PMOMA Becomes Houseguest At The Square
This weekend, Portland\u2019s Pioneer Courthouse Square transforms into a weekend-long art party.
Libby Werbel of the Portland Museum of Modern Art (PMOMA) will take over the Square through a cool new residency series called Houseguest.
She\u2019s also programming one night of The Works \u2014 that\u2019s the raucous nightly afterparty for PICA\u2019s Time Based Art Festival \u2014 with some of her Houseguest performers and a few choice Portland artists.
Werbel grew up in Portland, but left after High School to study and work as an art handler in New York\u2019s Whitney Museum, the New Museum, and the storied exhibition space PS 1.
Returning to Portland, she couldn\u2019t find work. Remember Portland\u2019s art scene was small, and insular.
After a couple of years, she got a microscopic basement space in her friend\u2019s music shop, Mississippi Records. She decided to start a gallery that was an homage of sorts to some of the amazing contemporary institutions she\u2019d explored. The result is a tiny space that wittily challenges ideas about the nature of museums and the art-watching experience.
Take a listen to hear about the visual artists Werbel chose for her big stage, the thrill she got programming Fred and Toody Cole (Dead Moon/Pierced Arrows), and what she envisions next for PMOMA.