Alison Heryer will host her work Picnic in the courtyard at Oregon Contemporary to foster meaningful connections in our socially awkward post-pandemic context.
Picnic is a social engagement initiative Heryer began in Kansas City in 2012 that encouraged community building and shared discourse through the collective creation of large scale quilts. For its latest iteration, Heryer’s red and white 5’x5’ picnic blankets will be laid out together to create a large abstract gingham quilt in Oregon Contemporary’s courtyard for the day, inviting people to come and go, enjoying community, conversation, activities, and music throughout the day. People may BYO picnic (food only), pre-purchase picnic baskets for two from Oregon Contemporary, or purchase à la carte snacks and beverages onsite at the Café.
The picnic baskets for two are available for pre-order at Shop Ox at this link. Each basket contains two seasonally inspired bento boxes created by Jane Hashimawari of Ippai. Jane Hashimawari started Ippai as a way to share her love for Japanese home cooking and work with local farmers to showcase all the bounty of the Pacific Northwest. The baskets also include two cocktails, a bottle of wine, screen printed napkins with a design from Alison Heryer’s original Picnic in 2012, and treats from the Café at Oregon Contemporary all packed in an Ox Baggu bag. There are only 50 picnic baskets available and orders must be placed by Friday, May 27. Vegetarian, gluten free and nonalcoholic options are available.
The Picnic is free and open to the public. No purchase is required to attend. No outside alcohol is permitted. The Picnic will move indoors in case of inclement weather.
Alison Heryer is an interdisciplinary artist whose work combines costume, installation, performance, and community engagement. Her design credits include productions at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, 59E59 Theaters, La MaMa, The New Victory Theater, Portland Center Stage, Portland Opera, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Artists Repertory Theatre, ZACH Theatre, The Hypocrites, and Redmoon. Her work has been featured in exhibitions at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, World Stage Design, and The Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space. She is a faculty member at Portland State University where she was recently granted the Sue Horn-Caskey & Charles F. Caskey Professorship of Textile Arts & Costume Design.