Join us at Portland’s Memorial Coliseum for the Annual CAP Art Auction – featuring the sultry sounds of Nicole Henry! Every year since 1990, CAP has hosted an art auction and party to raise money to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and provide service to those infected or affected by HIV in the Northwest. Portland’s art community first organized this iconic event and they remain the backbone of the Art Auction today. The event has grown over the past two decades, now encompassing 250 works of art and over 1,000 guests.

The evening includes the patron dinner with dinner, live and silent auctions of over 250 juried artworks, and the after party (the grand event) that draws out the very best of the Northwest: the most captivating art, most delicious food and specialty libation and the most fascinating people. Last year, over 1,200 guests – from artists to socialites put on their partying best to help stem the tide of HIV/AIDS.

Alternatively, you may opt to attend the Grand Event where the silent auction will showcase more than 225 contemporary artworks, unique entertainment, music, hosted wine and beer, and hors d’oeuvres and desserts.

The patron dinner will take place on the floor of the Coliseum bowl and the grand event will occur on the Concourse.

All funds raised support the vital work of Cascade AIDS Project. Our mission is to prevent HIV infections, support and empower people affected and infected by HIV/AIDS and eliminate HIV/AIDS www.capartauction.org

Chroma’s CAP gallery this year will feature works by

Rio Wrenn,“Butterfly Clamp”, Rusted Patina.
Garrett Price,“Broadway Bridge Redesign”, Steel Etching.
Rebecca Shapiro,“Leaving”, Encaustic.
Circle TwentyThree,“How far is too far”,  Photograph.
Kevin Darras “A Natural Habitat”, Graphic Image Transfer

This  year, Chroma is pleased to feature a diverse and powerful installation program.

Stephen Miller’s Video Installation work  http://www.studiom13.com/ “While researching ideas for this video installation, I learned that someone on this planet is infected with HIV every ten seconds. It disturbed me deeply, and yet that information, that statistic, was hard to take in, experience, feel. Ten seconds. A painfully brief pause between each contraction, the span of a deep breath. The rhythm of these videos attempts to breath life into this statistical global reality. In addition to the masses, there is one. Every ten seconds represents one human being. We see one man’s walk down an unknown trajectory. We look at him closely so we do not forget that each bit of “data” is someone’s heartbeat and dreams jeopardized.” – Stephen Miller

Rebecca Shapiro’s Installation work http://rebeccashapiroart.com/ Rebecca Shapiro’s installation ‘ The Spiral’

“The spiral is a universal form, winding in a continuous and gradually widening or tightening curve around a fixed center point. I see it as a meditation, a metaphor and a map for my life.

Meditation.

Through recent exploration of Indian Tantric art, I have been painting and drawing spirals and center points. This art is created as a religious, contemplative practice. Most of the images are very simple forms, using basic colors, revealing the energies and essences of life and spirit. The images are used to recall and re-enter a state of meditation throughout the day. My investigation into this art form became the foundation for this installation.

Metaphor.

I play with the fixed center point of the spiral as a metaphor for my life while events, people and things whorl about me. The center point can also be a place of stillness, a new beginning or a final conclusion. The spiral lines that widen or tighten around this point become a path I travel: contraction or expansion, introspection or emptiness, growth or hibernation.

Map.

As I prepared this installation, a daily practice emerged: drawing this form on a scroll, a spiral of paper. The spiral became a map of my life. Just as Tantric art is used to recall a state of meditation, I can look at a spiral and remember who or what influenced the nature and quality of the spiral and where I found myself within the form.

The spiral contains the marks of our human experience. Traversing this archetypal symbol, resting within or springing from the center point brings me to myself and to my studio life. “ – Rebecca Shapiro

Gabe Flores Installation works http://www.hindsitespecific.com/

“My work examines my experience of being a gay male in the arts. The internal dialogue between in/out and pride/shame is a personal struggle and carries over to what and how I decide to present. Often I work with abstract concepts of determinism, fictionalized histories, and the impossibility of identity based ideologies. I wonder if this is to keep my core safe hidden by layers of philosophical subtext. It also examines the intimate talk amongst gay males and how that reads sculpturally. The title of of the piece is y Little Boy Pussy: Like a Stump.” “: Like a Stump” refers to the deadness of feeling at times, but also when you add the : (colon) it suggests use, experience and exploring boundaries.” – Gabe Flores

Call for Art:

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: January 1, 2012

Chroma is currently seeking art for an event coming to Portland in the end of March.  The theme is Mid Century Modern with special emphasis on  “All Shades of Green Sustainability”

This is a call for 2D and 3D works. Professionally framed &/or presented. Paintings, works on paper, multi-media,  sculpture (no glass),  drawings, or conceptual.  Works must be original and directly address green sustainability in theory or using environmentally friendly processes; i.e. recycled materials, green supplies or medium.   Size limit: 8 ft vertical x 5ft wide &/or 8ft horizontal x 5ft high.

Submission Guidelines: Please email as soon as possible with your proposed works to show.  Send high resolution jpgs (up to 2 per artist), link to website/blog, and artist documents (bio, resume, artist statement) to info.chromaproject@gmail.com.

For questions concerning this event please contact J.M. Porter 503-473-7226

Thank you and we look forward to viewing your work.

Saturday April 30, 2011 marked Portland’s art event of the year.  Cascade AIDS Project (CAP) honored its 25th anniversary at the annual Art Auction, held this year at the Memorial Coliseum. The exciting event drew a crowd of over 1300 people.  300 works of art donated by these prolific artists were included in both live and silent auction.

The gala began with the 6:00PM Art Preview and Bidding , followed by the 7:00PM dinner and Live Auction and lastly 8:00PM Grand Event with Silent Auction.

Chroma worked with CAP staff, planning committee and participants to include an installation art portion of the evening.

Guests arriving to the Memorial Coliseum were treated to a red carpet promenade of incredible metal sculptures on display courtesy of Springbox Gallery.

Guests were then escorted through the beautifully decorated mezzanine among several interactive and impressive installation works which included Bethany Moore-Garrison’s Dress Forms featuring both works on live models and mannequin.

Portland State University professor and artist Vicki Lynn Wilson contributed  the grand and elegant  “Succulent Showers”  installation.  The highly organized installation resulted in a beautiful series of structures that sparkled brilliantly as the sun set. Wilson describes her installation : “The icy countenance of glacier-toned, glittering, succulent plants are a witness to winters passing and the promise of  melt to spring blooms, while the seeking tendrils remind that life is always stirring.  In the plant world, a death is often directly related to a new life. The Agave species called the Century Plant blooms only once in it’s long life and then dies, becoming nourishment and support for the future generation.”

Tim Hershey, VP of Retail for North America for Nike was Honorary Chair of the event this year and his company also revealed a unique memorial installation piece honoring those who have lost their lives. Guests attached notes and names of their friends and loved ones in remembrance.

Patrons at the Dinner & Live Auction were audience to the  unique video installation ‘Thousand Points Of Light”  by Gregory Norton. Displayed from several massive screens encircling the Memorial Coliseum bowl, artists and patrons were nothing short of mesmerized by this engaging video installation art piece.

The Grand Finale to the mezzanine’s treasures of installation works  boasted an interactive and multifaceted piece by Nicole Milchak, a graduate of PNCA MFA program. The work entitled “The Problem of Leisure” included two video screens amid a carefully designed  physical set. Nicole briefly describes her work:  “Conceptually, the video deals with femininity, excess, voyeurism, adolescence and sexuality. It is also a nod to celebutantes and queens, most notably Paris Hilton and Marie Antoinette.” The viewer put on head phones and listened to the ethereal soundtrack to the piece.  Allowing them to close out the hustle  and bustle of the event and enter into Nicole’s creation.

CAP Development Director Michael Sorensen reports: “The night sparkled with moments for pause including a battle over a Dale Chihuly painting that sold for $11,000 to an elated Michael Phillips; a compassionate paddle raise of $25,000 made by Mr. Howard Hedinger; a $25,000 paddle challenge made by Nike that yielded $47,000 in return, and the empowered vocals of the Portland Gay Men’s Chorus and Storm Large. The night brought a new purpose to the Memorial Coliseum and more than $525,000 to CAP to fight HIV and AIDS.”

Chroma agrees the night was more than a success.  Working with the dedicated family of CAP, fellow committee members and 244 volunteers in total was simply an honor. Creative energies with helpful hearts coupled with expert planning and management made for a smooth execution of this massive and extraordinary event. – J.M. Porter