May News from Portland in Color
Mental health tips, our growing team, and more grants and opportunities to keep an eye out for!
As May comes to a close, we’re highlighting Mental Health Awareness. There are dozens of factors that can disproportionately impact artists, such as irregular hours, financial instability, and the need to yield our emotional sensitivities to create.
Here are a few suggestions that may help enhance our collective quality of life:
Create boundaries around work hours - Burnout can feel inevitable for creatives. Make sure that you are listening to your mind and body and try not to do too much, especially when navigating intense or ongoing projects that require a lot of energy.
Prioritize any level of care that feels accessible to you - Self-care can often slide to the bottom of our to do lists but take the time to incorporate wellness in whatever ways you can. It can be something as small as drinking a glass of water, taking a short walk, or try setting a goal to create a habit for one act of care a day that you do as a gift for yourself.
Engage with community - Many of us often work in isolation which can have a negative impact on mental health. Utilize resources like our online directory and community spaces to avoid long stretches without connection.
Like artistry, the goal for self-care is never perfection. Take the time to define what it means to feel balanced and navigate incremental gestures that allow us to feel more whole.
Portland in Color is Growing
Last week, the PIC Team set out for Mt. Rainier for our mid-year retreat to revisit our goals, reimagine the future, and reconnect as a team. We’re excited to share that our team is growing to include our two newest members, Paula Champagne and Jen Shin!
You might remember Paula (she/her), our new Creative Director, from her PIC feature in the summer of 2021. Paula is a Visual Storyteller whose work explores the healing intersection of Blackness and the natural world. Through film, photography, illustration, design, murals, painting, and printmaking, she weaves narratives that honor place, identity, and kinship with the earth.
Paula’s work has expanded to explore her motherhood and the legacy of passing on a relationship with nature through generations. She is currently writing and illustrating her first children’s book, inspired by her connection to land and life in Portland, where she tends to her family, garden, and creative practice.
Our new Director of Operations, Jen (she/they), is a Korean diasporic writer, baker, and mental health advocate with more than a decade in recovery from alcoholism and bulimia. She is currently at work on Bad Magic, a coming-of-age addiction memoir which examines how we return to our true selves after reality and illusion become one.
She is a 2023 Periplus Fellow and has received support from Anaphora Arts, Stove Works, and Tin House Summer Workshop. In 2021, she published Have You Received Previous Psychotherapy or Counseling? through zines + things and her essays can be found in Provecho, The Rumpus, Memoir Magazine, and elsewhere. She teaches creative writing to high school students through Literary Arts' Writers In the Schools program and her annual food + writing workshop series, Feasting on Words, has been funded by the Regional Arts & Culture Council.
Even after our short retreat together, we feel invigorated and inspired by Jen and Paula’s perspectives, their commitment to thriving artistic communities, and their extensive expertise. Please join us in welcoming them both to the team!
Congratulations to the inaugural Portland in Color Artists in Residence at Sitka Center for Art and Ecology
A big congratulations to the inaugural recipients of the PIC residency at Sitka Center for Art and Ecology: Camille T. McDaniel and Sadé DuBoise!
Camille (she/they) is a Portland, Oregon-based poet, book editor, and fiber artist. Her poetry has been published in Black Fox Literary Magazine, Currency, Sundress Publications and more. In 2023, she received nominations for the Pushcart Prize and Best New Poets Anthology. Her debut book—Blood, Skin, and Water—is available online through World Stage Press and at Broadway Books in Portland.
Sadé (she/her) is a multiracial, multidisciplinary artist whose work reflects the layered experiences of motherhood, cultural identity, and connection to the land. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, she now lives in Tigard with her family. During the residency, she will honor her Alaskan Native heritage by crafting a traditional Tlingit octopus bag and developing a self-portrait series centered on her tribal facial markings.
A special shout out to our finalists, ariella tai, Brenna Yellowthunder, and Cloud Stokely 🌟
It was truly an honor to read through so many thoughtful, moving applications. The depth, talent, and vulnerability shared by artists across disciplines was so inspiring. Oregon is lucky to have so many incredible artists of color!! Thank you to everyone who applied — we see you and we’re grateful for the opportunity to witness your work.
Please join us in celebrating these incredible artists — show them some love and take a moment to explore their powerful work. We look forward to sharing more opportunities in the seasons to come. 🌱
Upcoming Events & Opportunities
BIPOC Peer Support Group - First and third Thursdays of every month from 7-8:30pm, this is a virtual support group for BIPOC living with mental health conditions. To receive the meeting link, sign up is required.
The documentary featuring PIC member DJ Anjali Dream Into Being is screening at the Tomorrow Theater with a moderated discussion afterward on Thursday, June 5, 2025. Free event, RSVP required.
Women Photograph is currently accepting applications for their annual Mentorship Program. This year, they will pair five early career photographers with an industry leader as a mentor, and provide $2,000 in support for work on a local visual storytelling project over the course of six months. Apply by June 6, 2025.
The Fields Artist Fellowship is now open and accepting applications until June 13, 2025. Oregon Community Foundation (OCF) and Oregon Humanities (OH) are collaborating to invest in individual artists, culture bearers, and their communities through the Fields Artist Fellowship. In May of 2026, OCF and OH will award four Fields Artist Fellows $150,000 each over a two-year period. Fellows also receive robust professional development, networking, and community-building opportunities throughout the fellowship.
DJ Anjali is also hosting a birthday party TROPITAAL!—a desi latine soundclash on June 14, 2025 at Goodfoot.
Women Photograph’s 2025 Project Grants for women & nonbinary photographers is now open until June 15, 2025. These $5,000 grants will support photography projects — either new or in-progress — from visual journalists working in a documentary capacity. Five grants are available, at least one of which will be earmarked for a nonbinary or transgender photographer.
The Miller Foundation’s 2025 Spark Award for Oregon Artists is now open, offering $20,000 grants to 20 midcareer media and literary artists creating original work. This round focuses on supporting individual artists at a pivotal point in their creative journey. The funding is designed to be catalytic, helping artists overcome barriers and sustain or advance their practice. Applicants must submit samples from three distinct bodies of work within their primary discipline. Applications are due July 2, 2025.
That’s a wrap for this month’s newsletter. Thanks for being in community with us and as always, if you have an event or opportunity you would like us to include in the newsletter, please email us at portlandincolor@gmail.com
Until next time!