Aesthetic!

1. Intro

As both sister cities of Portland and Ulsan are beautiful themselves, it seems that flourishing of the art is natural phenomenon there. In fact, Portland and Ulsan allow many chances for the citizens to enjoy aesthetic life in the city. There are many institutions like art galleries and art centers in both cities. There also are many artists who get inspiration from the landscape or cityscape of Portland or Ulsan, or establish their basis of artwork on each city. So, let us find what we have in Portland and Ulsan.

2. Arts in Portland and Ulsan

Portland

Portland has more than 150 art galleries and numerous museums.  They bring creativity and innovation to the fore. The most famous museum in the city is Portland Art Museum. You can visit its official website for more information(http://www.portlandartmuseum.org).  There are also other museums like Museum of Contemporary Craft and Blue Sky Gallery. In Portland, there are many colleges and universities with art programs and or major exhibition programs. For instance, there are Art Institute of Portland, George Fox University, Lewis and Clark College, Linfield College, The Marylhurst Art Gym, Northwest Film Center, Oregon College of Arts and Craft, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Reed College Cooley Gallery, and Portland State University. Besides those educational institutions, there are nonprofit or alternative spaces and other institutions. Those are 2 Gyrlz Performative Arts, Disjecta, Everett Station Lofts, Gallery Homeland, Oregon Biennial, Portland Insitute for Contemporary Art, Portland Documentary and Experimental Film Festival, Powell’s Books Basil Hallward Gallery, Regional Arts and Culture Council, and Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center. Some of the publications introducing art and culture in portland are the most subscribed local paper The Oregonian, art & design magazine PLAZM, and PORT which provides visual arts macro-blog with daily art news and reviews. In addition, there are some artists working in the city, such as Red 76, Brad Adkins, Dan Attoe, Damali Ayo, Lance Bangs, Becca Bernstein, Joe Biel, Trevor Chowning, Tom Cramer, Bruce Conkle, Richard Diebenkorn, Carson Ellis, Harrell Fletcher, Laura Fritz, Matt Groening, MK Guth, Sally Haley, Todd Haynes, Sean Healy, Jennifer Jako, and so on.

Ulsan

The city of Ulsan also provides many opportunities for citizens to enjoy artworks in the city. The most important institutes are Ulsan Culture and Art Center which is located in Nam-gu, Ulsan and Hyundai Arts Center which is located in Dong-gu, Ulsan(close to HCU High School). There are always monthly or weekly art exhibitions. For more information, please visit the websites(http://www.ucac.or.kr and http://www.hyundai-artscenter.co.kr). In fact, Korea is well-known for its immensely rich culture. Being the powerhouse of art and craft, it simply excels in every form of performing art and handicraft. Arts and crafts in Korea include everything from painting, sculpture, pottery, architecture, and performing arts. Painting in Korea has always been a glorious form of Korean Art. It tells the story of the nation in pictorial form. The works of art belonging to various genres and time periods depict various aspects of the Korean lifestyle. What started as wall painting gradually spread to distinctive styles like Calligraphy Paintings, Tiger Chase Paintings, Korean Scenery Paintings, Realistic Sceneries, Patterns of Birds and Flowers and many more. Another very expressive form of Korean art is the sculpture. It began during the Stone Age and continued with the formations bronze, earthenware and clay figurines. Traditional Korean sculpture saw a great influence of Buddhism while the modern period moved on to more abstract motifs. Another form of the arts and crafts in Korea which has such a long history is the pottery. Ranging from earthenware and jade pottery to stoneware and whiteware, it is the simply unique. Believed to have magic in their fingers, the regional artisans have taken Korean pottery to a different level. Especially in Ulsan, you can find the one of the first forms of painting or drawing in Korea. The Bangudae Petroglyphs, located in Daegok-ri, Ulsan, Korea, are drawn by prehistoric people and depict the physical embodiment of the hopes and wishes of them.A few Korean scholars originally speculated that this rock-art tradition came from South Asia, but now it has generally come to be associated with rock art of the circum-Yellow Sea area and Northeast Asia. Thus, this site is an example of valuable cultural heritage because it provide clues as to the origins and movements of some of the first people in Korea. Also, since art is associated with religion, these stone carvings give clues to scholars about the society and customs of prehistoric people.

3. University of Ulsan Student Exhibition

From July 20, 2009, there was a University of Ulsan Student Exhibition in Shattuck Hall, PSU for 2 days. There were some interesting artworks by the students of School of Design in University of Ulsan. Portland State University and University of Ulsan became sister universities in 1994 and there are exchange students from both universities annually. It was very interesting to appreciate some artworks filled with young spirit by young students.

4.  My Host Fam’s Art Life

My host fam is an art family. My host dad Bob Gleason is an artist and has his own studio in Portland. He is such a famous artist. Following is some explanation about Bob according to his official website(http://www.gleasonart.com).

About the Artist

Robert Gleason is a master in watercolor, acrylic, oil and
computer animation. He has shown his paintings in
galleries throughout the West and won numerous juried
awards. With art degrees from University Georgia and Art
Center College of Design in Los Angeles, Robert has also
taught at the Otis Parsons College of Art and Design and
past President of Yosemite Western Artists.

Robert’s passion is painting urban settings and is
fascinated with building architecture and design. However,
he’s also an accomplished computer generated illustrator
for many popular video games, national movie posters, greeting cards, life-size muralist and recording album cover designer for Stevie Wonder and Gladys Knight, among others.

His roots go back to the South by way of SoCal and Seattle. He and his wife Sylvia live on acreage just outside Portland, Oregon and he operates his studio in the arts and culture district downtown.

My host mom’ dad, Peter Black was also an artist.  There are many paintings and crafts in my host house. So the house is like an art museum. I was so happy to be with them.

Anyway, these are something about arts and crafts in Portland and Ulsan(or U.S. and Korea). I hope you enjoy aesthetic life in both such a beautiful cities!