The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr School Museum of Contemporary Art (KSMoCA) is a functioning contemporary art museum inside the walls of a public elementary school in NE Portland, OR. During the 2020–21 school year, the museum is hosting a virtual artist residency program that will continue its ongoing, immersive arts programming with K-5th grade students. Through this program, invited artists-in-residence will develop and present artworks made in collaboration with cohorts of elementary school students. These works and images of their collaborative process will be featured in a printed publication at the end of the residency. Artists-in-Residence will also give public, live-broadcast artist talks on a rotating schedule throughout the year.
2020–21 artists-in-residence
Intisar Abioto / Afro Contemporary Art Class (Artist Michael Bernard Stevenson Jr) / Soheila Azadi / BRENDA ARTS (Spencer Garland) / KSMoCA’s International Acquisition Committee (Illia Yakovenko) / Lucia Monge / RECESS! (Kim Sutherland and Jordan Rosenblum) / Paula Wilson
Virtual artist lecture series
KSMoCA hosts a free, virtual artist lecture series designed for elementary school students, their families, and members of the public of all ages. Lectures take place each Thursday at 10am (PST). View the lecture schedule here or join the livestream here.
Fall lectures
October 1: Paula Wilson
October 8: Intisar Abioto
October 15: Soheila Azadi
October 22: Spencer Garland (BRENDA ARTS)
October 29: Artist Michael Bernard Stevenson Jr (Afro Contemporary Art Class)
November 5: Lucia Monge
November 12: RECESS! (Kim Sutherland and Jordan Rosenblum)
November 19: Illia Yakovenko (KSMoCA’s International Acquisition Committee)
The Martin Luther King Jr. School Museum of Contemporary Art (KSMoCA) is a contemporary art museum and social practice project inside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School, a public elementary school in NE Portland, OR. Founded in 2014 by Portland State University professors and artists Lisa Jarrett and Harrell Fletcher, KSMoCA connects public school students with internationally renowned artists through collaborative workshops, exhibitions, artists lectures and site-specific commissions. KSMoCA’s programs are developed in partnership with the Dr. MLK Jr. School community, PSU’s School of Art + Design faculty and students, the MFA in Art and Social Practice program, and renowned contemporary artists.
Students learn through experience about museum practices by participating in KSMoCA as curators, preparators, artists, gallerists, writers, and docents. The project reimagines how museums, public schools, and universities can work together to shift culture and perspectives by creating radical intersections for sharing resources across organizations. For more information, visit ksmoca.com.
