News & Events

Community collaborations for the win!

This year is moving right along. We are already in the second week of October—one of our favorite months here at Right Brain. In addition to enjoying the fall colors and sweater weather, we have really been digging into the new school year like many of you. Eight Right Brain schools are currently working with the artists they’ve chosen for their classroom residencies, over 250 educators and teaching artists have registered for our professional development workshops kicking off this week, and numerous community partnerships are underway. Here’s a recap of the exciting new partnerships we’ve scored this fall:

Warby Parker

The New York eyewear company, Warby Parker, opened its first Portland location on October 1st at 817 NW 23rd Avenue. Please note that this isn’t any ordinary store. This is a combination eyeglass shop and arcade, for which we are the humbled beneficiary! The exciting “Do Good Arcade” hosts an array of games powered by tokens that can be purchased in the shop and all of the proceeds will benefit The Right Brain Initiative.

The arcade itself is a source of eye-candy, doing wonders for your eyes. The designer behind the “Do Good Arcade” is local illustrator and Right Brain advocate, Jason Sturgill. Exciting aesthetic surprises can be found in everything from the game tokens to the wallpaper!

We are so thankful for the generous support of Warby Parker and for providing all of Portland the opportunity to pick out a new pair of glasses, play old-school arcade games, and support arts education in the Portland metro area all at the same time. How cool is that?

WeMake Celebrates

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In addition to Literary Arts and Schoolhouse Supplies, Right Brain was selected as a beneficiary of WeMake Celebrates, a design and makers’ conference in Portland on October 14-15, 2016.

The second annual conference includes one full day of creative dialogue with an awesome lineup of speakers including the following six keynotes: Jean Jullien, Lotta Nieminen, Andy Best, Bowen Ames, Bibi McGill, and Britt Howard. The second day is packed with hands-on experiences in a variety of workshops.

We are honored to be chosen and equally excited to continue our collaboration with WeMake—our soul sister of the maker world. As a local consortium of volunteer designers, writers, videographers, stylists, etc., WeMake is all about instilling creativity in everything we learn and do. Now that is a partnership we can get on board with!

The Phi Beta Kappa Society

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Did you hear? Portland has been named Phi Beta Kappa’s 2016 Arts & Sciences City of Distinction! This award showcases metropolitan areas with exceptional artistic vitality, cultural vibrancy and scientific engagement. Our Executive Director at the Regional Arts & Culture Council, Eloise Damrosch, will accept the award on behalf of the city at the reception on October 19th.

The Right Brain Initiative is also honored to be recognized as an honoree receiving a $5,000 award. We proudly join an incredible lineup of four local organizations that build creative exchanges with new and diverse audiences in the arts, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences or mathematics. Congratulations to the other three organizations and our colleagues at Literary Arts, Lewis & Clark College’s Community Engagement and Leadership in Science, and Portland State University and the Oregon Heritage Commission’s Archaeology Roadshow.

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