Pumpkin Regatta in Tualatin on October 31st

This is an open invitation to every one to join in for a
GIANT PUMPKIN PARTY!!!!
This is to occur in multiple parts.
1-Giant Pumpkin Regatta in Tualatin, this will be a spectator event. People race in giant pumpkins. It goes from 10 am to 2 pm on Saturday, October 31.
2-Sourcing and making our own pumpkin boats at some point in Nov.
3-Setting sail! Going on a paddling adventure...
4-Related talking and reading

In terms of planning, we'll start with the Regatta and go from there.

Hannah is developing this (very casually) as a pedagogy type project/practice.

She sites the catalyst for this project starting somewhere between Dan Attoe's class, Connie's raft, the canoedio, and Halloween (pumpkin season).

Let her know if you're interested and it will go from there.

Joseph Park lectured on 10/19

On October 19th Joseph Park was our third lecturing artist. The Seattle based oil painter took the stage with a colorful presentation that documented two decades of work. He talked about his recent endeavor of founding an art movement named Prismism, which focuses on refracting light depicted in painted objects. His graciousness and good humor was well received by the students that met with him. Thank you so much, Joe!

EC/BC meeting on October 31st

This year's second EC/BC (extracurricular book club) will be held at 4:00 pm on Saturday, October 31st.
McCallah is kindly hosting the event at her house.

Mel Zeigler's Lecture on October 12th

Mel Zeigler was our second lecturer and spoke on October 12th. The chair of Vanderbilt University's studio arts department regaled us with stories concerning his work from the early 90's until present. He brought along his passion for public art and community involvement. Through examples of his work he spoke of finding ways to infiltrate what he called ‘socially active space.' Thank you so much coming Mel!

Ellen Dissanayake speaks on October 29th

Ellen Dissanayake will be giving next week's PNCA MFA in Applied Craft & Design lecture. Dissanayake is "an independent scholar, author, and lecturer... whose Darwinian viewpoint provides a broader understanding of the arts than is customary in most theoretical approaches: the arts are integral to human nature and they evolved to help individuals adapt to their physical and social environments."

Scholar lecture • 6:30-7:30pm • October 29
PNCA Craft & Design Studios • The Bison Building • 421 NE 10th

She is the author of Homo Aestheticus: Where Art Comes from and Why

End of the Quarter Presentations

Each MFA student will give a 15 minute PowerPoint presentation of their quarter's work and research. This will happen at the end of the term during the Monday Night Lecture class time. Half of the class will present on November 23rd and the other half on November 30th.
Please remember to bring your dinner on these nights. No food will be provided.

November 23rd

6:00-6:15 1. Helen
6:15-6:30 2. Josh
6:30-6:45 3. Nicole
6:45-7:00 4. Lexa
7:00-7:15 5. McCallah
7:15-7:45 Break
7:45-8:00 6. Zach
8:00-8:15 7. Lori
8:15-8:30 8. Anna and Ryan
8:30-8:45 9. Connie
8:45-9:00 10. Jillian

November 30th

6:00-6:15 1. Robin
6:15-6:30 2. Michelle L.
6:30-6:45 3. Ariana
6:45-7:00 4. Michelle S.
7:00-7:15 5. Miles
7:15-7:45 Break
7:45-8:00 6. Kathrine
8:00-8:15 7. Derek
8:15-8:30 8. Ralph
8:30-8:45 9. Hannah
8:45-9:00 10. Motoya

Leonie Guyer visits PSU

To start off the PSU MFA Monday Night Lecture Series, Leonie Guyer gave a talk about her work! In addition to her lecture, Lexa Walsh and I got to spend some quality time with her talking about art and eating good food. I interviewed her (thanks McCalla) which is now archived below, and her last day in Portland we got to see some art shows and have a quick visit at Powells books. Thanks Leonie and we look forward to see you next spring back here in Portland!

Leonie Guyer Interview

A way to discuss

Back at CCAC in 1989, the idiosyncratic, fun loving Charles Fisk offered his Ceramic Art History class this article, which has guided my critiquing methods ever since. Robert L. Scranton's introduction to"Aesthetic Aspects of Ancient Art", titled "The Structure of Style", breaks down the art object into the following for a rather basic & scientific approach to critique:
Elements of the Work of Art:
Material
Conceptual
Sensory
within each, there are the
Aesthetic Aspect
Technical Aspect
Rational Aspect
Variations in Manipulating the Elements:
1. Ontology
2. Epistemology
3. Signification
4. Definition
5. Configuration
6. Dynamics
7. System
8. Focus
9. Cohesion

The article will be in the new Portland Artist Resource Center - PARC (working title) located in room 320.

Now the question remains how we put this towards Social Practice. Let's see..
Lexa

Welcome New MFA Students and Welcome Back Old MFA Students

Welcome to our new students, Jillian Vento, Nicole Penoncello, Lexa Walsh, Josh Mong, Michelle Swinehart, Katherine Ball, Derek Bourcier, McCalla Hill, Robin Corbo and Michelle Liccardo. Congratulations to returning students, Ariana Jacob, Anna Gray, Lori Gilbert, Ryan Wilson Paulsen, Ralph Pugay, Miles Sprietsma, Connie Hockaday, Helen Reed, Hannah Jickling, Jason Zimmerman, Zach Springer and Motoya Nakamura on their group show, Replyall, currently in the Autzen Gallery, as well as the various activities of the summer. We are looking forward to this year's first Monday Night Visiting Artist lecture, the resumption of ecbc and getting earnestly back to work.

1st Year Candidacy Review Schedule

Meyer Boardroom, URBN 710
10am-2pm on Friday, May 29th and Friday, June 5th
Presentations should be 20 minutes w/ 10 minutes for discussion

Friday, May 29th

Helen 10:00 – 10:30
Jason 10:30 – 11:00
Ralph 11:00 – 11:30
LUNCH 11:30 – 12:30
Zach 12:30 – 1:00
Lori 1:00 – 1:30
Hannah 1:30 – 2:00


Friday, June 5th

Motoya 10:00 – 10:30
Ryan and Anna 10:30 – 11:00
Ariana 11:00 – 11:30
LUNCH 11:30 – 12:30
Miles 12:30 – 1:00
Michelle 1:00 – 1:30
Connie 1:30 – 2:00

Frances Stark (and Arlo) Come to PMMNLS

MFA Dates & Deadlines

Year 2:
March 12 - GO-12 forms with MFA Adviser signature due in Art Dept Office
March 13 - Social Practice MFA Graduate Project Proposals due
March 13 - Draft one-pager pdfs for Disjecta Catalog
March 30 - Disjecta Meeting 5-6 pm
April 3 - Final one-pager pdf for Disjecta Catalog
April 3 - GO-12 forms with Dept. Chair signature to Office of Grad Studies
April 3 - Appl for Degree form due in Office of Grad Studies (for Spring grad)

MFA Graduate Project/Exhibition Schedule & Disjecta Exhbition/Catalog/PR Schedule: see Patrick Rock’s Gallery Schedule

Year 1:
April 10 - Laurels Tuition Remission Award deadline

May 29th & June 5th - Candidacy Reviews 

PNCA/PSU Critique Exchange

It worked! The first session of the critique exchanges between two Portland MFA Programs was excellent! Ruth, Zach and Mindy came over from PNCA and Ralph, Laurel and I all got to talk with everybody about current work and concerns, etc. I'm really looking forward to more of these!

We want Julie Ault to move to Portland for good

My words will have to stand in for the pictures I didn't take while Julie Ault was here. 
(Even though there was plenty opportunity)

Ryan and I ended up spending a bit of time with Julie everyday this week; besides seeing her lecture and having studio visits, we took her for a walk in the gorge, to our favorite deli, and to a glassblowing class that she had signed up for out on 82nd St. Her lecture on Monday was extremely rich with reflection on her work with Group Material in the 80's and 90's. Reading from original GM documents, she illuminated the working methods and the changes within the group over its 17 year life-span.  At the end she talked a bit about her recent installation work and her current publication and curating projects. Its amazing to see such a long career from its roots. The influence of Group Material's methods and aesthetics is clear, not only in Julie's solo work, but also in the work of so many other artists and curators working today. She also shared a bit with us about her current PhD work and the endeavor of trying to archive and historicize the work of Group Material.

Oh, and she gave Ryan and I some great book recommendations.

At one point during our studio visit she picked up our copy of Felix Gonzalez Torres, the monograph which she edited/created saying, "Oh its nice to see a copy so dirty. That's great." (It had been water damaged in the fire.)  She balances this kind of optimism with a really critical mind, I like that.