- Ooooooh, are those sculptures made of natural materials???
Think DK Row broke a scandal wide open with his article about YU? Check out what the Dobbz dug up, bitches.
An ambitious independent alternative space in Northeast Portland has the local arts community buzzing.
More than twenty people showed up on Last Thursday to Appendix Project Space, an alternative gallery that aims to attract twenty-something no names from areas as exotic as Philadelphia.
The crowd chugged margaritas and tallboys inside the garage-turned gallery. Supporters point out that Appendix Project Space could be the catalyst to get people to stop pretending that PLACE at Pioneer Place Mall is even remotely interesting.
But already, the cracks are showing.
Appendix Project Space is soliciting donations, with plans to spend nearly $130 this year on paint, spackle and mudding tape. Its five officers, four local to Portland and one living on the east coast, are planning to launch a several hundred dollar campaign to renovate their garage even further — a garage that they do not own.
Yet they’re cagey on almost every aspect of the project, from their relationship with their landlord to the artists that they intend to pursue. The officers also appear to be skirting city and state rules — selling beers and cocktails at openings, for example, though the city lists it for use only as a place to park your car.
Appendix has not been cited for any rule violation, nor is it under any investigation. But other local arts leaders are growing suspicious, questioning Appendix’s finances, long-term stability, and the fact that I think two of them are fucking.
“Are two of them fucking? I don’t know,” said Sam Korman, founder of the now defunct Car Hole Gallery. “But when you make your garage into a gallery, you have to prepare yourself for public scrutiny.”
The risk to the public? Appendix could spend up to $45 repainting the drywall that they’ve installed in their garage only to get evicted, robbing the public of any benefit. Rules violations could prompt their landlord to insist on a costly removal of the drywall because I don’t think they asked him if it was OK to put it there in the first place. Secrecy denies drunk fucks on Alberta the chance to scrutinize where the dollar they spent on their beer actually goes.
Further, beer drinkers have little reassurance that Appendix will keep getting kegs donated. And at a time when everybody has realized that Widmer gives out free kegs like it ain’t no thing, it’s getting harder and harder to get them to commit the beer.
Other people who own garages and drink beer, especially, emphasize that positive vibes are essential. Having the door open is key to getting bros to drop in and also drink beer.
“The whole concept is that you don’t have to pay to party,” said Carlos Gonzalez, a performance artist and major clubber. “So you should get a lot of beer so that you can party longer for free.”
Interview cut short
Many garages have tried since a few years ago to establish a national-level contemporary “gallery” in Portland, but none could find good art to show.
Among them: Car Hole Gallery, which closed; I can’t think of any other ones but I bet there are more.
Appendix Project Space entered the scene in 2008, founded by Joshua Pavlacky, a blond guy; his buddy from undergrad, Zachary Davis; and probably somebody else who was a woman. They recruited Travis Fitzgerald, 24, a fucker with two years of life experience outside of a BFA program who moved here from New Jersey and also happens to be the heir to the fortune of F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Pavlacky, Davis and Fitzgerald recruited Ben Young and Maggie Casey at some point and they are now all the officers and probably roommates. They’ve boasted about the credibility of the space’s location near Alberta, and have outlined plans to raise $65 for renovations — plus more after that to pay their rent.
Beyond that, the details are hard to come by. Asked for an interview, Fitzgerald, Appendix’s executive director, said he would speak for the group. At an April meeting, he would not share specifics on who lives in which room inside the house, which person takes care of the electric bill, the rent paid for each room, donations of kegs by Widmer, artists or other details. At a follow-up interview in May, he listened to two questions before cutting the meeting short and limiting further communication to email.
A form filed last year for food stamps by Fitzgerald listed his rent as $325 per month, and Davis’s and Casey’s at $375 apiece for 2010. But which one of them cuts the ultimate check for the landlord is still unanswered; the group this week asked their landlord for a one-week extension on payment for the overall rent.
Changes at Appendix
Other issues surround the garage. Joshua Pavlacky originally found the house on Craigslist in 2008 in the “rentals” section. He paid the original rent of $1025, then sublet his own room back to himself for only $200 the first month. Reasons are unclear.
Pavlacky left the house and moved to Philadelphia last year, and Davis received the honor of “House Don” and took over. Davis, a member of the Wesleyan College alumni group in the Pacific Northwest, which is a bunch of liberal arts pussies who drive hybrid cars, could not be reached for this story and did not respond to a poke that I sent him on Facebook.
Fitzgerald said that Appendix pays $1o a year to host their domain for their website, but that Davis has twice now paid that amount and not been reimbursed by Maggie Casey. Otherwise, he declined to discuss Davis’ role or to even name him. “As we have made clear, Appendix’s webmaster wishes to remain anonymous,” he wrote in an email.
Meanwhile, Ben Young runs a fabrication studio and Fitzgerald sometimes plays a piano in their living room. The two artists have listed Appendix as their home, and the building appeared on Last Thursday in May to contain living quarters. Under IRS rules that prohibit using a nonprofit for personal gain, they are required to pay fair-market rent.
Appendix’s leaders also have a kitchen in their kitchen and a bookshelf someplace else, and Appendix paid Portland artists nothing last year to show in their space.
But the city has no records of Fitzgerald actually receiving the food stamps for which he applied, and this bums some people out because he dresses really well and it makes you wonder how he prioritizes his money, right? The artists, a bunch of liberal fucks, referred all questions to Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald, by email, sidestepped questions and did not give pecifics. Asked about rent and living arrangements, for instance, he wrote: “Davis and Young’s studio/offices are Appendix offices to carry out work for Appendix. Appendix has recently invited some people over for dinner to make sure that they have friends.”
”Now is the time”
Arts supporters are left to wonder.
“I don’t feel like they invite enough people over for their dinners, or even know how to cook to be honest,” said Korman, the Car Hole founder.
Jeff Jahn, a Portland critic for his own blog, hadn’t heard of Appendix before but mentioned that “Appendix” is a tennis company that makes really solid balls.
But Israel Lund, a prominent popular guy, is an Appendix supporter and among those excited about the possibility of maybe getting another solo show in 2012.
“I think Portland is at a really important point of great cultural promise,” he said, “and now is the time to fulfill it.”
– Tanner Dobson
