PROJECT PARTICIPANTS:

Malia Jensen (b.1966, Honolulu, HI) is a Portland-based artist working primarily in sculpture and video. Jensen’s materially driven practice combines the tactile assertion of the hand-made with complex psychological narratives, physical comedy, and a quest for harmony and understanding. Jensen’s large-scale bronze sculpture, Endless Pigeons, can be seen on the plaza of the Patricia Reser Center for the Arts in downtown Beaverton, OR. Her multi-year project, Nearer Nature, received support from the Creative Heights Initiative of the Oregon Community Foundation, spanning the state of Oregon in 2019-2020 and concluding with a six hour animal-surveillance-based video entitled, Worth Your Salt, now in the permanent collection of the Portland Art Museum (Portland, OR). Jensen has been an Artist in Residence at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation (Captiva, FL), Ucross Foundation (Clearmont, WY), Headlands Center for the Arts (Sausalito, CA), Portland Garment Factory, and GLEAN (Portland, OR). She has been a visiting artist and speaker at Whitman College (Walla Walla, WA), Southern Oregon University (Ashland, OR), Pacific Northwest College of Art (Portland, OR), Massachusetts College of Art and Design (Boston, MA), and Eastern Oregon University (La Grande, OR). Her work can be found in many public and private collections nationally and throughout the Northwest. Jensen has a BFA from the Pacific Northwest College of Art and has been represented by Elizabeth Leach Gallery since 2006.

Sara Siestreem (Hanis Coos) b. 1976, is a multidisciplinary artist from the Umpqua River Valley on the South Coast of Oregon, working in painting, photography, printmaking, weaving, and large-scale installation. Siestreem combines the ceremonial traditions of her ancestors with contemporary modes and materials at the intersection of social and ecological justice, education, and Indigenous feminism. Siestreem was awarded the University of Oregon’s 2022-23 CFAR Fellowship and the 2022 Forge Project Fellowship, one of six Indigenous individuals representing a broad diversity of cultural practices, participatory research, organizing models, and geographic contexts that honor Indigenous pasts as well as build Native futures. Her work is in many collections including the Gochman Family Foundation (Miami, FL), Forge Project (Mahicannituck (Hudson River) Valley, NY), Missoula Art Museum (Missoula MT), Museum of Fine Art (Boston, MA), and the Portland Art Museum (Portland, OR). Her artwork was recently included in the landmark 2023 book An Indigenous Present, conceived and edited by Jeffrey Gibson (Mississippi Choctaw/Cherokee). Siestreem comes from a family of professional artists and educators; her training began in the home. Her lifelong mentor is Lillian Pitt (Wasco, Warm Springs, Yakama) and her weaving teachers are Greg Archuleta (Grand Ronde) and Greg A. Robinson (Chinook Nation). Siestreem graduated Phi Kappa Phi with a BS from Portland State University in 2005. She earned an MFA with distinction from Pratt Art Institute in 2007. She created a self-sustaining weaving program for the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians. She lives and works in Portland, Oregon and is represented by the Elizabeth Leach Gallery.

Portland Park Foundation (PPF), a city-wide parks nonprofit, helps people help parks. PPF mobilizes support to enhance Portland’s system of parks and public spaces, helping communities create more equitable access to nature and health, play and places of connection.  PPF supports hundreds of park friends and partner groups through awards, grants, workshops, fiscal support and community conversations leading to safer, more inclusive, and a more sustainable parks system. PPF also partners with community members and the city to bring projects to life like our biggest project to date, the Barbara Walker Crossing - a pedestrian bridge connecting Forest Park and Washington Park over West Burnside, and the restoration of the Thompson Elk Fountain. Thanks to a unique, public/private partnership, PPF funded the feasibility study and design phase of the Elk Fountain restoration project through generous private donations. This investment will ensure the return of the Elk Fountain and accelerate the restoration process by as much as a year.  To learn more about PPF, visit www.portlandpf.org.

Mullowney Printing is a multi-faceted print publishing studio run by co-directors Paul Mullowney and Harry Schneider located in Northwest Portland. The studio strives to be a hub of innovation, experimentation, collaboration, and education which celebrates our diverse communities.  Mullowney Printing supports apprenticeships, artist residencies, workshops, high school internships, and community partnerships providing mentorship to underserved communities. The studio is also a leading publisher of traditional print media: etching, relief, photogravure, lithograph, silk screen and letterpress editions by emerging and established artists from the Northwest region and beyond. Recent publications include gift prints supporting the Portland Art Museum by Jeffry Gibson and Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, monotypes by Stephen Hayes and Jeremy Okai Davis, and etchings by Marie Watt, Storm Tharp, and Jessica Jackson Hutchins. The publication of the Thompson Elk Fountain lithograph is the studio’s third collaborative project with the Portland Parks Foundation. Visit www.mullowneyprinting.com to learn more.