President's Message

PNWS the personal and the digital

We will always be more than what we think we are. More than what we can measure, define, value or digitize. Even while we keep finding more ways to quantify ourselves and our world, there will always be something unseen, unexpected, nuanced and absurd beyond definition about our existence. This elusive human experience can be crafted into a sharable form called art. Sculptures can be vessels for our mysteries, holding space for those in-between-not-quite-grasped experiences. Objects substantial and dimensional, but mysterious embody the paradox of being and non-being at once. (artwork by PNWS Member Julian Voss-Andreae)

PNWS is a vessel for a variously, defined substance: Call it community, collaboration, a space where our unique offerings are recognized. That space can be expanding into new mediums for connection, with the goal of making it more accessible and inclusive for all people that want to join PNWS, no matter how remote you are geographically, or how eccentric your art may seem. All the more so because the further afield you go with your art, you are inevitably making more space for others to join in.

Inspired participants of PNWS International Sculpture Day 2023

Alisa Looney is the champion of inclusion for PNWS, and the continual recipient of the PNWS Volunteer of the Year award. For International Sculpture Day 2023 this year Alisa embodied a Goddess of the Trees persona, walking with a motley crew of living sculpture-people, through downtown Portland last Saturday, while wishing awestruck pedestrians, “Happy International Sculpture Day!” Alisa is the host of our monthly online meet-up (now on the Microsoft Teams app) happening second Wednesdays at 7PM. Look for an email invite with a link, but make sure you first download the free app for Teams. As I wrote in the last newsletter, “Digital technology seems to be both a solution and a challenge for our group, hand in hand with the need for more volunteerism and education about what’s happening and what’s needed.” That was in reference to adopting new online meeting software. We are no longer using Zoom, switching to Microsoft Teams. Thanks to out Meetings Chairperson, Bob Deasy, for recognizing and guiding us with that very practical decision. Teams is free, Zoom had a cost. Multiple meetings can be lead by many Members using Teams, and we have direct access to PNWS files within other Microsoft apps; Zoom did not have those features. Our journey into more digital connectivity continues with expanding knowledge and use of Social Media. In a one on one meeting today with PNWS Member, Shelly Durica-Laiche (AKA Indio metal Arts). Shelly created our Instagram account: 777 followers to date! https://www.instagram.com/pnwsculptors/ I learned it will be worthwhile to “boost” our Instagram posts about the upcoming sculpture shows like Into the Depths https://pnwsculptors.org/the-pnws-newport-group-show-into-the-depths-is-june-3-through-july-30-2023/ showing at Newport Visual Arts Center (June through July 2023). We should always add hashtags to posts, and comment on other art. Algorithms love networking, and lots of little connections can add up. I’m coming to the fact, Social media is THE medium for the artists to be seen by the world. Ultimately a balance is struck between our digital presence with the directly personal relationships that I have with people like Julian, Alisa and Shelly. An acceleration of information entangled with the hearts of friends and family, this is the adventure and the anchorage which can take us forward into the unknown, sharing our discoveries through art and community. +++Andy Kennedy

Plan for International Sculpture Day 2023

I.S. Day 2023, Pacific Northwest Sculptors has rented a classroom within a wild assortment of cheap art supplies. Hot glue guns, scissors, sewing machines and other tools are provided. The event is at 4:30 pm April 29th International Sculpture Day, and will take place at SCRAP (School Community Reuse Action Project) 1736 SW Alder street, Portland OR. Show up at SCRAP early to check their vast selection of cheap art supplies. Materials for your project need to be purchased or brought from home, the rest of this event is Free.

International Sculpture Day a good time to try something different, beyond the boundaries. Explore the limits of what sculpture can be, with a Peer group of other sculpture explorers.

The suggested theme is Wearable Art…hats, masks, falsies, epaulets, antlers, corsages, spats, or a whole new appendage yet to be named.

We have the SCRAP classroom between 4:30 and 6:30pm on the 29th. That time will likely fly by, so it’s recommended that you bring a project already in progress, or a good set of ideas.

Interpret Wearable Art as you wish.

Be traditional or avant-garde, Put tassels on a hat, glue glitter to a mask, or hot glue found objects onto yourself or a friend.

RSVP Andy Kennedy <playpurpose@yahoo.com> or Bob Deasy <ormcoupe@yahoo.com>
You are welcome to bring other participants, especially if bringing them means you get to be there. This is formatted as a Peer group activity not as instruction. People might or might not collaborate, but we’re generally generous and free with advice on your project(s). The SCRAP folks are there to help too; will train you on the sewing machine, etc. as needed.

Tape it on, tie it on, strap it on. SCRAP is full of eclectic and unexpected crafting materials: old maps, random jigsaw puzzle pieces, anonymous family photos, a barrel of gift wrapping bows, all on sale cheap.

PNWS 2023 IS Day April 29th 4:30 – 6:30pm… at SCRAP 1736 SW Alder street, Portland OR. Show up at SCRAP early if you can. They will provide crafting tools, but we have to buy or bring sculpting materials. Likely, there will be PNWS money budgeted for last minute gotta-have-it-but-don’t-have-the-cash materials purchases.

NOTE: SCRAP does NOT allow food or drink (besides water) to be in their classroom. We’re planning to bring some snacks, and likely “drink”, and have that available outside SCRAP

After use of the SCRAP classroom (they close the store at 7pm) We will follow our muses.

That Saturday April 29th after SCRAP, Organizers have a few ideas about places of Sculptural Significance to visit in downtown Portland, including the site of the short-lived PNWS Gallery, in Pioneer Mall. We can raise a glass, “To what we’ve been, and what we could be…” And there may be an Impersonate the Elk contest along with other surprises.

There are two related events on Sunday April 30th. A studio tour/potluck at 7pm. Julian Voss-Andreae will host ( 8003 SE 17th Ave. Portland, OR )

Julian’s sculpture is awesome, gotta see it to believe it.

The other optional event on Sunday is a group rendezvous at Gathering of the Guilds, a local tradition featuring hundreds of artisans at the Portland Convention Center, including several PNWS Members. Showing off the Wearable Art from our SCRAP experience would be likely at Gathering of the Guilds TBD.

Julian VA. said it would be alright to invite GotG folk to his studio that evening at 7pm. Should be fun…

+++A. Kennedy

PNWS Solution and Challenge

Just before the Covid pandemic began, the PNWS Board of Directors had gone through a two day, goal-setting workshop, which determined that our group meetings were a top priority. Ironically, within a couple months we could no longer meet in person. Zoom meetings were quickly adopted, along with remote studio tours and online guest speakers. The Pandemic pulled the rug from under our main networking practice, but the PNWS Board faced the challenge, specifically, Chas Martin and Alisa Looney get the most credit for the transition, making Zoom meetings an essential tool for us. PNWS online meetings are continuing to evolve, as we are adopting Microsoft Teams. Soon this software will take the place of Zoom, with the added benefits: Teams will allow for more people to create meetings and give those meetings easier access to our database. Contact meetings chairperson, Bob Deasy <ormcoupe@yahoo.com> with any questions about the transition to Microsoft Teams software.
While PNWS online meetings are continuing to develop, our in person meetings are taking strides forward. The raku firing lead by Russ Ford was exciting for everyone involved. The tours of the Past Lives makerspace and Patrick Gracewood’s studio were inspiring as well. This trend should continue with the Swap Meet at Carole Murphy’s (April 8th), International Sculpture Day happenings at SCRAP, etc. (April 29th), and the Member meeting at Julian Voss-Andreae’s studio (April 30th). In person meetings are coming back since the pandemic. The hybrid of in person and online meetings are characteristic of our resourceful, adaptive nature as a collective.
Digital technology seems to be both a solution and a challenge for our group, hand in hand with the need for more volunteerism and education about what’s happening and what’s needed. Showing up and sharing yourself and your art, is the baseline for PNWS Membership. Come to a Member meeting, and consider hosting a studio potluck (contact Bob Deasy). Post something on our Facebooks page(s): Pacific Northwest Sculptors and/or Members of Pacific NW Sculptors Group, and post on your PNWSculptors.org Member Profile (which can lead to a newsletter article about your art). These are some of the obvious ways you can both promote yourself and the group simultaneously.
There are more pathways for connection, we could explore together, with very little effort by the individual PNWS Member, who is coordinated into a team. For example(s) our website, Social media , and You tube channel could use a little more revision and re-interpretation, or a collaborative sculpture project composed by various Members using the Discord app or an online art show featured on our website. All these could be future projects for small teams of individuals offering a little focused time, potentially, bringing our Membership new pathways for networking, education and public relations. Models for PNWS teamwork success already appear and reappear while composing our newsletter, Calls to Artists or the combined effort of our Board of Directors. These groups embody a fluid form of teamwork and leadership, balanced within a Peer group of abundantly resourceful Members. Your level of leadership and involvement is your choice. The doorways you will open, will open more for us all. PNWS is what we make of it.

Becoming PNWS President

The goal as President of PNWS is to think well about each Member and about the group as a whole, with the underlying challenge: to relax, be authentically myself, among my peers while I’m doing those Presidential things. There’s a kind of tightrope walk of bringing lightness into a serious situation. I’m another sculptor like you, in many ways unprepared for this job, but I do have a broad vision for our group, seeing the potential exponential number of connections between Members and methodologies. Connections made possible by our ongoing practices and platforms (like the newsletter you are reading). PNWS holds the space for that vision.
My opening statement as the new PNWS President was a request for help in holding that vision of our potential. Allow me to augment that ask, by meeting me somewhere in between, bringing your own vision. Let’s find a way towards manifesting your own authenticity within our group. Show up, share your art and listen, witnessing others. Then reach for finding a role, supporting this framework of connections. Perhaps add fresh content to your PNWSculptors.org profile page, or explore the rest of the website, with an eye to suggesting edits to it. Maybe add to a discussion on our Social media, or go to a gallery show with a PNWS Member…Better still, approach me or another Board Member and let them know what your interest is. Hopefully, there will come a time when I can ask you about your goals with PNWS, now that you know some of mine. You’re welcome to write to me, president@pnwsculptors.org

President’s Message January 2023

New year. New faces. New opportunities.

Another solstice passes and the daylight hours lengthen once again. As the new year begins, so do new opportunities for connection and knowledge-sharing. PNWS has many opportunities for members to engage, promote themselves and learn from our eclectic group of artists.

As I pass the torch on to Andy Kennedy to lead this group, I do so with great hope. The past three years have been a challenge for us individually and as a group. We have weathered the storm and can now start looking and planning ahead again.

Turnover in our membership has been notable, about 20%. That has created a lot of new ideas, energy and a whole new group of artists to meet. I encourage everyone to create or update your membership page on our website. It’s a great way to introduce yourself and to open the door for more conversation. It’s not difficult. Log in and upload a few images. (If you’re already logged in, that link won’t appear in the menu.)If you’re unsure how to upload images, we have a few tutorials to explain it all.

I also encourage everyone to post an occasional article on your page. We feature several each month in this newsletter which reaches about 700 subscribers.

Here are two additional activities you should plan on:

Our Annual Meeting will be Sunday, January 29 at Bill Leigh’s Studio. New board members will be approved by the members, you’ll get an update on the state of PNWS and hear what incoming President Andy sees as the future of the organization. See details.

Our upcoming show “Into the Depths” at the Newport Visual Arts Center is moving forward. See details on how to participate.

Attend our Monthly Conversations via Zoom on the second Wednesday of each month at 7:00pm

President’s Message December 2022

The year comes to an end. So does my term as President of PNWS. It’s been an unanticipated 3-year adventure. I took on the role in February 2020, just a month before the pandammit hit the fan. All the plans the Board had carefully prepared went sideways. And, not long after that, some of our Board Members went sideways as well to deal with more immediate life issues.

I’ve always been a huge advocate for change and innovation. And, here was a plateful of opportunity to manage both. We scrambled. We reassessed. We went Zoom to stay connected. We built and launched a new web site. We raised funds for the site and for ongoing operations. We filled vacancies on the Board with new, energetic participants. We hosted our first and second virtual shows. We lost a number of members and gained nearly as many new ones.

So, it has been an adventure. The rewards have outweighed the frustrations. I leave this position with the organization in better shape financially, with more energy and more potential. Leadership will pass to Andy Kennedy whose familiarity with our volunteer resources and his fresh ideas will create new opportunities for everyone to participate and reap the benefits of interaction.

I will continue to put the newsletter together and contribute to the Board for one more year. I mostly look forward to more studio time and more time to directly interact with artists and friends. The support I’ve had over the past 3 years from members and past Board members has made this time much more productive and enjoyable. Thank you to all for your support, encouragement and advice.

President’s Message November 2022

Changes are the theme of the immediate future. In an attempt to engage and involve more of our members, we are looking at additional times and formats for our meetings. Our VP, Andy Kennedy, will be updating everyone about some of the options and looking for your input. Look for a separate email soon.

Our November meeting will be delayed a week to avoid the Thanksgiving holiday. The new date is November 30. Our presenter will be Carole Murphy and the location will be at Oregon Society of Artists. See details.

Our January meeting will also be at Oregon Society of Artists on Sunday, January 8 at 1:30. Led by Russ Ford, this will be a member-only Spirit Mask Making event. The masks will be fired the following Sunday at his studio in Vancouver. See details.

Time and date for our Annual Meeting will come soon. There should be some language changes for our bylaws and election of new board members.

President’s Message October 2022

Several changes are in the works for PNWS members. After a highly uncontested campaign, Andy Kennedy has stepped into the role of Vice President and will succeed me as President in the new year. This is entirely appropriate since Andy the most knowledge of our volunteer resources.

Andy’s vision for member engagement revitalizes a process from our past where every member has a role. In a volunteer organization, it’s up to you to make the experience valuable for everyone else. And that, in turn, makes it more valuable for you. Watch for updates.

FIGs are a new feature. Focused Interest Groups are member organized communities within our organization to facilitate conversations and information exchange. The goal is to engage members on specific topics. Our Forums will be the primary point of contact, but face to face conversations, site visits are all possibilities. Read more about FIGs.

Long time member and former PNWS President, Carole Murphy is on a mission to contact and convert past members to active status. She’s the perfect person for this task. Carole is superb listener and natural motivator. Until this past year, Carole was the primary organizer for our annual participation at Art in the Pearl, our most visible activity. Many thanks to Carole for her consistent commitment to PNWS. Also, if you are not subscribed to Carole’s Sculpture Newsletter, take a look. It’s always an inspiring visual treat.

And finally, newsletter subscriber Melanie Furtado is a sculptor and teacher offering a free online workshop: Intro to Clay Sculpting. It starts Oct 12th. It’s 3 video lessons with a focus on traditional skills. Appropriate for stone sculptors as well. Register here.