My Story Workshops

A Few More Photo Collages from Lincoln Woods

admin — Thu, 17 May 2012 18:36:26 +0000

Here’s another batch of amazing photo collages from our Lincoln Woods students!

G is for Ghost

admin — Thu, 17 May 2012 18:22:02 +0000

We’ve been busy with our younger students at Lincoln Woods making an alphabet photo book. We’re just about half way through!

Photo Collages at Lincoln Woods

admin — Fri, 04 May 2012 18:22:25 +0000

We’re so excited about the way these Exquisite Corpse-inspired photo collages are coming out. Our Lincoln Woods students are pretty excited too!

A Happy Kid

admin — Fri, 04 May 2012 18:01:52 +0000

Ahman was really happy about getting his photos back yesterday afternoon. This picture was taken after he rolled on the floor laughing for a good 30 seconds!

Crazy for Pumpkins!

admin — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 16:35:38 +0000

Sometimes mysterious things happen when we send kids home with cameras. It’s always exiting to pick photos up from the lab and see the things our students choose to photograph outside the classroom. For example, one of our students took 24 photos of a pumpkin on his porch. Strange, and kind of wonderful, right?

My Story Youth at the Portland Plan Reception

admin — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 00:10:22 +0000

Last night, four of our youth photographers from Lincoln Woods brought their photography skills to the Gerding Theater at the Armory for a reception for the Portland Plan. Fatuma, Ubah, Neliya, and Anna ran a free portrait studio for guests and wowed the crowd with their maturity and professionalism.

Here you can read Mayor Sam Adam’s announcement about the final draft of the Portland Plan that will go before City Council on April 18 at 6pm.

Don’t forget to ‘like‘ us on facebook!!

The Portland Plan and My Story

admin — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 18:05:48 +0000

We’re thrilled that our students’ portraits from the “We are Portland” project are going to featured in the Portland Plan! It’s a strategic plan for Portland, with an eye toward 2035, developed by the City of Portland in concert with more than 20 agency partners. It is a plan for Portland to be a prosperous, educated, healthy and equitable city.

On April 18, City Council is scheduled to consider the Portland Plan – Recommended Draft for adoption. Click on the link to preview this inspiring document!

“We are Portland”

admin — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 00:07:03 +0000

Picture the empty courtyard of an affordable housing complex. A young person steps onto the grass with a tripod on her shoulder. Another unfurls a white backdrop from a duffle bag and begins erecting a metal support system. Residents gather at the edge of the grass and watch eagerly as young artists transform this public space into an outdoor photography studio. Local musicians set up by a picnic table as volunteers bring out trays of snacks and tape balloons to trees.

Before long, the housing complex is abuzz with excitement. Grandmothers rush inside to fix their hair and toddlers are proudly trotted out in tiny suits and purple party dresses. Residents jump and clap to direct their attention, and the courtyard is filled with laughter. More than a courtyard, more than a photography studio, this pubic space has become a laboratory, where new relationships are formed, and new conceptions of community are forged. At the heart of this laboratory, young photographers are making beautiful, thoughtful, fine art portraits.

This is a typical scene at a “We are Portland” Family Portrait Day. “We are Portland” is a youth-run mobile portrait studio that builds community through the arts. Our young photographers offer free interactive arts-focused events to their families, friends, and neighbors, and through the stunning portraits they make, My Story youth can focus the lens of public discourse on the communities they call home. All families who participate in “We are Portland” receive free portraits from their sitting.

Our vision for “We are Portland” is for our young photographers to use community portraiture to fully represent the diversity and vibrancy of the city of Portland, and for our students’ work to be accessible to all Portlanders. To see more of our students’ work from the “We are Portland” project, check out our “Programs” page.

The project infuses public spaces with interactive arts-based experiences that change the way residents view themselves and the places they inhabit. In the midst of the excitement these events generate, new relationships are formed that cross cultural and generational boundaries.

Our vision for “We are Portland” is for our young photographers to use community portraiture to fully represent the diversity and vibrancy of the city of Portland, and for our students’ work to be accessible to all Portlanders. To see more community portraits from the “We are Portland” project, visit our “Programs” page.

Join us for the State of the Arts on Wed, March 21st at 9:30am

admin — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 16:35:54 +0000

Come out to City Hall on March 21st at 9:30 AM to see RACC present its State of the Arts report to the Portland City Council. My Story will have youth portraits from our exciting “We are Portland” project on display in the atrium!

Check out this link for more information.

http://www.portlandonline.com/mayor/index.cfm?c=49278&a=389446

My Story Interview on 107.1 FM this Sunday!

admin — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 17:18:54 +0000

Tune in to KZME 107.1 FM this Sunday to hear Alex Ney from My Story interviewed on Artclectic PDX! The show airs at 5pm, and the interview will be in the second half of the show. If you’re at home, you can stream the interview at: http://icy1.abacast.com/mhcc-kmhc-64.m3u
Thanks Dennise for the great interview!