AB 60: Artist Statement

Beneath the humming rails of the Max train on the corner of 5^th Avenue and Southwest Lincoln Street on the edge of Downtown Portland, Oregon, resides a small, dusty, retired, parking garage--now called “AB 60.” It is a dimly lit but warm studio nestled in the underbelly of the Art Annex Building on the Portland State University campus. Entering requires a descent down a narrow driveway into what is now a space where Art Practice students pursuing their Bachelor’s of Fine Arts work independently and collectively to bring their creative ideas to life.

As you walk through this old garage you will find painted parking space lines on the concrete floor and parking spot numbers left stenciled on the walls. White plywood cubicle walls form the blueprint where 15 students hang their artwork and store their toolboxes. It’s the kind of place where you can expect to smell gasoline wafting in through the ventilation holes, hear laughter and secrets revealed by students walking along the sidewalk above, and periodically notice a rejected painting or sculpture from past students hanging high up on a rafter beam out of plain sight. The walls have been impulsively graffitied with bold statements and fierce feelings from past and current artists--fortifying the space with the energy of freedom, individuality, supportiveness, and courage.

In this workspace, we found a place to call our own and a space where we felt comfortable pushing beyond our comfort zones. We learned how to provide encouragement when one of us became doubtful about our abilities, and although sometimes discord, debates, or judgement arose, we remained friends. We gave truthful critiques, providing perspectives from across our disciplines: sculpture, painting, installation, video, illustration, storytelling, and performance. Together this group has its own personality different from past and future cohorts of art students.

Suddenly and shockingly in March of 2020 the value of working in a collective space with a tight-knit group of colleagues became crystal clear. When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down cities worldwide and universities immediately suspended in-person gatherings for the remainder of the school year, this family of artists banded together to transform old methods of working into something that could confront the new and unfamiliar reality of social distance. When we found out that our senior exhibition at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art was cancelled and set to be displayed virtually, our hearts grew heavy, and the efforts and planning from the past year felt unresolved.

From this time of sadness and disappointment emerged the magic that typically resides inside the boundaries of AB 60. Artists stepped up to check in on classmates, making sure that we all stuck together virtually, staying healthy and productive, only modifying what the end goal looks like, and not the solidarity that brought us here--just like a family would. Plenty of cohorts worked together because they had to, but this group stayed together after the pandemic shattered our idea of what the last quarter of our college degree looked like because we wanted to. As it has been said since the nineteenth century, the show must go on!

Katie Costa, Class of 2020