"We Agree: A Crisis in Common”

###FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE###

Thursday, the 5th of August, Justseeds and the SEA Change gallery will present an opening reception for "We Agree: A Crisis in Common".

On display will be two large blockprints, one made by the Portland-based members of the Justseeds Artist Cooperative, and the other by members of Taring Padi, an artist cooperative from Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

The two prints, each measuring three feet by nine feet, are bold, graphic depictions of the impact of the Natural gas industry and its satellites on the landscape and peoples of both sides of the Pacific. They were designed and printed collaboratively, with the help of generous funding from RACC and Work for Art. Other artworks by Justseeds and Taring Padi will also be on display. The gallery will open at 5 pm. SEA Change is located at 625 NW Everett St, Gallery #110, in Downtown Portland.

The Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative has teamed up with the renowned Indonesian arts group Taring Padi to create two mural-sized linocut prints that show the resistance to natural gas development from both sides of the Pacific Ocean. Working with local activist groups to understand the massive opposition to liquefied natural gas (LNG) development in Oregon, artists Roger Peet, Alec “Icky” Dunn and Pete Yahnke tell the story of the fishermen, farmers, foresters and public lands advocates who have been fighting the proposals for five years through the narrative imagery of their art.

“This is an amazing opportunity to showcase the residents and landowners whose lives have been on hold for years now to fight LNG. People will see that our struggle is part of a larger, international movement to hold powerful energy companies responsible for the destruction they are causing,” says Amy Harwood, Program Director from the watchdog group, Bark. “The movement to stop importing our energy sources cannot come from fear of other places, but rather out of response to the injustice that these development projects have caused worldwide. Art brings a voice to this global resistance.”

Artist Roger Peet returned in March from Yogyakarta, Java, where he was able to help facilitate the Taring Padi half of the project. Indonesian political printmakers from Java created the mural prints that returned to Oregon with Peet. The prints will be shown with the Justseeds mural print in the month of August in Portland at the SEA Change Gallery, as well as selected locations in affected communities from Astoria to Molalla during the months of August and September.

The proposal to develop LNG and associated gas pipelines has been a controversial issue in Oregon for over five years. Energy speculators are proposing three terminals on the coast of Oregon and over six hundred miles of new pipeline development connecting to existing infrastructure in eastern Oregon. The proposed pipelines would carve through recently protected watersheds, cross through and below rivers numerous times, and pass directly through several small-scale organic farms, wineries and small businesses. Imports would come from supply countries such as Indonesia, Qatar and Russia, with most of the gas going to California for consumption. The mural prints are in an edition of 20 and are on 4’x10’ pieces of canvas. Some proceeds from the sale of the prints will benefit organizations working to stop LNG development.

Contact:
Roger Peet
Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative, 541-326-9687 [email protected]

Amy Harwood
Bark, 503-331-0374
[email protected]

Katherine Ball
SEA Change Gallery, 313-605-2924 [email protected]