Oregon Public Broadcasting

The Portland Art Museum is preparing to open an exhibition by Northwest artists. April Baer reports this show replaced the long-running Oregon Biennial.

Curator for Northwest Art, Jennifer Gately, says the museum wanted to redesign the Biennial into something that would help the careers of the featured artists.

So now, instead of exhibiting one piece each from many different artists, the museum will show several works by five artists chosen through a jury process.

The field was open to people working in Oregon and four other states in the region.

Gately says the five winners include one Portland artist, and four from Washington state.

Jennifer Gately: "Ultimately, I hope that over time, this program, like the SECA awards presented by the San Francisco Museum of Art, will call greater national attention to these artists."

Gately says many are known well locally, but not as prominent outside the region.

One of the five will be awarded the Schnitzer prize this weekend, which includes $10,000 cash.

This Sunday the Museum will hold a panel discussion with all five artists.