Round 12 Recipients:

Below is an alphabetical list of the projects selected for funding in Round 12, including working titles, collaborating artist names, award amounts, and project descriptions (as provided by the artists).

Bichos Sagrados (Sacred Bugs) | $4,750 
Bichos Sagrados: donde hay bichos, hay vida [Sacred bugs: where there are insects, there is life]

Inti Raymi, Knorke Leaf, Jaime Rodriguez

Bichos Sagrados (sacred bugs) is an interdisciplinary project, a visual & sonic storytelling presentation rooted in indigenous epistemologies that challenge colonial divisions between humans and the animal world. Following this radical tradition, Bichos Sagrados is a call to action to address the ecological crisis we face by focusing on the intertwined connections between insects and all life on Earth. We choose insects for no other reason than that life itself is worth preserving.

DREAMTV (Rest)idency | $4,750

Takaaki Okada, Mia Imani, Mayola Tikaka

Who can afford to dream? We spend one-third of our life asleep. We wake every morning with the opportunity to shape our waking life, but how often do Black and BIPOC people feel supported in reconstructing our realities? DREAMTV (Rest)idency is a three-day residency that will become a pilot TV program that imagines a world where rest and dreams are its core. During the residency, we will conduct interviews, research, and surveys.

Epilogue: 18 works of visual art offering an arts-based impact assessment of Changing the Narrative | $4,750

Kacy McKinney, Olivia DelGandio

Epilogue is an arts-based reflection and impact assessment resulting in 18 multidisciplinary artworks. In spring 2023, we invited collaborators from Changing the Narrative, a community-engaged research project, to reframe homelessness in Portland by providing accessible, beautiful, engaging research-based stories translated into comic form, distributed by Street Roots. The resulting ceramics, paintings, collages, textiles, sculptures, comics, and video installations will be shared in a public exhibit, print book, and website. Epilogue participants are the research team, artists, and storytellers of Changing the Narrative. Most of us are Portland-based, have lived experience of homelessness or housing instability, and are from communities disproportionately impacted by homelessness, including LGBTQAI+; Black, Indigenous, AAPI, and Latine; Disabled; and Veterans.

home school press | $4,750

manuel arturo abreu, Victoria Anne Reis, Samuel Osaro

In print, still and moving image, and cassette, home school brings visibility to and crafts publics for non-object based, hybrid, and language-centric visual arts practices in Oregon, as well as internationally. We’ve worked with Letra Chueca, Container Corps, and the National Audio Company. The press proceeds ‘by any means necessary’ collaborating with small local printers and corporate print-on-demand services alike.

I see it’s coming; Nudity Fortress/Naked Garment Project | $4,750

Mai Ide, Jewlz Baptiste

Jewlz Baptiste and Mai Ide are a two-BIPOC art collective whose project surgically dissects our escalated social phenomena of domestic violence and racial injustice. The Naked Garment Project seeks to empower people who are struggling with those issues. Through this project, participants can discover or instigate different perspectives of the cultural meaning of mending, not only repairing the object but also our brokenness, our mental illness, or traumatic experiences under a capitalist society.

In My Own Image | $4,750

Jacque Hammond, Darian Anthony Patrick, Max Chanowitz, Kellen Malloy, Rose Léon, Aeden Keffelew

In my own mind. In my own body. In my own words. In my own way. In My Own Image is a four-part exploration of identity and existentialism as we navigate a new, but vaguely familiar, world. It’s 2029 and we awaken on a new planet. After experiencing collective grief, division, and peril on earth, we experience a new challenge of finding out who we are beyond our trauma. Deepening a connection to ourselves and the new planet, we begin to build a new world with others who have also awakened. Together, we realize that life beyond mere survival is possible if we can imagine it. Inspired by original music, we are bringing this story to life through an immersive audio and visual experience.

Orchids Roll Their Eyes: A Behind-the-Techniques Workshop Series with the House of Kilig | $4,750

Moonyeka & The House of Kilig

House of Kilig welcomes local artists to two behind-the-techniques workshops exploring interdisciplinary techniques seen in Harana for the Aswang, an audio-visual-performance work. In Spring, HOK will be developing material and capturing visuals on the Oregon Coast that propel the next phase of our project titled, Orchids Roll Their Eyes. This inspiration fuels our October workshop series. Participants are invited to experiment with HOK’s QT diasporic methodologies in embodied movement, writing, vocalization, video mixing, and more!

Paletas Communal Social Club | $4,750

Mario Mesquita, Cole James

Paletas Communal Social Club (CSC) collects expressions and stories of resilience, practices to thrive, and memories crowd-sourced through questionnaires and mini-interviews given over the mobile cart in exchange for a paleta. Paletas’ intention is to bridge communities and individuals through public interventions in exchange for something sweet. Paletas CSC Portland will explore how communities reconnect, support, and thrive amid our local and global “new normal.” Community and individuals will have a chance to talk about their memories, reflections on the past, their current state, and visions for the future by sharing and listening to others.

Queer Cat 2024 | $4,750

Twig C., Aubrey Sloan

Queer Cat is a free ceramic art program driven by community-building, advocacy, and accessibility intended to support the inclusion and advancement of LGBTQIA+ artists in wood-fire ceramics in Oregon. Queer Cat gives a platform for over 50 new and seasoned queer wood-fire ceramic artists from the Portland Metro Area to share in the creation of meaningful artwork, mentorship opportunities, community development, and career growth through artistic collaboration, activation, exhibition, and leadership.

Say When Festival 2024 | $4,750

Allie Hankins, keyon gaskin, Takahiro Yamamoto, Lu Yim

Physical Education (Allie Hankins, keyon gaskin, Takahiro Yamamoto, and Lu Yim) will produce their third SAY WHEN Arts Festival. Featuring the work of visual and performance artists from Portland and beyond, audiences will experience exhibitions, workshops, and performances over the course of one weekend in Summer 2024.

THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS - SWANA ROSE ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE PROGRAM 2024 | $4,750

Sa’rah Farahat, Melory Mirashrafi

The Precipice Fund will support an artist-in-residence program at the new SWANA Rose Culture and Community Center in 2024. Five artists will be paired with curator artists Sa’rah Farahat and Melory Mirashrafi for a two-month residency — creating work in the first month and activating the window gallery in the second, culminating in an opening night celebration and artist talk. Residencies enliven the new SWANA Rose space and inspire SWANA artists by providing a dedicated space to exhibit their work.

The Migrant Knowledge Press | $4,750

Diana Marcela Cuartas, Marissa Perez

The Migrant Knowledge Press is an initiative for cultural exchange, reflection, and artistic experimentation through publishing. It is a social space for bringing artists and people from different backgrounds and generations together to share knowledge and create publications related to the migrant experience. Its mission is to expand access to publishing practices and resources to inspire creative visions about our relationship with the city, centering on the perspectives and experiences of migrant communities that contribute to the cultural diversity of Portland.

Vital Community Risographs (VCRs) | $4,750

Christina Martin, Sharita Towne, nůn studios, Community at large

VCRs supports diverse Portland communities by offering free risograph posters and design resources to Oregon activists and counter-hegemonic voices. Artists, organizers, and community-based organizations are invited to submit social justice related concepts for posters. This initiative serves as a platform for artists and communities to connect, share stories, and amplify crucial messaging through impactful print to be distributed at their own discretion. In addition to aiding in a wide range of community-centered posters and advocacy efforts, the project culminates with a final poster exhibition celebrating our collective effort. The project is stewarded by Christina Martin and supported by nun studios, a local risograph cooperative and publication studio in Portland, Oregon.