If you missed the gathering or the accumulated installation of Chris Rauschenberg’s project for the South Waterfront, you can click here to see the 60+ images that he captured of the interior life of the neighborhood.  

When I hear people talk about the South Waterfront district, the conversations most often center on the “green” nature of the architecture, on the development’s proximity to the river, or on the unique access to public transportation found in the tram and streetcar.   Thus far, all of these aspects of the neighborhood have been well documented photographically, particularly the buildings themselves.   Enter the incredible photographic artist, Christopher Rauschenberg, February’s guest artist in the AiR program.  Chris was much more interested in what and who was inside the towers.  As he puts it, the everyday “living and being” of the place.  We queried residents to see if they would let Chris eddying in their homes for an hour or so in order to let him capture the more human side of the development.  What resulted was 12 invitations and 60+ images now on the walls in the AiR studio.  With several residences and a week still to go, the totality of Chris’ portrait of the inside life of the neighborhood is still emerging.  Below find some samplings from early visits.  Please plan on joining us in the studio - Thursday, Feb. 28th, from 6:30-8p, for the culminating exhibit of Chris’ project - Looking at the South Waterfront.       

 There stands David on the bank of our city’s great river in the heart of the South Waterfront neighborhood.  In the background, one can spot an osprey nest seemingly floating in the trees on the not-too-distant Ross Island.  In the foreground, culled from a the title of a recent Oates essay, the offering - “what we love will save us.” This is the juxtaposition of wildness and urbanity that David has spent his life as a writer and activist thinking about - how our human world of thinking and feeling connects with the larger world of natural wildness.  And, as is evident from the “where” of this photo, David’s January project for the South Waterfront AiR program - Of Time and the River and the Big Shiny Buildings, continues his exploration of these ideas.  In a series community writing workshops over the month, David has invited interested thinkers to discover, discuss and write the past, present and future history - geologic, social, cultural, political and natural - of the SWF area.   Generous, embodied and in David’s words, “connected” writing has resulted from these collective sessions.  On Wednesday evening, January 30th, in the AiR studio, David and workshop participants will share this work in a form and style that David likens to a three-movement, bebop word symphony - layered, syncopated, bold.  David will also read from a personal work created over his month in the district, two weeks of which he spent as an “insider” living in the Meriwether East.  Please join us at 7p on this evening for dessert and generous literary treats.  

On Saturday, Dec. 22nd, over 125 people taunted the rain and cold by venturing down to the SWF to see Tahni Holt’s - The Party Project.  The fourth artist in the SWF Monthly Guest Artist series, Tahni worked with a cast of 30 volunteer performers, musician/composers Kate O’Brien-Clarke, Corrina Repp and Joe Haege, and lighting designer Bill Boese to create a strolling dance event that caught the only dry spell in nearly two straight days of rain.  If you missed the performance or want to be reminded of some of its beauty, a chronological photo essay follows.  All these photos and the others on AiR page are by Yalcin Erhan, the AiR Program photographer. Folks began to gather at about 3:45p in the Bella Espresso for a 4p show.  While frigid outside, everyone was greeted with hot cider or cocoa to warm their bones.   When critical mass had happened, we moved everyone outside for short introduction.Enough said, let the performance begin!   Space #1  -  A leased but as yet unbuilt-out retail space in the base of Atwater Place.         After a toast and then some breaking of glass (cups not windows), the audience strolled in a caroling-style fashion to site #2 - a second floor balcony on the courtyard of the John Ross plaza.   This time from below, the audience watched the second scene.      At the conclusion of episode two, all were finally invited inside into the Artist in Residence studio for the third and final event, an actual party (birthday).    This is just a glimpse of 30 minutes of stunning performance.  Visit the site again in a few weeks to see video clips from all three sites. 

• Music created and played by: Kate O’Brien-Clarke, Corrina Repp and Joe Haege; Lighting by Bill Boese

• Saturday, Dec. 22nd 4p; one performance only
• South Waterfront neighborhood 
• Meet at the Bella Espresso Cafe, 3580 SW River Parkway
•   Portland-based dance artist Tahni Holt has been creating The Party Project as part of her month-long residency in the South Waterfront district. Drawn from the cinematic experience of viewing movies on screen, the performance takes place inside three different buildings in the SWF neighborhood - a condominium, an unoccupied retail space and the Artist in Residence studio, and uses the situation of a party to explore the phenomena of watching and being watched.  The performance will be seen through the windows and balconies of these spaces. With hot chocolate or cider in hand, audience will stroll between these sites, watching the performance from the outside. The event will end as a large party/gathering in the AiR studio for the entire “cast” - inside performers and outside observers.  The work has been developed and rehearsed on site in collaboration with a 30-person cast of both experienced dancers and volunteer movers.   As research for this event, Holt has spent many of her residency hours in the studio watching movies that contain classic party scenes - Lolita, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Party, 8 1/2, and the list goes on.  The project additionally makes reference to the dilemma between the public/private that is so often evident in architecture that incorporates wide expanses of glass surface area that invite and/or allow observation.  

On Wednesday, Nov. 27th - despite a pelting cold rain, more than 100 artists, filmmakers, writers, radio producers and SWF residents joined November Guest Artist, Peabody-award winning artist Dmae Roberts, in the AiR studio for the screening of her new flash movie. Created as part of her SWF project - “Can I Tell you Something?”, this “radio with pictures” montage included the writing and voices of over 30 particpants from Dmae’s month-long series of writing workshops exploring secrets - how we hold them, why we tell them and what role they serve in our lives. Dmae also screened - Secret Asian (passing), her personal flash movie addressing this topic, which was created with project grant support from the Regional Arts and Culture Council.

Each a little more than 5 minutes in length, the movies are available for viewing anytime in the AiR studio and are available for web screening by following these links: Click here to see the Secrets flash movie: . To see Dmae’s personal piece, Secret Asian (passing), click here. Or, drop by the studio to view these works, as well as projects by Tim DuRoche (September/07), Dana Lynn Louis (October/07) or Tahni Holt (December/07).