Alberta Street Gallery
Portland, Oregon
Open Call for Membership
Summer 2022
Alberta Street Gallery is currently seeking two new members to join our cooperative.
• One jewelry artist
Application Deadline September 11th.
Membership to begin October 1st, 2022.
About Us
Alberta Street Gallery is a cooperative of vibrant, inclusive, professional artists from the Portland/Vancouver area, featuring high-quality work in a variety of disciplines, including painting, sculpture, ceramics, metalwork, photography, fiber, glass and jewelry. Alberta Street Gallery is an integral part of the art scene in the Historic Alberta Arts District and the greater Portland area. At Alberta Street Gallery, we recognize that our gallery space exists as a result of the gentrification of a historically minority neighborhood. We seek to honor that diversity by creating a safe, inclusive space for all people, and continuing to engage in community outreach throughout the district. The gallery seeks to foster community through a unique art-book lending library, engaging artist talks and classes, and open-call exhibitions featuring members of the community. We offer a selection of beautiful and interesting arts and crafts from a diverse cooperative of artists and artisans. Our vision is to become more than a gallery: an actual gathering point for the community, for both artists and art lovers. The gallery is open daily and features regular art shows, including "Last Thursday," when Alberta Street comes alive to show its unique character and talent.
About Our Cooperative
As a cooperative, all of the operations of the gallery are handled by the members. These roles range from marketing, sales, exhibitions, financial, community engagement, website management, and more. All members of Alberta Street Gallery work together to create and maintain our gallery. There is a pride of ownership and participation that comes from this type of business model.
Alberta Street Gallery is financed by commissions on art sales and modest monthly dues from its members. Dues are determined by the number of shifts worked by the member during the month. Commissions for new members start at 70% artist/30% gallery. After the first month, members are eligible to join one of the many committees that handle various tasks and business roles necessary to the function of the gallery. If you’d like to play an active role in one of our committees, then the commission is 75%/25%. Major decisions for the gallery are handled by a board and two co-presidents. These positions are voted on an annual basis. Larger gallery topics or issues may be subject to majority votes.
How to Apply
Our aim is to choose the best artists/work that fit the current needs of the gallery; to promote balance across media; and to complement, not compete with, the work of our present members. We highly encourage prospective applicants to visit the gallery and think about how their work would fit into our current membership within these guidelines. The gallery is located at 1829 NE Alberta Street, and is open every day from 11am to 7pm.
Interested artists should be professional-level artists. What does that mean? It means you are a maker/artist/creator who is producing on a regular basis. Or actively engaged in sales and exhibition of your work.
The following membership levels are available. Each shift is 4 hours.
Level 4: Pay $60 rent and work 4 shifts a month. (1st, 2nd & last months’ rent deposit $180)
Level 5: Pay $40 rent and work 5 shifts a month. (1st, 2nd & last months’ rent deposit $120)
Additional details on membership can be found in our Membership Contract.
• One jewelry artist
Application Deadline September 11th.
Membership to begin October 1st, 2022.
About Us
Alberta Street Gallery is a cooperative of vibrant, inclusive, professional artists from the Portland/Vancouver area, featuring high-quality work in a variety of disciplines, including painting, sculpture, ceramics, metalwork, photography, fiber, glass and jewelry. Alberta Street Gallery is an integral part of the art scene in the Historic Alberta Arts District and the greater Portland area. At Alberta Street Gallery, we recognize that our gallery space exists as a result of the gentrification of a historically minority neighborhood. We seek to honor that diversity by creating a safe, inclusive space for all people, and continuing to engage in community outreach throughout the district. The gallery seeks to foster community through a unique art-book lending library, engaging artist talks and classes, and open-call exhibitions featuring members of the community. We offer a selection of beautiful and interesting arts and crafts from a diverse cooperative of artists and artisans. Our vision is to become more than a gallery: an actual gathering point for the community, for both artists and art lovers. The gallery is open daily and features regular art shows, including "Last Thursday," when Alberta Street comes alive to show its unique character and talent.
About Our Cooperative
As a cooperative, all of the operations of the gallery are handled by the members. These roles range from marketing, sales, exhibitions, financial, community engagement, website management, and more. All members of Alberta Street Gallery work together to create and maintain our gallery. There is a pride of ownership and participation that comes from this type of business model.
Alberta Street Gallery is financed by commissions on art sales and modest monthly dues from its members. Dues are determined by the number of shifts worked by the member during the month. Commissions for new members start at 70% artist/30% gallery. After the first month, members are eligible to join one of the many committees that handle various tasks and business roles necessary to the function of the gallery. If you’d like to play an active role in one of our committees, then the commission is 75%/25%. Major decisions for the gallery are handled by a board and two co-presidents. These positions are voted on an annual basis. Larger gallery topics or issues may be subject to majority votes.
How to Apply
Our aim is to choose the best artists/work that fit the current needs of the gallery; to promote balance across media; and to complement, not compete with, the work of our present members. We highly encourage prospective applicants to visit the gallery and think about how their work would fit into our current membership within these guidelines. The gallery is located at 1829 NE Alberta Street, and is open every day from 11am to 7pm.
Interested artists should be professional-level artists. What does that mean? It means you are a maker/artist/creator who is producing on a regular basis. Or actively engaged in sales and exhibition of your work.
- Work should be well-crafted and exhibit a professional level of competence in your discipline.
- Interested artists should be able to work well with a diverse set of people, and have the time available to work a minimum of four 4-hour shifts per month, and be reliable, responsible and comfortable with ringing up sales and interacting with the public.
- The initial application is online. For each membership position, ASG will be selecting up to 6 artists from the initial pool of applicants to present their work to the ASG jury in person.
- Entries for jewelry media may include, but are not limited to: polymer clay, beadwork, wooden jewelry, etc.
- We are looking for artists from the greater Portland/Vancouver area ONLY.
- Deadline for application is Sunday, September 11th at midnight. Invitations to the in-person jury will be issued by Wednesday, September 14th, and the jury will be held on Sunday, September 18th at 8:30am.
- New member should be prepared to hang or display their work in the gallery between September 27th and 30th.
- Each new open call is a new opportunity for membership; if you’ve applied in the past we encourage you to apply again.
The following membership levels are available. Each shift is 4 hours.
Level 4: Pay $60 rent and work 4 shifts a month. (1st, 2nd & last months’ rent deposit $180)
Level 5: Pay $40 rent and work 5 shifts a month. (1st, 2nd & last months’ rent deposit $120)
Additional details on membership can be found in our Membership Contract.