Jordan Schnitzer, in a partnership with the Jordan Schnitzer Museums of Art at the University of Oregon, Washington State University, and Portland State University, is establishing an $150,000 Black Lives Matter Artist Grant Program. Each Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art awarded $2,500 grants to 20 artists who use their voices, experiences, and artistic expression to reflect on social justice efforts in response to systemic racism.

The Black Lives Matter Artist Grant Exhibition features twenty Oregon-based artists whose practices explore the range of complex issues encompassed by being part of a historically marginalized community. Their work addresses systemic racism and racial justice, protecting Black bodies and creating safe spaces, and everyday joy and the celebration of Black culture. While the art speaks to the national concerns highlighted by the Black Lives Matter Movement, several of the works center local experiences, which provides our Portland audience with critical perspective.

In the wake of social unrest and national reflection that followed the murder of George Floyd in 2020, Jordan Schnitzer, president of The Harold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation and the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation, established the Black Lives Matter Artist Grant program. The grant awarded 20 artists from Clackamas, Multnomah, Washington, and Columbia counties with $2,500 to support new or recent artwork reflecting on social justice efforts in response to systemic racism.

“I have often said artists are chroniclers of our time. We all feel anguish about the death of George Floyd and many others at the hands of racial oppression,” said Jordan Schnitzer, president of The Harold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation and the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation. “We, more than ever, need artists to help us understand this issue and help us heal.”

Artists

AnAkA, Annabelle Araya, Julia Bond, J’reyesha Brannon, Amirah Chatman, Steven Christian,
Baba Wagué Diakité, Sadé DuBoise, Austin Gardner, Leila Haile, Elijah Hasan, Edmund Holmes,
Willie Little, Latoya Lovely, Aiyana Monae McClinton, Jessica Mehta, Christine Miller, Annie Schutz,
Sharita Towne, and Kyra Watkins