Last night PORT's Tori Abernathy was on Koin 6 news discussing the Portland Renter's Assembly and the idea of rent control and its something we have been following (check out this review). First of all, the Koin story conveniently cut out any mention of art but the "space" Tori discussed was Recess's old home with studios etc. It was a thriving hive for Portland's vaunted "creative class". I hate that term but it is true a lot of what has made Portland so desirable (artists re-imagining the world) has also pushed many artists out of their hives. The artists are still here (for now) but something should be done as artists are the canaries in Portland's realestate coalmine. Is rent control the answer? Probably not, but it is worth exploring... perhaps 1 year residencies built into new residential projects? What about Vancouver BC's style of Community Amenity Contributions, which I've brought up many times? The simple % for art that such building projects generates isn't the kind of cutting edge art it is displacing. It is tame in many ways and I think of the difference is analogous between that between wild and hatchery salmon when I consider Portland's artist ecosystem and the type of art that is produced in undeveloped vs developed spaces.

With all that in mind Recess is renting from Air BnB for two events in Portland's Alphabet District. The first will be a series of talks on Wednesday then an exhibition on Friday.


Air BnB rental for Recess' latest.

A Good Place To Live: Talking Summary by Steve Kado
When: Wednesday, July 29th 7-8:30PM

Kado's talk is "is an effort to transplant the central issue of classical philosophy, the goal of understanding what would in both material and ethical terms constitute 'a good life.'"

Capacity is limited so RSVP info@recessart.com to reserve a space and address

The second part of the program is an exhibition titled Modern Apartment in Alphabet District. It takes place July 31th, 2015 from 3-7PM with hour long appointments starting and ending on the hour (space is limited to 15 so contact info@recessart.com to get your time and location)

Artists include: Will Elder, Steve Kado and Rebecca Peel and their "Interventions, both architectural and sentimental, agitate the uncanny viscosity of our unknown host's personal brand." It sounds intriguing.