Portland’s iconoclastic alternative gallery takes a new lease on life. i\Jorthwest Artists Workshop has 2 ▼recently reopened after an eightmonth hiatus without a gallery or office space. It was a challenging period for the group — uncertain and introspective. They have long thought of themselves as a forum for contemporary arts and alternative to the attitudes and format of museums and commercial galleries. This time without a space was a real test of their identity and adaptability. For eight months, they searched for a space, negotiated for a space, several times were on the verge of having a space, and in the meantime dealt with the logistics of coordinating temporary spaces. The Workshop went underground; having no central office, day-to-day affairs were conducted by phone out of people’s bedrooms and living rooms. Yet there were highlights, as director Darryl Clegg recalls: “We did a traveling show — literally, traveling show — called ‘Suitcase Full of Art,’ where we had artists submit work in a Photograph by Laurie Meeker Jerry Mayer and Workshop director Darryl Other photos by Betsy Beres c le S9 (right) on moving day suitcase. We took it around to places like the U.S. Bank Plaza, Pioneer Square, the Lloyd Center, the library, Union Station, and even Mall 205. And the reaction was, ‘What is this? A garage sale?’ There were people who saw that show who probably never would have come to a gallery. I don’t think there are any sidewalk art exhibits like that in Portland; I think this was the closest thing to it. We contacted close to a thousand people who would have never gone to a gallery. ” In spite of the insecurities of this time, the good feedback about the exhibition program reinforced some of the Workshop’s most basic philosophies. They seek to subvert cultural standards that art always hangs on walls, that it shouldn’t be touched or that a person has to pay a lot of money to see it. They want to demystify art; to dissolve the aura of elitism that surrounds it. Access is the name of the game. The process of creating is just as important and stimulating as the finished product. Variety and interdisciplinary expression are important: past shows have included musical scores, sound works, films, mixed media video performance, and artists’ books. The Workshop is also committed to exposing artists who don’t usually show in galleries or museums. Toward this end, they emphasize group shows and collaborative shows both to downplay the myth of the solo artist as well as to give more people a chance to show. And finally, they respect the artist. Lisa Siegel, of The Girl Artists, describes what it was like to show at the Workshop: “The Workshop is the first place I have ever shown that has treated me with a good deal of respect; some of it has to do with being an artist and just generally being exploited and disrespected in this country. But Northwest Artists Workshop always offers an honorarium. It sure doesn’t cover anything but it’s still a nice gesture.’’ The Workshop, in collaboration with pyrotechnician John Sinclair, blasting off at Lloyd Center / Kne thing that makes the Work- 1 / shop special as an alternative space is that the same people who make high-level decision also take out the garbage. This helps to explain why the Workshop has continued; this, their sense of humor and the ability of the group to work together. Board member Ronna Neuenschwan- der reflects: “The people that are on the board are very much involved in installations and seeing exhibition and performances through. We don't have a branch of other people doing installations and we don’t hire out performance responsibilities. I’ve really learned. I’m the type of person that generally has to have things all planned out so that I know things are going to run smoothly. When I first started working with this group of people, I got very uptight, very nerPerformance vous, because no one would sit down and decide who was going to be here when and what the whole installation was going to look like. And everyone said ... oh, let’s just meet and go to work. And so we met and started moving things around and arguing a bit, everyone giving their own points of view of what was going to happen and suddenly things just started clicking. New ideas popped out of old ideas and newer ones popped out of that and all this spontaneous energy going on just made it incredibly exciting. ” Behind the turmoil of day-to-day affairs is a group with an ambitious drive for stability and credibility; the Workshop would like to make a longterm commitment to Portland. These issues came up again and again with the people that I talked to, and there seems to be a genuine interest in growing into a professional organization without losing spontaneity. They have several goals. First, they want to be known as a gallery which takes risks, as a place where work that is not fully accepted by museums and commercial galleries is a part of the regular program. Secondly, they are keenly interested in allying themselves more closely with the business community, in learning to stay fiscally afloat. As federal funding dwindles, artists must become more sophisticated at explaining their importance to this society and more resourceful at getting the monies they need for survival. And finally, the Workshop is working to become a part of the growing network of alternative galleries. Says board member Ronna Neuenschwan- der, “The Workshop could really be a window onto what’s going on in other cities.’’ There is nationwide movement of decentralized art centers showing fine local art, spurred on by artists who don’t want to go to New York or Los Angeles to “make it.’’ However, this movement is not defined by its regional origins; the people involved are not regional artists in the 1930s sense of the word. The language of the arts is an international one, and the alternative gallery The Toaster Show at the Federal Building is flourishing in a number of cities around the U.S. A recent event resulting from this networking was an exchange show with Roscoe Louie Gallery of Seattle. One of the Workshop’s assefs for movement toward these goals is director Darryl Clegg, whose personality seems to set the tone for the Workshop’s current phase of success. He is a man who seems to be performing a balancing act. Working both as the director of the Workshop and as publicity manager for Cirque, he is that rare combination of administrator and artist: organized and aggressive, yet tactful, open to new ideas and accessible to people on both sides of the fence. With the Workshop, he is the limit pusher; board members sometimes vacillate around an issue until Darryl pushes them up to it and beyond. Institutions of such “open spirit” as the Workshop must remain flexible. They reflect the interests of their communities: work space; show place; clearinghouse and crashpad; somehow always in transit, sometimes collapsing like a house of cards, but then, spawning alternatives in their wake. It is really the unexpected, the sideshows, that grow full-fledged and autonomous. It is these aspects that complement and confirm the Workshop’s existence. Poetspace and Friction Gallery are two such examples. Poetspace was started by the Workshop with the idea of increasing the audience for poetry while giving poets a much-needed place to perform. Poetspace has its own coordinator and is now in the position to offer honorariums to readers, enabling them to draw in poets from outside the immediate Portland area. While Poetspace was planned, FricClinton St. Quarterly 45
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