After a thorough nationwide quest that kicked off early this year, the City of Portland's Arts & Culture office is welcoming a fresh face to take charge of its public art – Eric Fredericksen is stepping in as the first-ever Public Art Administrator. His remit? To handle a whopping 1,700 artworks peppering the city's public spaces, and to steer the Percent for Art program in directions that echo the city's diverse tones, jazz up public spaces, and amp up the cultural energy. As Portland's Arts & Culture Director Chariti Montez stated, choosing Fredericksen was a big deal. More than 150 hopefuls threw their hats in the ring, and after crossing swords with the cream of the crop, Fredericksen's prior work with Indigenous and First Nations artists, his ties with Portland arts entities, and his zest for the local art milieu made him the clear winner.
Fredericksen's new gig isn't going to be a walk in the park by any stretch. He'll be the central figure liaising with a whole spectrum of stakeholders, from city bureaus and community partners to contractors and artists, batting for new policies, birthing initiatives, and seeking novel methods to keep art beating in the heart of public life for all Portland folks. Fittingly, Fredericksen expressed his eagerness about building something afresh in his conversation with the City of Portland, noting the potential to manifest cultural aspirations into tangible actions through the impending Portland Action Plan development and collaboration with arts communities.
Fredericksen's credentials are robust, too. Before this Portland stint, he was at the helm of Vancouver, BC's public art, where his agenda was spiked with artist-led projects and alliances with public and private players to spotlight the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations arts on their unceded lands. He's also had a run as Seattle Waterfront Art Program Manager, where his knack for commissioning impactful artworks by luminaries like Ann Hamilton and Buster Simpson made waves. And that's not mentioning his formative years as a writer, editor, and independent curator shaping exhibitions in Vancouver, Groningen, and Bellevue. In essence, this guy's a quintessential art whisperer.
Mind you, he's also taking the reins of Arts & Culture's collaborations with the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC), the guys providing public art collection management services for Portland. It's a hefty role, no doubt, but if Fredericksen's history is anything to go by, Portland's public art scene is about to get a stirring shake-up. And if you ask anyone with a finger on the pulse of Portland's artistic veins, the buzz is that Eric Fredericksen might just be the shot in the arm the city's public art scene didn't know it needed.
