PNCA+FIVE Idea Studios is a series of conversations, lectures and performances on the inner working of creative practice. The series features internationally acclaimed practitioners from a range of cultures in an effort to highlight the importance of creativity in fostering innovation and civic imagination. PNCA+FIVE Idea Studios explore the creative life and the importance of creativity in fostering civic imagination and collaboration.

Idea Studios premiered in February 2008 with a talk by James Turrell, MacArthur Award winning light and space artist, followed closely with a lecture by Jacques Rancière, influential philosopher, critic and political theorist.

In announcing the inauguration of the series, President Tom Manley said, “Idea Studios are meant to explore and celebrate the power of creative practice. They promise to further enliven the educational encounter PNCA + FIVE provides students and to place our institution and community in the flow of front-edge art and design thinking that is sweeping the world.”

PNCA+FIVE was founded in 2007 with a gift from Mrs. Hallie Ford to create PNCA’s Ford Institute for Visual Education (FIVE). Mrs. Ford’s generous gift — the largest to an arts organization in Oregon’s history — provided funds for the formation of new Master of Fine Arts (MFA) programs at PNCA, and the launch of a vibrant series of exhibitions, lectures and public events through Idea Studios. FIVE, amplifies all aspects of the College’s mission and extends PNCA’s role throughout the region as a hub for creativity and innovation that enriches the breadth and depth of civic imagination. The programs of PNCA + FIVE establish collaborative relationships between students, international artists and the region’s art, design, and business communities.

Children's Creativity: Why the Visual Arts Matter

— 6 November 09 — 

PNCA hosts the city’s first Children’s Creativity Symposium, November 11-14, focusing on the relevance of artistic processes of inquiry, reflection, and expression to the cognitive, emotional, and social development of children. Featuring Dr. Lois Hetland and Dr. Ellen Handler Spitz.

Watch and Listen: W.J.T. Mitchell

— 3 April 09 — 

Listen to a Podcast of renowned scholar and theorist W.J.T. Mitchell’s April 1 lecture “The Future of the Image,” part of the PNCA+FIVE Idea Studios series.

PNCA+FIVE Idea Studio: Tony Fry

— 5 December 08 — 

Part of the PNCA+FIVE Idea Studio series, Australian Design Theorist Tony Fry’s lecture, “Design Futuring, Culture and the Coming Age of Unsettlement” will unpack two crucial and linked questions: how can design, as a positive force for change, be “made” to happen? And, how can design become a re-directive practice leading towards sustainment?

PNCA+FIVE Idea Studio: Jens Hoffman

— 12 November 08 — 

Jens Hoffmann is the Director of the Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco. From 2003 to 2007 Hoffmann was the Director of Exhibitions at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. He has curated and co-curated over three dozen exhibitions internationally since 1997 and written more than 150 texts on art and curatorial practice for art magazines and museum publications over the last decade.

PNCA + FIVE Idea Studio: Climbing PoeTree

— 15 October 08 — 

PNCA+FIVE Idea Studio presents Climbing PoeTree — artists and poets Aliza Garcia and Naima Penniman — have sharpened their art as a tool for popular education, community organizing, and personal transformations. Their latest production Hurricane Season uses a tapestry of spoken-word poetry, video projection, dance, shadow art, and a sound collage of personal testimonies, Hurricane Season connects the issues that surfaced in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to the “unnatural disasters” disenfranchised communities are experiencing nationwide and worldwide on a daily basis. Hurricane Season tackles global warming, environmental injustice, policing, prisons, militarization, corporate domination, gentrification, and displacement as they manifest from one gulf to another, with a powerful tale of resistance, resilience, creativity and survival.

PNCA + FIVE Idea Studio: Models of Critical Production

— 13 October 08 — 

Pacific Northwest College of Art welcomes Saul Ostrow and Tom Zummer to campus October 13 – 16, 2008 for a PNCA+FIVE Idea Studio that critically examines various modes of contemporary art practice. This PNCA+FIVE Idea Studio series includes noon-time chats, seminars and workshops that culminate in a residency with students at Caldera.

PNCA+FIVE Idea Studios: Shiro Nakane

— 16 June 08 — 

From the classic beauty of Katsura Imperial Villa in Kyoto to the contemplative Tenshin-en gardens of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, landscape architect Shiro Nakane understands both the value of tradition and the importance of living your moment in history.

PNCA+FIVE Idea Studios: Susan S. Szenasy

— 23 May 08 — 

Susan S. Szenasy, Editor-in-Chief of Metropolis magazine, leads a panel discussion entitled Green with Envy: How Innovative is PDX in its Quest for a Sustainable City?

PNCA+FIVE Idea Studio: Creative Practice/Public Collaboration

— 3 March 08 — 

A diversified group of creators will gather Friday, March 7 in New York City for Creative Practice/Public Collaboration, the first out-of state PNCA+FIVE Idea Studio.

PNCA + FIVE Idea Studio: Jacques Ranciere

— 18 February 08 — 

On Feb. 29, 2008, PNCA hosted a lecture by Jacques Ranciere, the influential French philosopher, critic and political theorist, entitled “What makes images unacceptable?”