April 3 - July 5, 2026
Curated by TK Smith
Photos by Mario Gallucci
“The romance of treason never occurred to us for the brutally simple reason that you can’t betray a country you don’t have. (Think about it.) Treason draws its energy from the conscious, deliberate betrayal of trust—as we were not trusted, we could not betray. And we did not wish to be traitors. We wished to be citizens.” —James Baldwin, The Price of the Ticket
Oregon Contemporary Artists’ Biennial is a survey of works by visual and performing artists who are defining and advancing Oregon’s contemporary art landscape. The exhibition is supplemented by a series of interdisciplinary programming and events.
The Price of the Ticket explores the interconnected themes of place, power, and promise, especially as they relate to our complex relationships with the land, our histories, and our nations. It will act as a response to the 250-year anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. This pivotal document emancipated the 13 American colonies from British rule, establishing the new nation with the promise of certain “unalienable rights” to all citizens. Since its signing, there have been long and violent battles over who is considered a citizen and therefore granted rights and protection under the law. Often the most vulnerable of us are left to reconcile the disparities between ideal and reality.
The exhibition takes its title from Black American writer and Civil Rights activist James Baldwin’s proposed book of the same title. The Price of the Ticket was intended to explore the political realities of post-Civil Rights era America—progress and the lack thereof. The book was never finished. The title now exists as the introduction to a collection of Baldwin’s non-fiction works and as the title of a biographical episode of American Masters.
The 2026 Biennial will be documented within a forthcoming exhibition catalog designed by Adam McIsaac. It will feature contributions from the curator, the participating artists, and institutional partners.
The Artists’ Biennial 2026 is supported by The Ford Family Foundation, Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, The Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation, Autzen Foundation, Multnomah County Cultural Coalition and the Oregon Cultural Trust. Oregon Contemporary is supported by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the James F. & Marion L. Miller Foundation, Oregon Community Foundation, the City of Portland's Office of Arts & Culture, and the Oregon Arts Commission, a state agency funded by the State of Oregon and the National Endowment for the Arts. Other businesses and individuals provide additional support.
Participating Exhibition Artists
Sahar al-Sawaf | Raphael Arar | Wayne Bund | Francesca Capone | Hand2Mouth Theatre | Kerr Cirilo | DeepTime Collective: Amanda Leigh Evans and Tia Kramer | Demian DinéYazhi’ | James Enos | Tannaz Farsi | Marcelo Fontana | Ebony Frison | The Black Gallery & Don't Shoot PDX: Taishona Carpenter and Teressa Raiford | Bean Gilsdorf | Stephen Hayes | Jaleesa Johnston | Joe Kye | Ambrin Ling | Katherine Longstreth | Todd McGrain | Mako Miyamoto | Anis Mojgani | Gabby Severson | Stephen Slappe | Ash Stone | Taravat Talepasand
Partners of the 2026 Artists’ Biennial
Portland Art Museum | Hand2Mouth Theatre | KSMoCA | Ori Gallery | Race Talks | Multnomah County Central Library
Behind The 2026 Biennial
One of the central pieces and conversations in the 2026 Oregon Artists’ Biennial is the newly created bronze Bust of York, the only Black man in the Corps of Discovery, by artist Todd McGrain. This statue will be a permanent version of his initial bust which was built of Styrofoam painted bronze, and was surreptitiously installed in 2021 on Mount Tabor on the pedestal where a statue of Oregonian editor Harvey Scott, a known racist, once stood. After 8 months, the Bust of York was eventually vandalized and toppled off its pedestal.
While traveling later in 2021, TK Smith was made aware of McGrain’s bust, although the artist’s name had not yet been revealed. Smith’s interest in American history and his specialization in public art and monuments compelled him to make the trip to see the bust. Once he reached Mount Tabor, he was disappointed to discover that the bust was gone and the plinth was empty.
Years later, Smith was contacted by the Oregon Contemporary with the (unrelated) proposal to curate the 2026 biennial. His first studio visit was with Todd McGrain where Smith, at last, was able to experience the powerful work of art. Both the original bust and the new bronze bust will be included in the biennial, anchoring its larger themes of citizenship with local history and on-going discourse.
Oregon Contemporary is particularly indebted to Sitka Center for Art and Ecology for their unprecedented support of the biennial after the National Endowment for the Arts withdrew funding based solely on the names and bios of our curator and artists.
The National Endowment for the Arts granted and confirmed $30,000 in funding for Oregon Contemporary, only to pull it at the last minute, plunging Oregon Contemporary’s Artists’ Biennial into danger of cancellation. The Biennial was already well underway when the sudden news of the grant cancellation came in a letter from the NEA. Sitka Center for Art and Ecology stepped forward to help bridge this gap at a time when support for the arts is in question. The move is motivated by a show of solidarity and alignment between the two organizations, as well as an affirmation of the importance of diverse voices in the art dialogue.
About the Curator
TK Smith is an independent curator, writer, and cultural historian. He most recently served as Curator, Arts of Africa and the African Diaspora, Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University. Previously, Smith served as Assistant Curator: Art of the African Diaspora at the Barnes Foundation. His recent independent curatorial projects include Carried Over at ISCP (2025); the Mississippi Invitational: Call Home (2025); Hand to Mouth at Stove Works (2024); and Kelly Taylor Mitchell & Sergio Suárez: Material Memory at Swan Coach House Gallery (2024). Smith’s writing has been published in exhibition catalogues, academic journals, and periodicals, including Art Papers where he is a contributing editor. He is a past recipient of an Andy Warhol Arts Writers Grant and was awarded the Leo and Dorothea Rabkin Prize in art writing in 2024. He has been a visiting lecturer at numerous academic and cultural institutions, including Cornell University. Smith has lectured for several institutions, including the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Saint Louis University, and Cornell University. Smith is a doctoral candidate in the History of American Civilization program at the University of Delaware, where he is completing his dissertation, entitled “Granite, Power, and Piss: The Transformation of a Confederate Symbol.”