Just some of the crowd at the PICA's Precipice Fund announcements

Now in its second year The Precipice Fund was designed to foster the otherwise difficult to fund projects and alternative spaces that have become a major hallmark of Portland's very active art scene through a regranting program administered by PICA. Overall, it is good to see so many in round II that PORT have pointed out in our previous 3 New Faces segments here, here, and here.

19 artist/collaborations/spaces will receive a share of $75,000. What is incredibly valuable is the way it funds somewhat unproven/experimental projects that broaden the programming scope of projects that in most cases would have taken place even without this aid. This is all very important as it is essentially an exploratory progressive grant rather than one that is backloaded on previous history (though progressive Portlands funding sources tend to be safer rather than risk taking). Congratulations everyone. Here's the list as described by PICA:

At the Drive-IN $3,000
William Rihel, Jeffry Richardson, Casey Keasler, Amy Fredericks A series of outdoor events in the summer of 2015 that will present locally made video, film, performances and installations from various local curators. Programming will be presented in a 27-car parking lot in Northeast Portland, adjacent to a two-story building that serves as a projection screen.

Bcc: BrownHall $5,000
Collaborators: Sharita Towne, Joy Davis, Diamond Ferguson, sidony o’neal, keyon gaskin, Alex Riedlinger A collective of Black artists who will present interdisciplinary art programming to address the dearth of Black Art and creative spaces in Portland. This programming includes art and performance related gatherings, workshops, and an annual printed publication highlighting the works of artists and members of the largely marginalized Black community in Portland.

Composition $3,000
Collaborators: Kayleigh Nelson, Grace Hwang An alternative space in Chinatown, whose intimate setting presents a backdrop for exhibitions, performances, projects, workshops and lectures by local and national artists. Composition focuses on bringing together mediums to create a dialogue between visual art, performance, video, music, and writing.

Free Spirit News $5,000
Collaborators: Joshua Kermiet, Corey Lunn, Raf Spielman, Jeffery Kriksciun A free, local community newspaper that presents irreverent and engaging content, including comics, puzzles, poetry, jokes, doodles, and generally untethered expression by local artists. Inspired by early Mad Magazine, Zap Comics, and Mothers News, Free Spirit News presents irreverence and creativity as the "news of the spirit."

I;d Rather Goya Robbed Me of my Sleep than Some Other Son of a Bitch $2,400
Collaborators: Ruth Wikler-Luker, Jude Christian, Molly Gardner A presentation of Rodrigo García's performance text, Prefiero que me quite el sueño Goya a que lo haga cualquier hijo de puta, in the space of a visual art gallery. Curated by Ruth Wikler-Luker of Boom Arts and directed by London-based Jude Christian.

Habitat $2,500
Collaborators: Kello, Emily Wobb, Desiree Mariscal A visual art installation created through collaging video of Pacific Northwest natural scenes as a massive symmetrical mandala. The work will be presented in the Foster-Powell neighborhood and aims to inspire wilderness engagement.

HQHQ Project Space $4,200
Collaborators: Andre Filipek, Johnny Ray Alt An artist run exhibition and project space located in inner Southeast Portland, committed to presenting high caliber, multidisciplinary work by local, national, and international artists. The coming year of programming aims to enrich local art and artists’ relationships to de-centralized contemporary art ecologies and global networks.

Moving Out $4,000 Collaborators: Tori Abernathy, Ross Young, Max Smith-Holmes A series of programming organized by RECESS, composed of temporary exhibitions and events in the Portland area. This programming is motivated by a curatorial strategy focusing on the use of public, alternative, and under utilized spaces by West Coast artists who make work using radical aesthetics and thought.

Muscle Beach $4,500
Collaborators: Flynn Casey, Tony Chrenka A collaborative, nomadic curatorial project that focuses on exhibiting emerging and established artists from the Portland area and other regions. Working outside of the hierarchical gallery format and centralized space, Muscle Beach encourages the collaboration between artist and curator to create installations in different locations around Portland.

One Flaming Arrow $5,000
Collaborators: Demian Diné Yazhi', Kaila Farrell-Smith, Carlee Smith, Thomas GreyEyes, R.I.S.E (Radical Indigenous Survivance & Empowerment) An Intertribal music, art, and film festival dedicated to sustaining the creative practices of Indigenous Peoples of the americas. This two-week art and music festival aims to invigorate a network of Indigenous artists and musicians whose work will push against contemporary notions of Native art by disrupting the narrow categories established by western art institutions.

Physical Education $5,000
Collaborators: Allie Hankins, keyon gaskin, Taka Yamamoto, Lucy Lee Yim Artist-run workshops offering visual, contemporary performance artists, audiences, and curious individuals immersive modes to engage with performance work and their bodies. PE will organize and host reading groups, lectures, curated performances, aerobics classes and dance parties in an effort to inspire critical dialogues between artists of varying disciplines and practices while deepening their sense of embodiment.

Portland 'Pataphysical Society $3,000

Collaborators: Josephine Zarkovich, David Huff, Crystal June Rome, Lionel DiGiacomo A domestic alternative arts space located in Old Town, offering exhibitions and events that take intelligent risks in the pursuit of the absurd and unachievable. The ‘Pataphysical Society will present programming over the course of 2015 bringing national and local artists together to present challenging, non-commercial works.

PREQUEL Professional Development Program For Artists $4,000
Collaborators: Ryan Woodring, Alexis Roberto A four-month artist incubator program consisting of workshops and guest critiques that aims to educate local artists in a practicum of professional development skills. PREQUEL includes a mentorship program between the participants and established members of the arts community, and will culminate in a group exhibition of the participants’ work.

Radical Imagination Gymnasium $3,000
Collaborators: Travis Neel, Erin Charpentier, Patricia Vazquez, Zachary Gough A multi-phase project presenting a series of public workshops and presentations, accompanied by a research based publication, that will examine, strengthen and articulate the radical imagination. Through their programming, the Radical Imagination Gymnasium will delve into how art, artists, and creatives from other disciplines reimagine and reproduce new political and social systems.

Surplus Space $4,500
Collaborators: Gabe Flores, Maggie Heath An alternative, artist run project space located in a residential home, offering interdisciplinary artists an opportunity to produce and show work that is in direct dialogue with current unfolding issues of social and political significance.

TakerLab $4,000
Collaborators: Liam Drain, Beth Wooten, Brian Mumford, Jeff Clenaghen, Zareen Price, Sara Daegling A series of public workshop and performance events organized by the IT503 collective intending to facilitate site-specific discussions that relate a critical text to a location in Portland. Through presentation, lecture, open conversation and entertainment, TakerLab will support an open dialogue about social and political issues. they said don't bring her home $3,400
Collaborators: Sidony O’Neal, Ariella Tai A month-long film and performance series that transgresses genre and illuminates performative avenues through which Black women navigate, assert and translate respect and respectability across location, medium, and memory. they said don’t bring her home will present multimedia programming, including film, dance and performance, to create a space for Black artists, educators and performers in the Portland area to discuss the issues of agency, respect and respectability.

The Visual Quality Objectives and Sound Management Collective $5,000
Collaborators: Lisa Schonberg, Amy Wheeler Harwood, Leif J Lee An arts collective that will create collaborative work drawing attention to pressing conservation issues affecting the Mt Hood National Forest. The collective will focus on sites that are being considered for logging and whose ecological importance warrants conservation, creating work in response that will be presented online, in print media, and several public exhibits.

Worksound International $4,500 Collaborators: Modou Dieng, Jesse Siegal
A space in Southeast Portland whose exhibition programming focuses on diverse international practices. Worksound International's programs will be accompanied by an online component and video series, aiming to place local and international communities in conversation with one another.

Precipice Fund is supported by: the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the Calligram Foundation/Allie Furlotti, as part of the Regional Regranting Program of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts