Thirty! Shows are where you can buy art for a beautifully reasonable price. The first show was Thirty. This show is Thirty-One. That means the art is priced at 31 dollars!
Thirty! is sort of a cross between Zeffrey Throwell's old Alphabet Dress and Meeting People at Brad Adkins'-Chris Buckingham's Charm Bracelet. With Alphabet Dress, in roving locations, Zeffery and Jessica Sullivan provided artists an opportunity to clear out their studios, offering the art at very reasonable prices, in an informal bands and beer meetup. Meeting People was a dizzying grid of 4 inch square panels by about 500 artists, just about everyone in Portland in 2001. Presaging the social practices movement, each person entering the space was greeted by shaking hands and introducing themselves to the person entering before them.
Artist Flora Bowley organized the first Thirty! in November with 900 pieces. This show has 31 artists, painting 31 pieces each, in 31 days. That's 961 pieces. 930 are 7 inches square and are sold on a first come basis for a fixed price of $31 CASH. The remaining 31 paintings are 20 inches square and are auctioned in a silent auction starting at a price of $31 and ending at 9PM sharp. Cash too.
All this is explained clearly on the project web site Thirtyshows. The artists participating are: Alisha Wessler, Anna Todaro, Brett Bowers, Carrie Hardison, Chris Biegun, Chris Burtch, Cvita Mamic, Elizabeth Schuppe, Emily Katz, Erika Lee Sears, Guenevere Schwien, Jamee Linton, Jennifer Mercede, Jeremy Okai Davis, Julia Skerry, Kelly Neidiggity, Laura James, Lynn Yarne, Marshall Leggett, Mark James Gunderson, Melissa Wenzel, Mike McGovern, Randall David Tipton, Samantha Hodgson, Sarah Goodnough, Seth Neefus, Tamara English, Terrence Gasca, Theresa Andreas-O'Leary, Will Bruno and Zach Tobias.
Samples of their work and their statements may be seen on the Thirty! website.
The show opens for preview 3PM Friday. At 6:45PM the gallery will be cleared and those with keen desire can form a line outside. From 7PM-10 the works may be purchased. Musicians Cristina Orbe and Canary Sing perform and Dragonfly Chai provides complementary chai.
Sunday 6PM-8 the show will be open for the last pieces at $31.
So this is your homework. Put $31 in an envelope. Look around your living space for a 7x7 void. Scan the artists on the Thirty! website. Fall in love, or at least like. Stop by before 6:45 and pick a few alternates - someone may have the same desires. Get in line. Buy some art. Bask in music and chai and your excellent choice. Put it on the wall. Tell your friends.
At yoga studio OM Traditional Arts. 14 NE 10th (x Burnside)
Friday 3PM-6:45 Preview. 7PM-10 Sale. 6PM-9 Silent Auction
Sunday 6PM-8 Last Sales
All sales cash.
Admission Free
Portland is home to the Rock and Roll Camp for Girls. The program has been so successful that it is spawning instances in other cities, including in Europe, and soon, South America. It is also so successful that there is a waiting list. The waiting list was too long for one girl, so an 8 year old and her mom started the fashion camp in 2006. It operates in Portland and Los Angeles.
Fashion is communication of identity, aka personal brand, at a distance. Though there have been established wedding designers in Portland, the recent independent creative fashion design movement in Portland began with Kate Towers and Holly Stalder's Seaplane outpost on Belmont. Representing locally adapted microdesigners, Seaplane launched the Portland fashion renaissance. Independent fashion is an important Portland creative vector and that is why it's noted here.
Children are brilliant. Often they are bored. Schools fail more often than not beyond basics. Creative programs engage childrens' brilliance, adapting it to each unique individual. Children are capable of much more than they usually achieve absent challenges. Think back on your own experience.
The Fashion Camp program includes illustration, fabric, sewing, the history of clothing design, silk screen and stencils, reconstructing old clothes, patterns and sizes as well as how to do a photo shoot.
The result of all this is the Fashion Camp fashion show tonight. The show mixes designs on the runway by the camp and some of Portland's brightest designers including Holly Stalder, Kate Towers, Elizabeth Rohloff, Luxury Jones, Frocky Jack Morgan, Sarah Seven and Elizabeth Dye.
The event takes place Friday in the Melody Ballroom, 615 SE Alder. 7PM $10 Advance, $12 door. Under 16 $3
