Background:
The Visual Chronicle of Portland is a city-owned collection of works on paper – prints, photographs, paintings and drawings – that focuses on artists’ views of the city's social and urban landscapes. The intent of the collection is to reveal Portland’s distinctive personalities as seen and interpreted by artists in the region. It is both an eclectic view of life in Portland as well as a record of artists working in the city.

The idea for the Visual Chronicle of Portland was first suggested to the Metropolitan Arts Commission in 1984 by Henk Pander, a Portland artist whose native city of Amsterdam started a similar collection in the 1930's, the Topographic Atlas of Amsterdam. The Arts Commission secured a National Endowment for the Arts grant to fund the project for three years at $5000 a year.

Selection committee members serve 3-year terms. Current members are Michael Brophy, artist; Tiffany Lee Brown, writer, performer; Sally Cleveland, artist; Paul Fujita, artist; Jim Lommasson, artist; Prudence Roberts, curator; and Isaka Shamsud-Din, artist. The works are exhibited in publicly accessible areas throughout City and County offices.

Artwork Requirements
Artwork is selected annually based on artistic merit, appropriateness to the collection's purpose, and relationship to other works in the Visual Chronicle. Work is acquired through an open call for submissions, or the selection panel invites artists to submit work for consideration. All submitted works must meet the following requirements:

• Be on archival paper and no larger than 24” x 30”. Work on canvas is not considered.

• Use archival materials in the work’s creation (e.g., paper, fixatives, inks)

• Be created within a 2-year period (e.g., Call for Artists issued in 2007 will consider works created 2005-2007). Periodically the Selection Committee will consider work created since 1985 when the collection started.

Works completed by students enrolled in a degree program are not eligible.

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