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We at Future Prairie are excited to announce our latest project: "Flowers for Black Elders". This multidisciplinary, intergenerational oral history art exhibit has archived, showcased, paid, and honored five Black musicians who co-founded the creative scene in Northeast Portland. |
Each of the five artists have shaped and formed Portland's musical culture over several decades and have gone on to become internationally known performers. We interviewed each artist about their life, career, and musical contributions to Portland and the world. Each artist was paid a living wage for their time, as Black Portlanders have not always been fairly compensated for their contributions. Our project aims to correct that while also documenting our history.
Our exhibit goes beyond personal art and engages the Black artist community in a historically Black neighborhood to bear witness to the fact that Portland is gentrifying. Our exhibit will be the first chance for five key Black Portland musicians to have a career retrospective who demonstrated a commitment to preventing gang violence, community outreach, social justice, music education, and offering a beacon of hope to displaced communities. We are sensitive to racial disagreements between communities in historically Black neighborhoods in Portland. Nevertheless, we feel it's important to try. Our exhibit creates opportunities for marginalized artists and ultimately challenges a predominantly white and able-bodied art scene to cultivate talent that reflects our world.
We hope to prioritize and nurture the work and perspectives of these underrepresented segments of the local artist community. BIPOC queer-identified artists are largely represented in our cast and crew. Our proximity to and experience with the struggles of marginalized creatives led us to seek out unique avenues for exposure and identify the need for this exhibit.
We have moved our art studio into the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center as artists in residence alongside Kwik Jones, Machado Mijiga, Lauren Modica, Domo Branch, the Abioto family, Breana DePriest, Aaron Spriggs, James Bullock, Brian Parham, and more. We aim to reactivate this historic site as a center for art and culture. We could use help raising money to host open office hours for guests to visit our "Flowers for Black Elders" exhibit there. We are grateful to have initial funding from OCF's Creative Heights program, which supports unique opportunities for Oregonians to experience innovative arts and culture. We hope that you will consider supporting this vital project. Your donation will help us to pay the artists a living wage, archive and document their work, and bring this exhibit to life.
Thank you for your consideration and support.
Our exhibit goes beyond personal art and engages the Black artist community in a historically Black neighborhood to bear witness to the fact that Portland is gentrifying. Our exhibit will be the first chance for five key Black Portland musicians to have a career retrospective who demonstrated a commitment to preventing gang violence, community outreach, social justice, music education, and offering a beacon of hope to displaced communities. We are sensitive to racial disagreements between communities in historically Black neighborhoods in Portland. Nevertheless, we feel it's important to try. Our exhibit creates opportunities for marginalized artists and ultimately challenges a predominantly white and able-bodied art scene to cultivate talent that reflects our world.
We hope to prioritize and nurture the work and perspectives of these underrepresented segments of the local artist community. BIPOC queer-identified artists are largely represented in our cast and crew. Our proximity to and experience with the struggles of marginalized creatives led us to seek out unique avenues for exposure and identify the need for this exhibit.
We have moved our art studio into the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center as artists in residence alongside Kwik Jones, Machado Mijiga, Lauren Modica, Domo Branch, the Abioto family, Breana DePriest, Aaron Spriggs, James Bullock, Brian Parham, and more. We aim to reactivate this historic site as a center for art and culture. We could use help raising money to host open office hours for guests to visit our "Flowers for Black Elders" exhibit there. We are grateful to have initial funding from OCF's Creative Heights program, which supports unique opportunities for Oregonians to experience innovative arts and culture. We hope that you will consider supporting this vital project. Your donation will help us to pay the artists a living wage, archive and document their work, and bring this exhibit to life.
Thank you for your consideration and support.
Featured Musicians
Artists in residence at our temporary studio for this project, located at Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center (IFCC)!
Huge thanks
Huge thanks
- to Antoinette Edwards, Dr. S. Renee Mitchell, and Jeana Woolley of the Community Advisory Committee
- to Soo Pak, Arts, Culture & Special Events Manager at Portland Parks & Recreation
- to everyone at City of Portland and Rubio's office who advocated for this funding