Visual Arts Program

Visual Arts Program is sponsored by The Ford Family Foundation. Provides annual fellowships to Oregon visual artists demonstrating sophisticated practice and significant potential.

Visual Arts Program | The Ford Family Foundation Michelle Ross, “ The Woolgatherers, “ 2015 . Oil, graphite and chalk on birch panel (detail) Enriching Oregon’s visual arts ecology The Foundation’s Visual Arts Program honors Hallie Ford’s lifelong interest in visual arts and commitment to supporting artists in Oregon.

The program focuses on enhancing the quality of artistic endeavor and body of work by supporting our state’s most promising visual artists, collaborating to improve the visual arts ecology, and investing in key Oregon institutions that support artistic excellence.

Hallie Ford Fellowships in the Visual Arts The Foundation supports Oregon visual artists who have demonstrated sophisticated practice and significant potential with annual fellowships. The Hallie Ford Fellowships are the flagship of the Visual Arts Program. We recognize that the work of the Fellows furthers the conversation of contemporary art in the 21st century.

Up to three $35,000 awards are made each year. 2025 Hallie Ford Fellows: Sara Siestreem, Derek Franklin, Vo Vo / Photos: Sam Gehrke Named in honor of Hallie E. Ford’s birth year, the 1905 Legacy Award honors outstanding Oregon artists whose life-long career and sustained excellence has significantly impacted the artistic community of Oregon.

The Foundation grants one $50,000 unrestricted award every five years. Lillian Pitt (inaugural 1905 Legacy Awardee) making Raku fired clay mask, circa 1980s. Courtesy of the artist.

Julie Green, "My New Blue Friends," 2015, exhibition at Upfor Gallery, Portland, Ore. , November 5 — December 19, 2015. Photo: Mario Gallucci for Upfor Gallery Exhibition, documentation and capital grants Our most significant direct grantmaking to institutions is through two opportunities that support the exhibition and documentation of visual art, as well as capital improvements to spaces that exhibit, create and preserve works.

Artist funding: opportunities and experiences The Visual Arts Program provides a variety of ways to enhance the work of visual artists in Oregon. In addition to Hallie Ford Fellowships, we provide funding for artist-in-residence programs in and beyond Oregon, artist capacity building opportunities, and career advancement through a partnership with the Oregon Arts Commission Career Opportunity grant program.

Artist Diego Morales-Portillo was recently supported by a residency at the Studios at Mass MoCA. Pictured: False Memory Syndrome, 2018 Sarah Farahat, Self-Portrait, Yuba River, Yuba Goldfields, California, Nisenan Land, 2015. Archival pigment print, 44×66 in.

Photo: Kristine Eudey The collaborative Critical Conversations initiative provides a space for artists and cultural producers that is rooted in inquiry and exchange. Led by partner University of Oregon, the three-part endeavor includes studio visits for Oregon artists by prominent visiting curators and arts writers, a series of convenings and commissioned writing that examines currents in society and the field.

Critical Conversations partners have included Reed College, Portland State University, Pacific Northwest College of Art at Willamette University and historically Oregon College of Art and Craft. The Story of Lillian Pitt The story of Lillian Pitt as a professional artist begins when she, as a young hairdresser whose back pain wouldn’t allow her to continue that work, finds art classes at community college.

Oregon artist stirs conversation For visual artist Lisa Jarrett, art is about much more than making objects. It is about exploring identity, forging connections, creating community and providing opportunities. The word border is infused with a wealth of meaning.

For some, it is a physical line, for others a political separation. It is all that to Portland artist rubén garcía marrufo — and a lot more. Interested in learning more about the Visual Arts Program?

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