Whenever I have to introduce myself, "Sympathy for the Devil" starts playing in my head against my will. Not that you could get any insight from that fact. I am an artist and a writer. I grew up in Juneau, Alaska and relocated to Oregon. I have just recently returned to Portland to live indefinitely after finishing my MFA in Cincinnati.

I am overjoyed to find such a rich, active art scene here. Jeff's observations on the expansive growth of the Portland art scene could not ring truer. Personally, I feel that Portland is sprinting towards greater recognition as a national and international art center, and I count myself among the privileged to have boarded the rocket just prior to launching. I am grateful to be involved, here and now.

My goal in writing for PORT is to enrich the dialogue surrounding the emerging Portland Renaissance, through analysis and critical discussion. I believe that criticism and art grow symbiotically from the same impulse, each can be enriched by the presence of the other, while maintaining independent vitality. Following in the footsteps of Larry Charles ("Oh, you delicate genius!"), I believe neither in the all-knowing critic nor the isolated genius artist. I have come to see art as a social arena which is always powered by interaction and in which both the artist and the critic have free agency. Artists often create descriptions of things not found in the world, things yet to be seen, and it is up to the critic to try and decipher and identify them.

I believe in the relevance of art, that it is not an elitist pastime affecting only those involved, but rather that it is a necessity for the survival of the human spirit. This is as true as it was in the days of the Lascaux cave painters as it is today, although today art takes many forms and exists simultaneously in a myriad of arenas, and the white cubes which replaced the caves have been swept clean of animal bones (mostly).

As I said before, I am excited to be writing about art in the City of Roses, and I feel that much more will be written about this city and this decade.