Willamette University’s Pacific Northwest College of Art will feature student artists at the Holiday Makers Market. The event runs from Thursday through Saturday and will feature original artwork and crafts made by students. The college will also project animations and art created by students, staff and faculty during First Thursday in Portland’s Pearl District. Meghann Gilligan is the assistant director of public programming for the school and Dylan Mead is a student organizer of the market. We’ll hear more from them about how the events teach students through experiential learning.
Note: The following transcript was transcribed digitally and validated for accuracy, readability and formatting by an OPB volunteer.
Dave Miller: This is Think Out Loud on OPB. I’m Dave Miller. The Pacific Northwest College of Art’s Holiday Makers Market starts tonight and it runs through Saturday. It’ll feature original art and crafts made by PNCA students. The college, which is a part of Willamette University, is also putting on a large-scale temporary installation tonight, a series of projections on the exterior of its building in Portland’s Pearl District, as part of the neighborhood’s First Thursday event. It’ll feature animation and visual art created by students, staff and faculty.
Meghann Gilligan is the assistant director of public programming for the school. Dylan Mead is a senior at PNCA and a student organizer of the market. They both join us now. It’s great to have both of you on the show.
Meghann Gilligan: Thank you so much.
Dylan Mead: It’s great to be here.
Miller: Meghann, first – How do you describe the projection project?
Gilligan: Yes. The projection project is really an amazing collaboration. It’s led by a faculty member in our Animated Arts Department, Marilyn Zornado, as well as Megan McKissack who leads our Creative Technology Lab. And this has been a multi-month project where we have collected submissions from students, staff and faculty across all of the different departments at PNCA – lots of animations but also illustrations, graphics, some photographs, motion images. So it’s really all going to come together in this really beautiful way to activate the facade of PNCA’s building by lighting it up for First Thursday.
Miller: How big is it?
Gilligan: PNCA is five stories. So the projections will reach totally from the bottom to the top of PNCA, and really kind of bring the building to life, and be kind of a beacon for all of the neighborhood and the folks who are coming out for First Thursday to be able to see the work of our students and community.
Miller: How much collaboration was required to make this all happen?
Gilligan: I mean, so much of what we do at PNCA is very collaborative. And so this was a, I’d say, three month collaboration between myself, Megan McKissack, Marilyn Zornado. Marilyn worked with her students in her class to kind of help them learn the ways to prepare artwork and prepare animations for this kind of incredible shift in scale than they’re used to, a lot larger than they’re used to. And then Megan led some workshops in the Creative Technology Lab for anyone who wasn’t in that department to be able to participate and learn how to adapt their artwork for this particular canvas.
Miller: Dylan, there’s also the Holiday Market, which starts tonight. It goes for four days. Can you describe the market?
Mead: Yeah. So this is an annual event that we’ve been having for, I don’t know how long. But every year, the student council puts on this event to be able to get students involved in the Portland community, sell their work, get professional development as well.
Miller: I want to hear about what you mean by professional development, but what was last year’s market like?
Mead: So last year’s market, it was sort of the same time of the year, about 45 students participating and it was a little quiet. We had a hard time trying to kind of connect the Portland community to our school. But this year we more than doubled the participation of students, so we have 90 students participating this year.
Miller: And were you one of the people who was responsible for getting your fellow students to participate?
Mead: Yes.
Miller: How did you do that?
Mead: We have posters all around the school, word of mouth, trying to flex graphic design to get people to sort of participate and trust me in my vision and what we have.
Miller: What is your vision?
Mead: Hopefully, the biggest event we’ve had so far, really bridging the gap between the Portland community and PNCA students, being able to really make this a big deal, and let students show off their work and sell as much as possible.
Miller: So am I right that in other similar kinds of markets, sellers, artists, craft makers, whoever, they have to pay to have a table there?
Mead: Yeah.
Miller: How much might a table cost?
Gilligan: Yes, I actually have a background doing a lot of the craft shows and makers markets. Tables range anywhere from $300 to $1,000, depending which market. So it’s a really big financial output and kind of a risk for emerging artists, especially younger artists who are still building their following and building awareness around the folks who might want to purchase their work and support them. So, yeah, being able to provide free tables to PNCA students is really, I think, a great way for them to be able to take this risk, but in a safe space where it’ll be a learning experience, it’s professional practices, it’s learning about entrepreneurship and promoting themselves. It’s learning about the market and what sorts of things folks want to buy. Then they can do that without having to pay anything upfront and end up kind of losing money on the whole experience
Miller: And then the proceeds – 100% goes to the artist?
Mead: One hundred percent. Everyone’s handling their own booth, like how it would be at a regular makers market. And with that, 100% of the proceeds.
Miller: Can you give us a sense … have you already seen the things that are gonna be for sale or is it a surprise to you even?
Mead: I mean, over 90 artists. I can’t keep track of all of them, but I have some friends who are selling some amazing jewelry, stickers, their shirts, ceramics, art prints and pretty much anything you could think of.
Miller: What about you? What are you gonna be making for it?
Mead: I have stickers. I sell stickers, postcards, prints, selling some t-shirts, anything I can do to get my creative drive going, but also hopefully sell that.
Miller: So we’re talking … it’s almost 1p.m. on Thursday. So there’s only, I don’t know, five hours or so. Are you going to leave here and go make more stuff to sell, or are you done?
Mead: I have to cut some stuff. I have to prep, I have to pack and we’re doing balloon arches right now.
Gilligan: The students have done a really beautiful job of transforming the space. There are balloon arches and festive decorations. There will be music. We’ll also be having free hot cocoa and hot beverages from Yo’s food cart. So we’re really making this like a festive thing. It’s totally free for anybody from the public to stop by.
Miller: Dylan, I’m curious – PNCA students, you can take the skills you’re learning there and go in a really wide variety of ways doing industrial design or illustration, fine art, and everything in between. What kinds of conversations do you have with classmates about this particular venue? And the philosophy of one-on-one sales to people who are just sort of stopping by … how do you think about making sales like that?
Mead: It’s so important to have multiple streams of income as an artist. Especially in Portland, like Meghann said, these art sales are really important to artists, getting some extra income and help supporting yourself as an artist. But this is just also a really great community connection. You’re making one-on-one connections with people, whether it’s just them buying your artwork or maybe just making connections in a way that’s more professional. People are coming from art agencies and people in the artistic community of Portland who are interested in your work. So it’s also been a way for people to market themselves as artists, getting business cards made, showing a display that’s really nice and appealing visually, so you can represent yourself as an artist for those future opportunities.
Miller: Meghann, we’re talking about related, sort of overlapping but separate projects here. Is it just one night only, the projection project?
Gilligan: Yes, the projection project will just be tonight for First Thursday, from 5 to 8 p.m.
Miller: And then the Makers Market which will go for four days. What does it mean to you, right now, to have these neighborhood events in Portland, in a part of Portland that’s been close to the epicenter of a whole bunch of conversations about the “death” of Portland, the “catastrophe,” the “chaos” of Portland. I’m putting all these words in quotes. Hopefully, people can hear that with my voice. But the downtown core, what does it mean to you to be doing these events in Portland right now?
Gilligan: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, something I definitely want to focus on is that art is going to be a huge part, and is a huge part of Portland’s renaissance and culture, and who we are here, and continuing to support that through showing up for our area that we’re in – the North Park Blocks. And we were really lucky to get a grant from the city of Portland to specifically amp up our First Thursdays for us and our neighbors in that area, which has faced some challenges. So we’ve been able to really build out our programming, add new events, add DJs. We’ve had a public mural that we invited the public to come paint with us on PNCA’s front porch, black top area. So really trying to get the word out and invite people to come down into our area in the North Park Blocks, and come together to celebrate creativity, and to celebrate community, and to connect around the joy and fun that really art and creativity can bring.
Miller: Dylan, you are a senior. Do you see a future for yourself in Portland as an artist, as a maker, as a creative person?
Mead: Absolutely. Like I said, so many opportunities in Portland, whether it’s the markets, mural opportunities, lots of design agencies. It’s Nike and Adidas, and things like that. There’s so many opportunities in Portland and a really creative community. But an event like this is so important in connecting the two. So while we’re still in school, connecting us to this community is super important because we don’t want to flounder when we graduate.
Miller: I recognize there is also high rent. But you see a viable path forward for yourself, cobbling together a whole bunch of creative jobs, in a sense. That’s sort of what I hear when you mention all those different things. You’re envisioning making money from a variety of things and then together having that pay your way?
Mead: Yeah. And there’s so much community here, as long as we stick together. And to the people listening, showing up to these events, it’s what can get us going.
Gilligan: Yeah, really supporting emerging artists, I think. And that’s what we really try to do with our curriculum and all of our events at PNCA, is really help students figure out what that transition between being in school to living thriving, creative lives after school, what that looks like and the different pathways that are possible there.
Miller: Meghann, Dylan, thanks very much.
Mead: Thank you.
Gilligan: Thank you so much.
Miller: Meghann Gilligan is the assistant director of public programming at Willamette University’s Pacific Northwest College of Art in downtown Portland, or the North Park Blocks. Dylan Mead is an organizer of this Maker’s Market holiday market.
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