September 3–October 18, 2015
PNCA
511 NW Broadway
Portland, OR 97209
With the first Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) faculty biennial to be held in our newly renovated historic Federal Building at 511 NW Broadway, PNCA sought to do something that would not only highlight the artists, designers, and scholars who make up the faculty, but also showcase the scope of contemporary art, craft, and design created by alumni from PNCA’s Bachelor of Fine Arts and Masters of Fine Arts programs. The result is Holding Sway, the first-ever PNCA faculty and alumni exhibition, featuring installation, painting, videos, and sculpture by 41 faculty members and 31 alumni.
As in other faculty exhibitions of the recent past, PNCA’s educators present self-selected works to the faculty exhibition committee, who then create the final checklist for the exhibition. For the selection of alumni work, PNCA issued a call for works which were then presented to faculty members in the exhibition, who each selected the work of an alumnus or alumna to be included in Holding Sway.
In the development of this exhibition, Mack McFarland, Curator and Director of Exhibitions, noted that the phrase “to hold sway” was raised to refer to the ways the flow of learning, teaching, and influence runs both ways in the classroom, studio, and lab. McFarland recalls that printmaker and recently retired faculty member Tom Prochaska would say, “In the studio we are all exercising together.”
Accompanying the exhibition is a companion publication of the same name, featuring fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and criticism by PNCA faculty and alumni.
This exhibition was supported by The Ford Family Foundation.
Also on view through January 9, 2016 at both 511 Gallery and Museum of Contemporary Craft at PNCA is Alien She. Curated by Astria Suparak and Ceci Moss, it is the first exhibition to examine the lasting impact of the Riot Grrrl movement on artists and cultural producers working today.
