Portland Institute for Contemporary Art facts for kids
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| Established | 1995 |
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| Location | 15 NE Hancock St, Portland, Oregon, USA |
The Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA) is a cool place in Portland, Oregon, where you can see amazing live shows and artworks. It was started in 1995 by Kristy Edmunds.
Every September since 2003, PICA has hosted the exciting Time-Based Art Festival (TBA). This festival brings together modern and experimental art, including dance, theater, films, music, and educational programs. Artists from Portland, across the U.S., and around the world share their work. As of 2023, Reuben Roqueñi is the Executive Director, and Erin Boberg Doughton and Kristan Kennedy are the Artistic Directors.
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PICA's Story
PICA was founded in 1995 by Kristy Edmunds. At that time, she was in charge of the "Art on the Edge" program at the Portland Art Museum. PICA's early art shows and performances often took place in different empty buildings or rented spaces all over Portland. They didn't have just one main gallery or theater.
Most of PICA's performances were part of their yearly performance seasons. They did this for seven years before starting the Time-Based Art Festival in 2003. A fun event during this time was the annual costume party fundraiser called the Dada Ball. It happened from 1996 to 2001 in various empty spaces across the city.
PICA's offices were first located at Boora Architects until about 2001. Then, they moved to the headquarters of Wieden+Kennedy in Northwest Portland. PICA stayed there until 2012. They also had an extra 2,200 square feet of exhibition space in that building until 2004.
In September 2003, PICA began its yearly Time-Based Art Festival. This ten-day international festival focuses on modern performance and visual art. It was inspired by similar festivals in places like Edinburgh. The TBA Festival continued PICA's idea of using many different places around the city. These included spots like the old Washington High School building, which later became Revolution Hall.
In 2012, PICA moved to a rented space on Southwest 10th Avenue. This new location allowed their offices and library to also be used as a gallery and performance area when needed.
On April 19, 2016, PICA announced exciting news! They received a 20-year, no-rent lease for a 16,000 square foot building. This gift came from donor Allie Furlotti and the Calligram Foundation. The building is located along the North Williams Avenue corridor. In September 2016, PICA started using this new space as a box office, performance venue, and gallery for their 2016 TBA Festival. They kept their downtown Portland offices for a while longer. In November 2017, PICA's main offices also moved to the newly renovated Northeast Portland space.
Who Leads PICA?
Kristy Edmunds, who started PICA, left in 2005. She became the artistic director for the Melbourne International Arts Festival. She is now the Director at MASS MoCA in Massachusetts.
From 2006 to 2011, Mark Russell and Cathy Edwards were guest artistic directors for PICA. Victoria Frey became PICA’s Executive Director in 2004. She helped PICA grow a lot and go through many changes. Under her leadership, PICA showed thousands of artists from all over the world. They also found a permanent home in Northeast Portland and built strong relationships with artists, audiences, and partners.
Angela Mattox, who used to be a performing arts curator, was hired as PICA's permanent artistic director in 2011. Mattox left PICA in 2017 after that year's Time-Based Art Festival.
On November 28, 2017, PICA announced that three long-time staff members would become the new Artistic Directors. They were Roya Amirsoleymani, Erin Boberg Doughton, and Kristan Kennedy. In 2023, Reuben Roqueñi was named Executive Director. He had worked in arts philanthropy for almost 20 years before joining PICA.
What PICA Offers
PICA presents many different types of art and programs.
Live Performances
PICA has shown works by famous performance artists and musicians. Some of these include Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, Karen Finley, Spalding Gray, Marina Abramović, Miranda July, Mike Daisey, and Reggie Watts.
Since it began, PICA has offered both performances and art exhibitions. They also host educational events like talks, public discussions, and workshops led by artists. Their first performance series ran from 1995 to 1996. PICA stopped its regular seasonal performances when the Time-Based Art Festival started in 2003. However, they still present some performances at other times of the year.
Visual Art Shows
PICA has shown art by visual artists like William Pope.L, Matthew Day Jackson, Francis Alÿs, Emily Roysdon, A.L. Steiner, Erika Vogt, Abigail DeVille, and Carlos Motta. Since 2005, PICA's visual art programs have been chosen by Kristan Kennedy.
Just like with performances, PICA didn't have one main exhibition space for most of its history. From 2000 to 2004, PICA did run a year-round gallery. It was in a part of the Wieden+Kennedy Building in Northwest Portland's Pearl District. During that time, art curator Stuart Horodner showed work from artists like Janine Antoni, Dana Schutz, and Melanie Manchot in the space. Horodner left PICA in 2004.
The Time-Based Art Festival has included visual art since 2006. This is part of its "On Sight" program. On Sight exhibitions often feature performance-based art or other unique visual art forms, not just traditional gallery displays. These art projects are usually shown for two to four weeks after the TBA Festival ends each year. For example, in 2016, the "On Sight" exhibition was called "Makeup on Empty Space." It included video art by A.K. Burns, a performance by Keijaun Thomas, another performance by Dylan Mira, and an exhibition that also became an artist residency by Bunny Brains.
Learning and Community Programs
PICA offers many educational and public programs. These often go along with their art shows but sometimes happen on their own. As part of the yearly TBA Festival, PICA has a program called the "Institute." This program brings festival artists, guest experts, and writers together to talk about art. Institute programs include workshops, discussions, panels, and lectures. Since 2013, they have also had the "Field Guide" series. In this series, experts lead workshops and talks with the public about a specific performance or program.
Precipice Fund
In 2011, PICA announced that it received money from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. This money was used to create a special program called the Precipice Fund. This fund gives grants to small, artist-led visual art projects that might not get funding otherwise. PICA started giving out these grants in 2013. As of 2016, $225,000 had been given to 57 projects in the region over three grant periods.
Resource Room
Since 2000, PICA's offices have included a public library called the Resource Room. The PICA Resource Room has many art publications. It holds over 4,000 books and magazines. The Resource Room also collects video recordings from PICA's 20-year history of showing art. From 2012 to 2015, the Resource Room Residency gave artists a chance to work with the space and its collection of historical materials.
