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We’re excited to announce that a new staff person will be joining Blue Sky in a couple weeks: Amanda Clem! She will become Blue Sky’s new Membership and Gallery Manager on October 1.

Amanda comes to Blue Sky with great enthusiasm and experience in nonprofit communications, donor relations, and event planning at the Museum of Contemporary Craft, YU Contemporary, the Right Brain Initiative, among others.  Here she is, snapped in front of W.M. Hunt’s installation of “The Unseen Eye“:

So, how do you feel about all this, Amanda? “Over the last four years I’ve volunteered and involved myself a lot in the Portland art community, and I’m so thrilled that I now have the opportunity to represent such an influential organization as Blue Sky. It will be so great to get to know all of its wonderful supporters — past, present, and future!”

Amanda will be at the Front Desk regularly during Blue Sky’s open hours Tuesday through Saturday. Please make a point of introducing yourself when you see her. Welcome to Blue Sky, Amanda!

UPDATE August 2, 2012: we are no longer accepting applications for this position.

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We’re seeking the ideal candidate for a brand new position: Membership and Gallery Manager. Could it be you?

If you’re looking for a full-time job in one of Portland’s exciting visual arts organizations, if you have experience working with patrons and members in a gallery environment, if you are skilled at managing simultaneous tasks and projects, and if you have a great interest in contemporary photography, then have a look at the full job description here.

The position is open until filled. And, please, no phone or email inquiries.

Portland Photo Month is here!

At Blue Sky, not only are we excited to be presenting the amazing work of photographers John Faier and Critical Mass 2011 Solo Exhibition Award winner Nigel Dickinson, we are also pleased to debut 68 new bodies of work in the Pacific Northwest Photography Viewing Drawers (“Drawers”).

During January of this year, jurors Laura Moya of Photolucida and Clint Willour of the Galveston Arts Center reviewed more than 175 submissions from photographers across the region. Here’s what they had to say about the process and making the final selection:

FIrst, Laura…

I entered this process thinking about the identity of a “Pacific Northwest” photographer is there such a thing? Would viewing the Drawers submissions give shape to any kind of regional definition?

Ultimately, for me, the answer was “not obviously.”

Projects such as Birthe Piontek’s “The Idea of North” and Hal Gage’s “Strangers: Tidal Erratics of Turnagain Arm” are Northwestern explorations, but some submissions covered grounds as far-flung as Africa, China, and Paris. And, a large percentage of work examined interior landscapes, portraiture, and conceptual ideas.

So, this question answered, I turned to jurying the work on individual merit. First, strong work should have an original point of view, and not too derivative of other well-known artists. Second, one should always avoid visual clichés. Third, work should not rely primarily on technique–even if technique is flawless, what is the point? What is one trying to say with one’s work?

I enjoyed viewing original, personal work where the photographer has a well-crafted, consistent sensibility. I cannot emphasize enough that a brief, strong, thoughtful artist statement goes a long way. Before one puts work out into the world, define what makes it compelling for others.

I look forward to seeing the work in person!

Now, Clint…

I am very pleased with the final selection we arrived at independently of each other. I am impressed with the variety of subject matter, scale, photographic techniques, and price point. I think patrons of the gallery will have a wide spectrum of choices and a broad overview of the quality of work being produced in the five states and Canadian province that comprise the selection area. Like Laura, in the process of viewing the images, I came to the conclusion that there was no overriding “Pacific Northwest” school of imagery. I am delighted that we selected work from all five states and from British Columbia. I, too, look forward to seeing the real objects.

Blue Sky 2012 Pacific Northwest Photography Viewing Drawers from Blue Sky on Vimeo.

Make Blue Sky a stop on your Portland Photo Month tour and be sure to have a look in our Drawers.

Many of you, dear readers, may have attended one or more of the special events that marked Blue Sky’s milestone birthday celebration in October 2010. If so, it’s possible–if not probable–that you remember our inspired collaboration with the Impossible Project that was exhibited the entirety of that month. With the Impossible Project’s generous donation of several vintage cameras and an arsenal of Silver Shade instant film, we equipped several Portland luminaries and longtime friends of the organization with strict instructions to have some photographic fun. Participants included three of Blue Sky’s five founding photographers–Christopher Rauschenberg, Robert DiFranco, and Ann Hughes–in addition to fellow artists Vanessa Renwick and Shawn Records, Portland Art Museum curators Bruce Guenther and Julia Dolan, musicians Thomas Lauderdale and Rufus Wainright, Mayor Sam Adams, and many more. They did not disappoint! The resulting instant photos were each auctioned off to an eager collector at our birthday gala, venturing off to locales far beyond the gallery walls.

To celebrate the organization and its history–-and to recognize its spirited traits of experimentation, warmth, humor, and exceptional taste in photography–we asked some of our supporters to help us publish a commemorative book in collaboration with Ampersand Gallery & Fine Books. 35 documents the complete set of instant photos created for the occasion of Blue Sky’s special birthday and is available to Blue Sky Book Level Members and higher.

Furthermore, the volume is dedicated to the memory of Joan Shipley, a beloved member of Portland’s art community and a dear friend of Blue Sky, who we lost to cancer in September 2011. Joan helped to plan Blue Sky’s 35th birthday festivities, and the book includes a very special image of her viewing the collection of photographs during the auction.

We could not be happier to share 35 with you, and encourage you to become a member at $75 or higher to receive your very own copy while they last!