33 Oregon Artists Receive $102,011 In Career Opportunity Program Grant Awards From The Oregon Arts Commission And The Ford Family Foundation (Photo) -06/10/22

Salem, Oregon – In the second and final round of FY2022 Career Opportunity Program grant awards, the Oregon Arts Commission and The Ford Family Foundation have awarded $102,011 to 33 artists for career development projects. The awards include $47,350 from the Oregon Arts Commission for all artistic disciplines and $54,666 in supplemental funding for 17 established visual artists through a partnership with The Ford Family Foundation’s Visual Arts Program. Individual grants range from $800 to $9,500.

Career Opportunity Grants support individual Oregon artists by enabling them to take advantage of timely opportunities that enhance their artistic careers. Most grants support the artists’ participation in residencies, exhibitions or performance opportunities.

“This grant program invests in the career growth of talented Oregon artists,” said Arts Commission Chair Jenny Green, who led the review panel. “That support is critical now as artists continue to rebuild from losses related to the pandemic.”

The Ford Family Foundation funds are available to established Oregon visual artists who are producing new work in the fields of contemporary art and craft. 

"These awards allow artists to seize key opportunities in their careers. Even one exhibition or residency has the possibility of unlocking a new path, technique or business relationship that can alter an artist’s future in a significant way,” said Anne C. Kubisch, president of The Ford Family Foundation. “The Foundation is pleased to play a part in that."

FY2022 Career Opportunity Program grant award recipients are:

Samsam Abdi, Portland

Oregon Arts Commission $2,000 

To support the Somali community in the preservation of the Somali culture and language for children and youth through the creation of a three-episode film series as part of Open Signal’s 2022 Winter Project Based Cohort. The project will begin in the winter of 2022 and continue into spring 2023.

Ashlin Aronin, Portland

Oregon Arts Commission $1,400     

To support Aronin’s participation in the Arctic Circle residency at sea in the waters near Svalbard, Norway Oct. 1-18, 2022.

Claire Barrera, Portland

Oregon Arts Commission $1,226

To support a collaborative research residency at Greywood Arts in Cork, Ireland in July 2022.

Ian Clark, La Grande

Oregon Arts Commission $1,372

To support travel and production equipment rentals for Clark’s cinematographer role on the independent feature-length film “Snake 2 Bowl,” scheduled to begin production in June 2022 in Tacoma, Washington.

Lindsay Clark, Portland

Oregon Arts Commission $1,800

To support a European tour to promote Clark’s new album, “Carpe Noctem,” set for release on June 24. The September/October tour will include the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.

Birch Cooper, Portland

Oregon Arts Commission $1,400

The Ford Family Foundation $600

To support Cooper’s creation of a new interactive sound and sculpture installation to be developed at the Titanik residency in Finland and exhibited in Centrum Experimentálního Divadla (CED) in Brno, Czech Republic, later this year.

Michael Crenshaw, Portland

Oregon Arts Commission $2,000

To support Crenshaw’s travel to and participation in an international Hip Hop festival in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, June 20-26. The funding will support vaccinations, accommodations and food.

Larry Cwik, Portland

Oregon Arts Commission $2,000

The Ford Family Foundation $1,739

To support a September 40-year retrospective exhibit of the project “The Visitor, Walking 1000 Miles through Mexico,” at the Multnomah Arts Center in Portland, including 20 large framed photographic works, a poetry reading, a related short film on DVD loop and a catalog of the project.

Roland Dahwen Wu, Portland

Oregon Arts Commission $1,400

To support developing and hand-processing Dahwen Wu’s analog film stock (8mm and 16mm) to further the artist’s film practice.

Liza Faktor, Portland

The Ford Family Foundation $3,500

To support the publication of “Cadence,” Faktor’s first monograph – to be released internationally by Schilt Publishing in spring 2023 – and an accompanying exhibition in Schilt Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands in April and May 2023.

Ethan Gans-Morse, Phoenix

Oregon Arts Commission $1,344

To support Gans-Morse’s participation as a Composer Fellow in the N.E.O. Voice Festival in Los Angeles from June 25 through July 3. The Festival takes place at the First Congregational Church, one of the oldest churches on the West Coast with one of the largest pipe organs in the world.

rubén garcía marrufo, Portland

Oregon Arts Commission $1,390

The Ford Family Foundation $4,500

To support Marrufo’s solo exhibit "the hole in things" at Ditch Projects in October, including the purchase of spotlights, space modifications, travel and lodging.

Damien Gilley, Portland

Oregon Arts Commission $1,444

To support Gilley’s creation of a new artwork in Berlin and its display at the Tape Art Convention 2022.

Bean Gilsdorf, Portland

Oregon Arts Commission $1,390

To support Gilsdorf’s September invitational residency at lower cavity in Holyoke, Massachusetts, where the artist will produce fabric cyanotypes and a sculptural installation that explores labor history in the context of textile manufacturing.

Makino Hayashi, Milwaukie

Oregon Arts Commission $1,500

To support the creation of Hayashi’s new choreographic work for Artists Climate Collective's 2022 film in Portland in May and June.

Sandra Honda, Eugene

Oregon Arts Commission $2,000

To support Honda’s preparation, finishing and transport of three artworks for a three-person exhibition at The Patricia Reser Center for the Arts in Beaverton from June 21 to Aug. 7.

Eien Hunter-Ishikawa, Portland

Oregon Arts Commission $2,000

To support Hunter-Ishikawa’s ongoing study of Edo Kotobuki Jishi (traditional celebratory lion dance of Tokyo) under Kyosuke Suzuki, an integral member of Wakayama Shachu (nationally recognized Important Intangible Cultural Asset in Folk Arts).

Erinn Kathryn, Portland

Oregon Arts Commission $2,000

To support Kathryn’s advancement and exploration of new media and techniques in fabricating/casting three-dimensional works at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in summer 2022.

Richard Keis, Corvallis

Oregon Arts Commission $1,800

The Ford Family Foundation $4,500

To support Keis’ preparation and framing of photographs to be exhibited in the Chehalem Cultural Center in October, as well as the publishing of “Livelihoods,” an accompanying book featuring portraits of artisans and workers in Oaxaca and written stories of those photographed in English and Spanish.

Kate Kerrigan, Redmond

Oregon Arts Commission $1,400

The Ford Family Foundation $4,500

To support the debut of Kerrigan’s collaborative nationwide mosaic art project, “Piecing Us Together,” at the joint Society of American Mosaic Artists and Stained Glass Association of America’s conference to be held June 27-30 in Toledo, Ohio.

Anya Kivarkis, Eugene

Oregon Arts Commission $2,000

The Ford Family Foundation $7,500

To support the production of Kivarkis’ mid-career catalogue with essays in conjunction with an upcoming solo exhibition at Sienna Patti Gallery in Massachusetts in October.

Jason Langer, Portland

Oregon Arts Commission $2,000

The Ford Family Foundation $5,750

To support the publication of a book and traveling exhibition of photographs of Langer’s  experience growing up Jewish in Israel and photographing scars of the Holocaust in Berlin. The publication date is set for November and exhibition opportunities with Jewish museums are in spring 2023.

maximiliano martinez, Portland

The Ford Family Foundation $800

To support the artist’s two-week glass making residency at Yucca Valley Material Lab in California to learn about and experiment with glass and glassworking practices.

Emily Miller, Forest Grove

Oregon Arts Commission $1,793

The Ford Family Foundation $3,159

To support Miller’s travel for the creation of a video and sculptures centered on the artist’s grief process following the COVID-19 deaths of her grandparents. The artwork will be featured in a solo exhibition at Hillsboro Civic Center in May 2023.

M. V. Moran, Eugene

The Ford Family Foundation $2,000

To support the creation of a mural for Twin Oaks Elementary School in Eugene. The mural will be painted from August to October 2022. Students will participate with the artist and her assistant in the creation of the mural.

Ricardo Nagaoka, Portland

Oregon Arts Commission $2,000

The Ford Family Foundation $4,000

To support Nagaoka’s first solo show in the U.S. at Melanie Flood Projects, to be curated by Yaelle Amir. The show will showcase a body of work that examines Asian masculinity and patriarchal structure and will run from June 25 to July 23 with artist talks and performances throughout the month.

Jennifer Perrine, Portland

Oregon Arts Commission $1,191

To support Perrine’s travel to Orcas Island, Washington, June 2-5 for a poetry reading at the Orcas Island Lit Fest and participation in the festival events.

Mami Takahashi, Portland

Oregon Arts Commission $2,000

The Ford Family Foundation $1,500

To support travel and lodging for Takahashi’s upcoming solo exhibition in Chicago at the end of September.

Laura Vandenburgh, Springfield

Oregon Arts Commission $1,500

The Ford Family Foundation $2,100

To support the creation and installation of Vandenburgh’s invited site-specific project, “Superorganism,” as part of the Trans-species exhibition at the European Cultural Center in conjunction with the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale.

Elise Wagner, Portland

Oregon Arts Commission $2,000

The Ford Family Foundation $5,000

To support Wagner’s first solo exhibition at Imogen Gallery in Astoria in September.

Samantha Wall, Portland

Oregon Arts Commission $2,000

The Ford Family Foundation $948

To support the framing and crating of artwork for a group exhibition June 26-Aug. 7 in the Fowler-Kellogg Art Center at the Chautauqua Institution in New York.

Sarah Wertzberger, Portland

The Ford Family Foundation $2,565

To support Wertzberger’s creation of woven material at The Weaving Mill in Chicago in May and June. The yardage is intended to become many individual artworks for which the artist will apply experimental post processes such as dye sublimation onto poly.

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The Oregon Arts Commission provides leadership, funding and arts programs through its grants, services, and special initiatives. The Arts Commission is supported with general funds appropriated by the Oregon legislature and with federal funds from the National Endowment for the Arts as well as funds from the Oregon Cultural Trust.