The arts driving change.
Sarah Tiedemann, is Artistic Director of Third Angle New Music and a flute and piccolo player with the Oregon Ballet Theatre Orchestra. We talked about how she and other artists are getting through the pandemic; what non-Portlanders should know about our hometown; and how predominantly white arts organizations can help tell the stories of marginalized communities in an ethical way.
Joni Renee Whitworth, who uses they/them pronouns, is a poet and the executive director of Future Prairie, “a queer creative studio and non-profit artist collective.” We talked about how their organization has changed course during the pandemic, what the value of a nonprofit dedicated to marginalized artists is, and how an arts organizer finds space and time for their own work as they support the work of others.
Directors and the Poet Laureate of the United States about the repatriation of the Yale Union building in Portland, Oregon to her organization, about her role as Poet Laureate in a toxic time in American politics, and how she found her voice through poetry and music.
Amidst the struggles of the pandemic and racial justice protests in Portland, Onry has taken the opportunity to clarify his priorities, taking his creative future in his own hands. Onry is a singer, dancer, actor, and pianist based in Portland, Oregon. He’s one of very few Black professional classical singers here. When the pandemic hit, Onry went outside to find places to sing, to keep his voice strong, and that led to some experiences that inspired his new project, a documentary and studio recording project called Livin’ in the Light. You can see a beautiful music video that’s part of the project at moredevotedly.com, as well as a link to a fundraiser that’s still in progress. We talk about how the experiences he’s had during this time showed Onry that it was time to step into his own light, and to show how others can do the same in their own way.
Subashini Ganesan is a dancer and choreographer, the founder and Executive Director of New Expressive Works, and Portland, Oregon’s Creative Laureate since 2018. We talked about her role as Creative Laureate, the process of distributing this aid money from the Oregon State Legislature, and about the social justice movement taking place in Portland right now.
Andre Middleton is Executive Director of Friends of Noise, a nonprofit seeking to foster healing and growth for the creative […]
The Oregon state legislature recently made a huge investment in the Oregon arts community—$50 Million dollars from the federal CARES […]