Last July, when I was beginning the process of inviting artists to submit project proposals for the AiR program’s Monthly Guest Artist series, several artists who I deeply respect told me about a project that an artist fairly new to Portland was incubating. I was unaware of both the artist and the project but was so fascinated that I had to learn more. I made a call, set up a time to get together and a few days later shared breakfast with artist Adam Kuby.Adam told me about a lot of projects that he was working on and I told him about the kind of work I was interested in including in the place-making project for the South Waterfront. We kept coming back to his musings about acupuncture, urban places and the idea of looking at a city as a body in order to evaluate its health. As a dance artist, patient of Five Elements acupuncture and native Oregonian and Portlander, I allowed my mind to really linger on this image of Portland as a body and the prospect of using the concepts of acupuncture to evaluate its health. Where, I wondered, would this new SWF neighborhood find itself in this metaphorical body and what would its qi be? I was fascinated by both the poetry and potential of this image for the city. We talked about March, the energy of spring and his availability. July has become March and Adam’s project is now in full swing.
SIGN UP FOR UPDATES