Moe’s photography collection

KSMoCA is a contemporary art museum located inside Dr Martin Luther King Jr School, a functioning pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade public school in Northeast Portland, Oregon.

Moe is a fifth-grade student who has worked with KSMoCA in a variety of roles—artist, curator, lecture MC, documentarian, spokesperson, etc. Moe is also very interested in photography. As a project, KSMoCA has worked with Moe for over a year to help them research and develop a personal photography collection. As part of that, Moe has visited with galleries and museums, met with photographic artists and curators, and acquired a photo book library and a variety of prints. KSMoCA is now asking photographers globally to add to Moe’s photography collection by sending a print of their choosing to Moe. The prints will be posted on KSMoCA’s website along with crediting information and comments from Moe. As Moe moves onto middle school and beyond, the collection will function as a personal cultural asset to assist Moe in various ways on life’s journey. 

If you or someone you know is interested in participating, send a photographic print to: Portland State University, ART+DESIGN, Attn: KSMoCA, 630 SW Mill St., Portland, OR 97201

Donated prints need to be appropriate for a fifth-grader and will be approved before being given to Moe by a school counselor.

The Dr Martin Luther King Jr School Museum of Contemporary Art (KSMoCA), is a contemporary art museum and social practice art project inside and in partnership with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School, a pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade public school in NE Portland, Oregon. Founded in 2014 by Portland State University professors Lisa Jarrett and Harrell Fletcher, KSMoCA connects public school students with internationally renowned contemporary artists through collaborative workshops, exhibitions, artists lectures, and site-specific commissions. Students learn through experience about museum practice and careers in the arts by participating as curators, preparators, artists, gallerists, writers, and docents. 

KSMoCA reimagines the way museums, public schools, and universities can affect people, culture, and perspectives by creating radical intersections for sharing resources across organizations. Programs are developed collaboratively with the Dr MLK Jr School community, PSU students, and a team of supporting artists. KSMoCA works in partnership with the Art and Social Practice MFA Program at PSU which holds a weekly MFA class in a classroom within the school, coordinates mentoring between PSU and elementary school students, and hosts their annual co-authored conference at the school. A weekly MFA and undergraduate class “KSMoCA: Museum and Community” is offered three terms every year. It provides the opportunity for students to get hands-on experience in social practice education working with elementary students outside of the university campus.

*Image above: Moe in front of Alec Soth photograph series, “Cherish”, part of the KSMoCA permanent collection.