We. Construct. Marvels. Between. Monuments.

The Portland Art Museum welcomes a dynamic, artist-led experiment that will transform the fourth floor of the Jubitz Center for Modern and Contemporary Art through December 2018. We.Construct.Marvels.Between.Monuments. is a series of five exhibitions developed in partnership with artists and art collectives that will activate the gallery with visual art, performance, screenings, and discussions. Organized by visiting artistic director Libby Werbel, the programming invites a range of emerging and established voices to ask questions about how the Museum can become more artist-centered and inclusive in its practices and become more critically engaged with a broader array of emerging and established artists in the region. We.Construct.Marvels.Between.Monuments. is a unique collaboration between the Museum’s curatorial and education departments with support provided by Sara Krajewski, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Grace Kook-Anderson, Curator of Northwest Art, and Stephanie Parrish, Associate Director of Education.

The programming intends to build a bridge between Portland’s independent artist-run spaces, activists, and the city’s established institution. Through this year-long program, Werbel encourages audiences to reflect on how museums historically have granted access to art and knowledge, and what the future of this institution could look like. She imagines the string of exhibitions as a sort of ‘museum alchemy.’ Each artist or collective is tasked with contributing their own ingredients to the pot, acting as a catalyst for engaging new perspectives. Artists Chris Johanson and Johanna Jackson have created an exhibition design to serve as both a physical and conceptual framework for the ongoing exhibitions and events. They will make over the white-walled gallery environment to more comfortably house the various projects by introducing sculptural furniture, a reading/seminar space, live plants, a stage, and a wayfinding mural through the Center for Modern and Contemporary Art.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website