Arlene Schnitzer Visual Arts Prize

Downtown

When

Feb. 25–Apr. 26, 2025

Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.

Free

Where

Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at Portland State University

1855 SW Broadway
Portland, OR 97201

The following description was submitted by the event organizer.

The Schnitzer School of Art + Art History + Design and the College of the Arts celebrate the twelfth year of the Arlene Schnitzer Visual Arts Prize at Portland State University. A jury composed of Schnitzer School faculty and representative professionals from the art and design community reviewed 55 applications from art and design students, both undergraduate and graduate, to award three prizes. The 2024 award winners include: Olivia DelGandio (MFA in Contemporary Art Practice: Social Practice ‘24), HD Garner (BFA in Art Practice, Comic Studies Certificate, ‘24), and Michelle Jackson (BFA candidate in Art Practice, ‘25).

Olivia DelGandio is a socially engaged artist based in Portland, Oregon. Through their work, DelGandio looks for ways to memorialize moments and relationships, often focusing on themes of daily life, grief, memory, queerness, and untold histories. With collaboration at the center of their practice, their work has taken on many different forms, such as working with a group of queer teens on a fashion show, spending time at a senior center talking about alternate forms of family, and making a community newspaper celebrating queer history. DelGandio received a BA in Sociology and Gender Studies from New College of Florida and an MFA in Art + Social Practice from Portland State University. They recently developed and taught Queer Art: History and Practice and participated in residence at Sou'Wester Arts Week.

HG Garner is a comics creator who instills a sense of dread and unease through slow pacing and unconventional imagery while telling tales of horror. HG grew up reading comics in Corvallis, Oregon. Immersed in the genre, they developed a passion that eventually blossomed into the desire to explore the unique storytelling opportunities offered by the medium. In the spring of 2024, they earned a BFA in Art Practice with a Comic Studies Certificate from Portland State. This fall, HG is headed to the University of South Florida, where they will pursue an MFA in Creative Writing.

Michelle Jackson is a painter who identifies as queer and fat. Aware of the lack of representation, she is deeply committed to depicting marginalized people and bodies in a neutral or positive manner. She uses vibrant and bold colors to craft figurative works on the topics of fat liberation, LGBTQIA+ identities, mental health, neurodivergence, and silliness. Through her art, she endeavors to cultivate spaces of visibility, affirmation, and inclusion while exploring the multifaceted intersections of identity.

A public reception will be held on Thursday, February 27, from 5 to 7 PM.

Image: Olivia DelGandio, In Our Hands (objects), 2024, nine color posters, 24 x 36 inches, Courtesy of the artist