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Courtney Gallardo
Benjamin Craig
Work of Art
May 10, 2016

What is Art?
A walking tour

Spending time around Portland, especially Downtown Portland, its easy to see the
influence of art throughout the city. But what is the importance of these artworks? What makes
them art? Starting at Portland State University, this tour will take its participants to various art
stores, galleries, and museums. It asks questions about what is considered art and what the value
of art is in the community its in, as well as who has access to art. Starting on PSUs campus at
the Smith Memorial Student Union Building, the tour takes its participants up the park blocks to
its first stop: The Portland Art Museum.

Established in 1892, the Portland Art Museum is the oldest art museum in the Pacific
Northwest. Founded by the Portland Art Association, their goal was to make art accessible to
everyone. The museum was first located at the public library, but moved to its own building in
1905 due to its increasing size. This building was located on SW 5th and Taylor. The museums
Main Building now stands on SW Park and Jefferson, where it opened to the public in 1932. The
museum then expanded to the neighboring building in 1994, transforming it from a Masonic
temple into the Mark Building thats still there to date. One of the ways the art museum makes
art more available is by participating in Portlands monthly First Thursday; a day dedicated to the

arts. The museum is free that evening for the public, but for the rest of the month its only
accessible via membership or by paying an entrance fee. While the museum was founded on the
premises of accessibility, how has the museum upheld that original ideal? What qualities make
art accessible? Are there ways that we can make more accessible to more of the community?

Taking a left on Madison and a right on 10th, participants make their way towards the
second tour stop. Crafty Wonderland was started in 2006, originally as a monthly art show. It was
intended to give artists and crafters a place to showcase and sell their work. The first few years of
Crafty Wonderland were spent in the basement of the Doug Fir lounge, with 40 squares of 4 x 4
ground marked off for booths. After putting on cramped monthly showcases for three years,
the number of shoppers and the demand for products grew, and the so-called extravaganza
moved to the Oregon Convention Center. Over the past ten years, Crafty Wonderland has
transformed into a retail store that showcases over 200 local artists year round, and still holds its
bi-annual craft markets. What is the difference between art and craft? Are people who specialize
in craft still considered artists? In what ways does the public influence art in the community?
How does the public drive the art market?

Following SW 10th and taking a left NW Couch puts participants in front the next stop
on the tour. Anthropologie is a womens apparel and home decor store located in Downtowns
Pearl District. Described on their website as bohemian-chic, this store is catered to a creative,
young audience. Anthropologie was founded with the intention of creating a space for women to
find their creative voice and express themselves. The store is also supports a number of causes,
one being the advocacy of the arts and art education. This location is included in the tour because

it begs questions about what is defined as art, and what space that art exists in. Why is home
decor and interior design traditionally not thought of as art? Can art exist in a domestic space, or
without being featured in a gallery atmosphere? What are the implications of labeling a certain
kind of art feminine instead of just calling it art? Does Anthropologies support of the arts make
their establishment an art institution, and their products art?

The next stop on the tour, the Museum of Contemporary Craft, is unfortunately now
closed. However, by directing the tour towards a historic institution that no longer exists, it raises
questions about not only what is art, but what is the value of art. The museum was founded in
1937 originally as the Oregon Ceramic Studio. In 1965 it became the Contemporary Crafts
Gallery, then the Contemporary Crafts Museum & Gallery in 2002, until finally it became the
Museum of Contemporary Craft in 2007. That same year, the museum moved from its original
location, where it had been for 70 years, to its new building in Downtown Portlands Pearl
District where it remained in operation until 2016. The Museum of Contemporary Craft
integrated with the Pacific Northwest College of Art in 2015, making this one of the largest joint
organizations dedicated to visual arts in Oregon. According to its website, this museum was the
oldest continuously-running craft institution in the United States. This tour uses the closure of
the museum as a way to open a discussion about what art is and what the value of art is in a
community. What made this a craft museum, and how is it different from the art museum seen
earlier in the tour? What does the closure of the museum mean to the community? What values
do institutions see in art and places of art? What values does the public place on art? How are
those values different?

Leaving the Museum of Contemporary Craft on NW Davis and swinging a right on NW

5th, participants will find themselves walking towards Upper Playground. As an art and fashion
company, their focus is on independent creative thinking and lifestyles. Since its founding in
1998, Upper Playground has worked with a large number of artists, both local and from around
the world. The building itself functions as a storefront that sells a wide variety of t-shirts, post
cards, and other alternative art objects. The building also houses a gallery, showcasing and
selling a small selection works from various artists. What does Upper Playground bring to the art
community? Is our community hindered by bringing in outside artists to participate in our space?
Does the physical storefront detract from its artistic value?

After Upper Playground, participants continue walking down SW 5th until they come
across a little stationary store, sandwiched between several other storefronts. Ecru Modern
Stationer was established in 2006 and has featured a number of artisan stationary and products
for the past ten years. From greeting cards to journals, ecru was founded on the importance of
crafting and sending creative personalized notes. Showcasing a variety artist made paper goods,
ecru creates a modern yet classical aesthetic in its storefront. Is stationary considered art, or just a
vessel for art to be crated on? If artists are commissioned to create stationary does that make it
art? Because stationary is mass produced and meant to be used by others, does the work put into
making that stationary devalue its artistic value?

Downtowns iconic Portland Building, home to the famous Portlandia statue, is also the
shared home of the Regional Arts & Culture Council. RACC is a non-profit organization that
works with other various non-profit institutions and schools in Clackamas, Multnomah, and

Washington counties, providing workshops and networking events for students and community
members. The organization also raises money and awareness for the arts by providing a number
of grant and public art programs, one of which is housed in a small, 10 x 12 installation space in
the lobby of the Portland Building. RACC provides funding for these art installations through a
competitive process; applicants submit project proposals to a board of community of volunteers
that evaluates each proposal. By holding these exhibitions in such an iconic space, what does this
say about the value of art? How can this program sway the value of art? How does the
community persuade the value of art? Who has accessibility to this art? Who has the opportunity
to make this art? Who gets to be an artist?

The last stop on the tour is back on Portland States campus. The Littman and White
Galleries are student-run and intended to create a critical experience of the visual arts for
students and community members. Its comprehensive program is designed to give artists first
hand knowledge about how to work in and with a gallery space. Centered around contemporary
aesthetics, the goal of these galleries is to showcase work that challenges the audience, visually
and conceptually. The Littman and White Galleries are open to a diverse network of artist who
work with a variety of different media. The past four years, the galleries have put on an annual
juried show, working with professionals in the community and opening the gallery space to
students of all practices. What is there to gain from exposing young adults to professional
experiences in art? How do these galleries shape its community, at Portland State and in general?
Does providing this space to aspiring artists benefit the community?

This tour focuses on what art means to our community. It questions what is defined as art,
the values it may have, and who has access to that art. The various types of art locations make
participants think about different types of art and how it functions the space its in. It
demonstrates both the monetary and social values of art, and questions how the various types of
art affect the community. Although the tour ends, it is important that artists and community
members constantly think about the ways that art can affect the communities its in.

Sources:
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Portland Art Museum, A Brief History of the Museum, portlandartmuseum.org, 2016.

Crafty Wonderland, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO US!!!, craftywonderland.com, 2016.
Anthropologie, Our Story Help, anthropologie.com, 2016.
Museum of Contemporary Craft, About / History, museumofcontemporarycraft.org,

2016.
5) Upper Playground on Wikipedia, Upper Playground, wikipedia.com, 2015.
6) Ecru Modern Stationer, About, ecrupaper.com, 2016.
7) Regional Arts and Culture Council, About Us / Who We Are; Our Programs / Grants,
racc.org, 2016.
8) Littman and White Galleries, About, littmanwhite.tumblr.com, 2016.