Last Thursday Politics
[ No Comments ] Posted on 08.18.08 under Last Thursday
Art on the street at Last Thursday
The August 14th in PORTLAND Oregonian insert gave some important coverage on the scale of the recent Last Thursday events on Alberta. Not only did the article acknowledge the size of the crowds and the logistic problems that have evolve with the monthly festival, the political implications were touched on. Public comment from the Portland Police, TriMet, neighborhood businesses, black community groups and mayor-elect Sam Adams all shared space in the article.
Adams, the Police, and TriMet are all on the record with positions of co-operation and support for the event and the thousands of enthusiastic participants. However, some businesses and the black community feel that their voices and opinions have been left out of the discussion. The biggest concern by all involve is with the injection of alcohol into the mix from the many watering holes that line the street and see grand profits from the huge crowd that flock to the event.
This level of attention serves as a clear indication that Last Thursday has evolved into much more than the intimate little art walk in the funky little alternative art district that began over ten years ago. I suggest that this increasingly organized monthly Mardi Gras has become a lightning rod for a discussion on how we create synergies between community and our diverse local art scene.
The evolution of the event offers proof of a significant portion of the population want to make art and culture available to the largest possible local audience; quality cultural opportunities that avoid the opulent pretense of the mainstream gallery scene.
The natural course of events on Alberta seems to be making room for these kind of opportunities as a central issue in the discussions about our local art scene. The critics tend to pan the quality and consistency of the art seen on the street, yet the event offers an entry point for people who aren’t comfortable with the glitz of the traditional “white cube galleries”. How easily we forget that many of those who find their first strong connections with art on the street eventually move on to the more traditional venues.
Last Thursday Journal
[ 1 Comment ] Posted on 08.06.08 under Last Thursday
Last Thursday Happening 7/26/08
I love doing Last Thursday on Alberta. During the summer months, it’s like a monthly Mardi Gras of Carnival with a 60’s hippy ambiance. The July edition of this very Portland experience was a particularly intense happening with a crowd so large the traffic was cut off from 30th all the way down to 11th.
Cyclists in clown make-up and garb guided the few drivers brave enough or stupid enough to attempt driviving through the dense wall of meandering bodies. The message was “if you’re dumb enough to drive through the festivities, you get a healthy dose of humiliation”. It wasn’t malicious, but pointedly instructive in a good natured “love and peace” kind of way.
The sidewalks were crammed with artists, food carts, people selling imported craft work; restaurants, bars, and cafes filled to capacity; tattoos and pierced body parts everywhere. I guess there were at least 10,000 people on the street that night; it was that biggest turnout I’ve ever seen.
I spotted Kevin Kadar, one of my long time favorite artists, talking to an artist on the street who was showing the most amazing portraits. Alexandria Becker-Black has been hawking her hauntingly delicate and free flowing watercolor portraits and figurative works on the street for the past year. Direct sales from a street booth offers one of the few outlets available while she tries figure out how to get into quality galleries that can sell her work. Kevin offered support and encouragement as he gave her a laundry list of the necessary skills and attributes she will need to cultivate on the path to gallery representation.
Owners of a number of restaurants and cafes on Alberta commented that this was one of profitable single days in the history of their businesses. Many artists had similar comments as money changed hand throughout the evening.
There were police on the street and complaints from a few businesses about the loosely organized effort to cut off traffic. However, there were no arrests and a chaotic order seemed to dominate the festival atmosphere. Several people I talked to expressed the same feelings I had about the experience. This was something unique and very different from any other happening we could remember; an event of intense spontaneity and unbridled freedom, yet mildly tempered. I felt like I was back in the late sixties only surrounded with much better art.
The experience validated my conviction that the emerging art scene in Portland has taken on a life of its own separate from the traditional gallery scene and the establishment arts institutions. This is an art scene for the people; for artists and collectors. A cultural oassis for anyone with a love for unique, beautiful, and meaningfully creative expressions.
The night of July 26, 2008 on Alberta Street the people gently pushed aside the art establishment and laid claim to a scene of their own making; a scene devoid of any pretense or hype. The night was about the art and the individual experience of a collective response to one special moment.