OUTREACH

Sparking Connections

AN ARTIST MOVES TO TOWN. What’s her first stop? Wander around First or Last Thursday? Cold-call gallery curators? Hang out at a coffee shop and hope to run into another painter, get some feedback, and maybe talk about sharing studio space?

In Portland, connections like this don’t have to be left to chance. One reason is RACC, which increased its commitment to artist outreach by creating a full-time outreach specialist position in July 2011. The specialist, Tonisha Toler, who has been with RACC since 2007, says outreach is about more than just getting the word out to artists on funding opportunities: “It’s how we can support them, not just with grants and public art commissions but also things like technical assistance.”

Sometimes what artists need most is an introduction. A chief project of Toler’s for the past three years has been Art Spark, an event that grew out of the Creative Capacity Initiative’s town-hall-style meetings to hear from artists about the resources they needed. One repeated request, especially among artists who were new to town, was a way to meet other artists and “hook into the community more easily,” says Toler.

In addition to offering a way for artists to meet and mingle, the bimonthly Art Spark events also offer exposure for the spaces that serve as host and for organizations that partner with RACC as featured groups at each event. Art Spark 2011 kicked off with a dozen organizations participating in an annual event fair, and some other meetings through the year also featured more than one group—presenters of the Wordstock literary festival and drumming troupe Portland Taiko, for example, whose disparate focuses offer another way for different circles to come together.

Links made at Art Spark have led to gallery shows, new studio spaces, and an added sense of community. “They don’t know who they’re going to meet and where that connection might lead them,” says Toler.

The groups featured in Art Spark events benefit from lasting partnerships with RACC, making not just friends but Facebook friends. “We’re following all of our past groups,” says Toler. “When they have stuff come up, we can help support them with media marketing tools.”

The more events there are, the more people realize the extent of Art Spark and of RACC in general as a community resource. Toler regularly gets calls from people wondering how they can start something similar in their community, or from artists outside of town who want to come to a Portland event.

In addition to Art Spark, RACC augments its reach by partnering with groups like Colored Pencils, which stages regular arts and culture nights highlighting those it calls “New Portlanders.” The events gather artists and audiences from immigrant communities and different backgrounds in a safe and welcoming environment. Performances might include a Polish cellist, a Lebanese dance troupe, and an African storyteller. RACC offers some funding and support with a presence at the events while expanding its reach to new audiences. “There’s no way RACC alone could serve all of these communities.”

Combined, each Art Spark night, each partnership, and each new acquaintance lets artists know that, in Toler’s words, “it’s not like you have to be ‘in the club’” to access opportunities in Portland.