Memory 99 Dedication Ceremony at Future North Park Block

Release date: 09/26/12

For Immediate Release
September 26, 2012

Contact:
Lisa Radon, Communications Specialist
lradon@pnca.edu 971-255-5528

Becca Biggs, Director of Communications
bbiggs@pnca.edu 971-255-5511

Memory 99 Dedication Ceremony at Future North Park Block
Lee Kelly’s large-scale sculpture to be a gateway to Emerging Creative Corridor in North Park Blocks

PORTLAND, OR – SEPTEMBER 26, 2012 – Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) is pleased to invite the public to a dedication ceremony for a new public art work by one of the region’s most venerable artists. On October 19, 2012 at 12 noon, Memory 99, a sculpture by PNCA alumnus Lee Kelly’s ’59, will be unveiled in its new location in what is slated to be Portland’s next North Park Block, adjacent to the future home of PNCA’s Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Center for Art and Design (511 NW Broadway).

The Ford Family Foundation gave the College a special, one-time gift to acquire Kelly’s Memory 99 as part of the Foundation’s evolving Visual Arts program the goals of which include, among others, ensuring significant works by Oregon’s premier visual artists remain accessible to the public. The overall program was established to honor the interests and memory of one of its co-founders, Mrs. Hallie Ford.

“Lee Kelly’s Memory 99 draws a bright and beautiful line from PNCA’s legacy—which is so deeply intertwined with the history of visual arts in Portland—to its future with our new campus centered on Portland’s North Park Blocks,” says Tom Manley, President of PNCA. “Once again, with this gift, The Ford Family Foundation takes a leadership role in both preserving Oregon’s cultural legacy and nurturing its future.”

Memory 99 is one of Kelly’s best known architectural sculptures, a complex, direct-weld work created out of Cor-Ten steel that is 23 feet wide, 11 feet high, and over six feet in depth. The Portland Art Museum installed the massive Memory 99 at the entrance to its Lee Kelly retrospective exhibition in 2010.

“This stunning Lee Kelly sculpture will be a welcome addition to the North Park blocks and to the future home of PNCA’s Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Center for Art and Design,” says Eloise Damrosch, Executive Director of the Regional Arts & Culture Council. “When the time is right, designers of the new park will have a wonderful opportunity to create a permanent and fitting setting for the artwork.”

Besides PNCA and The Ford Family Foundation, several other parties were integral to making the acquisition, siting, and planned installation of this gift possible: the City of Portland spearheaded by Commissioner Nick Fish with the City’s Bureau of Parks & Recreation led by Mike Abbate; the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) under the direction of Eloise Damrosch, Elizabeth Leach, whose gallery represents Lee Kelly; and Doug Macy of Walker Macy Architects, a PNCA board member who consulted on siting and installation.

“The installation of Lee Kelly’s Memory 99 is a momentous first step in the transformation of the North Park Blocks,” says Mayor Sam Adams. “It allows us to envision an art-filled, dynamic future for this part of Portland, anticipating the remaking of a parking lot into a public park block beside the future home of PNCA.”

ABOUT THE FORD FAMILY FOUNDATION
The Ford Family Foundation was established in 1957 by Kenneth W. and Hallie E. Ford. Its Mission is “successful citizens and vital rural communities” in Oregon and Siskiyou County, California. The Foundation is located in Roseburg, Oregon, with a Scholarship office in Eugene. The Foundation’s seven-prong Visual Arts Program launched in 2010 also provides resources to support artists Fellowships; artists residencies in Oregon and out-of-state; exhibitions and documentation of Oregon visual artists’ work; small capital projects to enhance studio and exhibition space; individual grants to fund unanticipated opportunities to pursue or showcase artists’ work; and ongoing critic/curator tours to provide feedback to Oregon artists and participate in community dialogue. For more information about the Foundation please visit tfff.org.

ABOUT THE REGIONAL ARTS & CULTURE COUNCIL
The Regional Arts & Culture Council is the local arts agency for Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington Counties, providing grants for artists, schools and nonprofit organizations; conducting workplace giving for arts and culture (“Work for Art”) and other advocacy efforts; presenting workshops and other forms of technical assistance; providing printed and web-based resources for artists; and integrating art into public spaces. Online at racc.org.

ABOUT PACIFIC NORTHWEST COLLEGE OF ART
As Oregon’s flagship college of art and design since 1909, Pacific Northwest College of Art has helped shape Oregon’s visual arts landscape for more than a century. PNCA students study with award-winning faculty in small classes. In the last seven years, PNCA has doubled both the student body and full-time faculty, quadrupled the endowment, and added innovative undergraduate and graduate programs. PNCA is now embarking on our boldest venture yet by establishing the Arlene and Harold Schnitzer Center for Art and Design as an anchor for the College’s vision of a new campus home on Portland’s North Park Blocks. Focusing on the transformative power of creativity, the capital campaign, Creativity Works Here, was launched in June 2012 with a lead gift from The Harold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation of $5 million. PNCA’s new home will be a bustling hub for creativity and entrepreneurship, reflecting the influential role of art and design in our 21st century economy – both in Portland and beyond. For more information, visit pnca.edu.