregon Community Foundation and lead for guiding the Albina Arts Center project on behalf of the Foundation. “This is a potential model for others who own buildings in this city to also acknowledge that Portland’s Black community deserves to reclaim spaces they were forced out of by displacement. We need more of this type of purposeful approach because it can finally contribute to the community’s long-overdue healing and restoration.”
The community-centered process to select a new owner will be facilitated by Try Excellence, a Black-owned consulting company specializing in community engagement, leadership and organizational development and diversity, equity and inclusion work. Ericka Warren will lead the Try Excellence Project team and serve as a community engagement consultant and facilitator for the process and will participate in a community-centered, strategic visioning and planning effort to promote a collective vision for the future of the Albina Arts Center building.
“This process has to be inclusive and equitable,” said Ericka Warren of Try Excellence. Ms. Warren is serving as a community engagement consultant and the facilitator for the Albina Arts Center visioning process. “There are so many Black community-based organizations doing good work. And all of us should have an opportunity to say how this building is best served. My hope is that the community would feel empowered and valued in a space where everyone can have a voice. It is our collaborative work now that will lead the way for generations afterward.”
Try Excellence anticipates working with 20 to 30 community members who will join the Albina Arts Center Visioning Committee and create a process to identify and recommend a nonprofit organization that will be granted ownership of the Albina Arts Center, a significant and historic cultural hub for Portland’s Black community. Albina Arts Center Visioning Committee members will be drawn from the business, nonprofit and cultural sectors, many with strong ties to the historic Albina community.
Following the community-centered visioning process, the Albina Arts Center Visioning Committee will help develop key elements of a Request for Proposals (RFP) for potential building stewards, drawn from the area’s nonprofit organizations. The entire process is expected to culminate in Fall 2022 with the selection of a new nonprofit owner.
Background
Located at the corner of NE Williams and NE Killingsworth (8-18 NE Killingsworth St/5412 North Williams Avenue), the Albina Arts Center is a one-story, brick building that has been an important symbol of Portland’s Black community over six decades. Used as a community hub, arts center, and meeting place, the Albina Arts Center was formed to provide space for the development of cultural and intellectual resources for the historic Albina community.
In 2016, in connection with litigation brought by the Oregon Department of Justice, a court-appointed receiver approached Oregon Community Foundation to serve in a temporary administrative capacity for the Albina Arts Center.
For More Information
Questions or comments from the public about the Albina Arts Center during the visioning and RFP processes should be emailed to: AlbinaArtsCenterConversation@oregoncf.org.
To learn more, please visit: https://oregoncf.org/albina-arts-center-conversation.
About Try Excellence
Try Excellence is a consulting and community engagement firm that specializes in solving the critical issues facing a variety of organizations and leaders throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington. Try Excellence provides equitable and innovative solutions that evaluate an organization’s policies and systems, challenging the pre-existing structures, and establishing a more inclusive and human-centered culture. To learn more, please visit: https://www.tryxcellence.com/
About Oregon Community Foundation
Oregon Community Foundation (OCF) works with donors and volunteers to award grants and scholarships to every county in Oregon. From 2020 to 2021, OCF distributed more than $560 million, supporting more than 4,000 nonprofits and 6,000 students. With OCF, individuals, families, businesses, and organizations create charitable funds that meet the needs of diverse communities statewide. Since its founding in 1973, OCF has distributed more than $2 billion toward advancing its mission to improve lives for all Oregonians. For more information, please visit: oregoncf.org.
###
