The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) is proud to announce the completion of two large-scale public artworks as part of Phase One of the Portland International Airport Terminal Redevelopment Project (TCORE). This month, we’re celebrating the installation of Sanford Biggers’s suspended sculptures in the post-security area at PDX.

For over two decades, Biggers, a Los Angeles-born, New York-based artist, has been creating work that reinterprets history and culture across a range of mediums, including painting, sculpture, photography, video, and performance. His newly installed floating sculptures are inspired by the region’s rich quilting traditions, evoking themes of movement, transition, and energy—responding to the dynamic environment of one of the Pacific Northwest’s busiest airports.

The completion of Phase One is a significant milestone in the TCORE project, which is part of the broader PDX Next initiative, aimed at transforming the airport experience. We are proud to partner with the Port of Portland, and we continue to enrich our communities and public spaces with art that reflects and uplifts the vibrancy of our region. 

Portrait of Naomi Likayi. Photo by Tim Trautmann. 

In collaboration with Portland Parks & Recreation we are thrilled to announce Naomi Likayi as a Parklane Park Columns Mural Artist! Naomi, a first-generation Congolese American artist, is creating a mural inspired by the Bakongo Dikenga Cosmogram, symbolizing connections between spiritual and physical worlds, the seasons, and ancestral knowledge. Her work, influenced by community input, reminds us of our shared human experience, weaving together themes of time and nature across cultures.

Parklane Park, once an airfield and gravel quarry, is being transformed into a vibrant space for the community. Once finished, the reconstructed park will serve over 2,200 households, providing much-needed recreation and open space for Portland's diverse Centennial neighborhood.

Headshot of Isabella Saavedra by Marceline Novatore.

Please join RACC and Portland Parks & Recreation in celebrating Portland-based artist Isabella Saavedra, selected to create a site-specific interior artwork for Mt. Scott Community Center's soon-to-be renovated main lobby!

Isabella, a member of the Pit River Tribe, Madesi band, with Salvadoran descent, thoughtfully documents her everyday life through painting and stitchwork—a theme she refers to as “now-isms.”

Her upcoming large-scale, mixed-media piece will incorporate stitchwork, painting, and natural dye techniques, drawing inspiration from Portland, its people, and her own experiences within this time and place. The artwork will adorn the multi-story stairwell wall—one of the first features visitors encounter upon entering—and aims to reflect and complement the natural and organic elements of the center's design.

Last weekend, Isabella hosted a Community Dye Event to inform her design process and engage with the community. The dyeing activity was facilitated by Made of Madder, the creative endeavor of local textile artist Cydni Carter Lopez, and lunch was provided by Javelina. 

RACC team members Mario Mesquita, Manager of Advocacy and Engagement, and Accounting Assistant, Shahira Kamal, creating their own bandanas at the community dye workshop! Photo courtesy of Senior Public Art Manager, Salvador Mayoral IV. 

On the set of "Ocean Moon, Water Mother" (海月 水母). Courtesy of Melina Kiyomi Coumas.

Congratulations to everyone who submitted a Portland Arts Project Grant! We now begin the rigorous process of evaluation with the generous care and support of our community reviewers. Awards for this cycle will be announced by the end of February 2025. 

Former grantee Melina Kiyomi Coumas applied for a RACC Arts3C Grant to support her debut narrative short film project. Originally from the island of O'ahu and now based in the Pacific Northwest, Coumas is an award-winning filmmaker. Her film, "Ocean Moon, Water Mother" (海月 水母), follows the journey of an elderly Asian woman being priced out of her family home on O'ahu. Faced with a life-altering decision, she must choose whether to leave the islands for good or find a new beginning, guided by an ancient island entity. The 15-20 minute short was shot on 16mm film on O'ahu, featuring a crew from both Oregon and Hawai’i.

Do you have a RACC supported event that you’d like to share? Please use our grantee event calendar in partnership with Travel Portland!

Now more than ever, RACC needs your financial support as we continue our work to guarantee access to resources and opportunities, and strengthen community through the care we provide as an advocate, a thought partner, and connector.  Make your gift today and join us in harnessing the power of access, community, and care to create a brighter, more vibrant world through the arts!