It is you final notice, today is the deadline to apply for the Betty Bowen award. Last year Ralph Pugay won it... a very rare thing for a Portlander to get this Seattle award despite Portland's Contemporary Northwest Art Awards' Schnitzer prize always going to Seattle artists. I chock that up to Portland's only true envy of Seattle... institutional patronage and I wish we would be less overt about it. Of course, Seattle would do well to seem less threatened as well. Just get over it. Overall, Portland and Seattle are true sister cities that find different approaches to similar concerns. Call it more sibling rivals that are all in the family than pure rivals. Lastly, the $10 application fee is still lame. Deadline: August 1st

Tomorrow is the application deadline for the Portland2016 biennial, curated by Michelle Grabner. Ive made no secret that I dislike how most of these institutional survey shows are handled and this series is no exception. It is more about an institution ingratiating itself and the artists as a collection of names, rather than anything with intellectual integrity. In other words its just the gears of a process, which produces exhibitions that don't tell us much more than a list of names. In this case that misplaced "list lust" has been consistently behind the curve... focused ob "names" who were breaking out 4 years ago (two show cycles). Michelle is a very bright old friend and I'm sure she will find a way to do something more interesting than "reheated regionalist Whitney Biennial leftover artist casserole" here. These things should pull surprises, introduce some new names etc. to be relevant and so far it hasn't had much of an effect on artists career in Portland (more like something that tagged along after the fact). Hopefully, its a good show and not just another list, the Portland art scene is far more sophisticated/dynamic than that and this is an opportunity for Disjecta to step up sophistication wise. Yes, there is an even lamer $20 entry fee. Deadline August 21st, apply here.

Just a reminder the next round Precipice Fund grants will open August 17, Deadline October 9.