Richard Speer delivers a report on the Portland printmaking scene for Art Ltd. Magazine. He offers a look at the history of fine art prints in Portland, as well as the printmaking community in the city today - a "mecca for printmakers."
"Drawings and prints have formed an important part of the Portland Art Museum’s holdings and programming ever since its founding in 1892," Speer writes. He names notable print collectors and donors in Portland history, including Jordan D. Schnitzer, whose collection of nearly 10,000 prints has traveled not only to the Portland Art Museum and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art (Eugene, OR), but to more than 75 museums around the world, without charging exhibition fees.
"Community, infrastructure, and an affinity between landscape, materials, and process all contribute to a “perfect storm” of opportunity for print aficionados in Oregon," Speer continues. He cites this year's SGC International Printmaking Conference, held in Portland, as an example of the prominence of printmaking in the state. At the conference, artist James Rosenquist was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award, celebrated with an exhibition presented by the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation at the Pacific Northwest College of Art's Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Center for Art and Design. Jordan Schnitzer received the Distinguished Advocate of Printmaking Award for his continued support of printmaking initiatives and programs both in the region and nationwide.
Read the full article.