Building a collaborative city

The University of Oregon in Portland and writer-editor Matthew Stadler have organized a new series called the "White Stag Block Talk", and the second iteration will be held Wednesday at 6PM. The talk, "Building a Collaborative City," will feature a panel with some of Portland's design and communication leaders discussing how we can get connected in our creative community.

The panel includes artist, dancer, and organizer Linda K. Johnson; designer, and developer Kevin Cavenaugh; and Portland Spaces/Portland Monthly editor and former Oregonian architecture critic Randy Gragg. The panel will be moderated by Julie Williams, recent grad of the UO’s Strategic Communication program.

From the press release: "Portland's smaller scale makes it both imperative and possible to finesse big things from many small parts. At every level — between institutions; between professions; between people — we build our best work here through collaboration, because we have to."

Stadler, who is a five-time novelist, editor of Clear Cut Press, and organizer of The Back Room dinner-and-discussion series, is a new addition to UO Portland, and a very good one. He is directing the school's Publication Studio, and helping students to understand how the creative-industry terrain is increasingly one of collaboration by individuals and small institutions more than a matter of dealing with a handful of New York publishers. To that end, Stadler will also be giving a talk tomorrow at UO from at 2pm in which the author will discuss his new novel, La Cucaracha, his first since 1999's Allan Stein.

Stadler also had this to say about Wednesday's talk: "The three we've put together have deep experience catalyzing world class collaborations, enlisting art and design professionals, property developers, city and regional government, and the general public in projects of breath-taking scope and consequence, such as last fall's City Dance project spearheaded by Linda K. Johnson and Randy Gragg, or Kevin Cavenaugh's 14 Parcels. Portland is a smaller city attempting big things, and this ability to catalyze real collaboration is our essential strength. Linda, Randy, and Kevin are among the best. And, hey, we'll be serving free beer, wine, and delicious food, all of it from excellent local providers."

The UO Portland White Stag Block is located at 70 NW Couch Street, at the east end of the Burnside Bridge. Both today's panel discussion and tomorrow's author talk are free and open to the public.

Comments

[ellen]

Does this mean we can look forward to collaboration between U of O and PSU? And/or an admission that efforts to "re-brand" Portland vis a vis the Made in Oregon sign were counter-productive re: collaborative practice? Or is this just "talking the talk"?

[Matthew Stadler]

Thanks Brian. Just to give credit where it's due, the White Stag Block Talks are the result of Julie Williams and UO's Portland Student Action Council (PSAC) teaming with UO Portland's Library and Learning Commons and librarian Karen Munro to make a regular program of free, informative events. I'm just here to help. And my talk about La Cucaracha will be Thursday afternoon at 2 pm. Thanks for the mention.