ON VIEW:
January 21 - April 26, 2025
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Matthew Earl Williams, Twentysix Gasoline Stations In Grand Theft Auto V, 2014-24, digital prints, Each 16 x 20 inches framed, © m. earl Williams, Courtesy of the artist.
Just Playin' Around
Once our basic needs are met, we humans have always turned to play and art. Children learn how to navigate the world by playing. Adults depend on play to bring joy and connection to others. The United Nations recognizes play as a universal right of children, and mental health specialists increasingly recommend play for its therapeutic benefit at all ages.
Artists often talk about their work as a form of play involving materials, ideas, and imagination. Play can be part of the process of making art, but can also be its subject matter. Artists create meaning from childhood memories, toys, games, and sport, reframing the past, interpreting the present, or imagining the future. Play is also a way for artists to seek release from meaning, to resist others’ need to interpret or instrumentalize their work, as seen in absurdist art-historical movements such as Dada.
Industrialized societies often treat play as childlike or trivial, an obstacle to productivity. Our cultural institutions define which artworks and artists are worthy of attention, often presenting art in distinctly unplayful settings, equating seriousness with cultural value. This belies the ways in which playfulness, surprise, silliness, and humor in art are able to engage charged emotional, social, and political issues.
Not all art needs to be playful, but in the end, play and art may not be so different. In both, we seek freedom, release, and community. Sometimes we create and receive meaning through our games and our art, and sometimes we just want to have fun. Just Playin’ Around is a peephole into some of the many ways in which art is play, play is art, and both are in all of us.
Just Playin’ Around is curated by Nancy Downes-Le Guin and Theo Downes-Le Guin. This exhibition is supported by The Ford Family Foundation, The Reser Family Foundation, the Jackson Foundation, Elements Roofing, the Richard and Helen Phillips Charitable Fund, and the JSMA Exhibition Circle.
Featured Works
Featured Works
Takashi Murakami, Flowers (Superflat), 2004, edition 223/300, offset lithograph, 27 x 27 inches, Published by Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, Collection of Jordan D. Schnitzer, ©2004 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Jeremy Okai Davis, Riding Silhouette (Marshall Major Taylor), 2023, acrylic on canvas, 48 x 34 inches, Collection of the Salem Convention Center, Salem, OR, ©Jeremy Okai Davis, Courtesy of the artist and Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR
Calvin Chen, Cornfield, 2016, Archival inkjet print on paper, 25 x 32 inches © Calvin Chen, Courtesy of the artist
Derrick Adams, Party Guest 1 (We Came to Party and Plan Series), 2020, Edition 33/50, Screenprint, relief, fabric, collage, 24 x 18 inches, Published by Tandem Press, Madison, WI, Collection of Jordan D. Schnitzer, © Derrick Adams, Courtesy of the Artist and Tandem Press, Madison, WI
Derrick Adams, Party Guest 2 (We Came to Party and Plan Series), 2020, Edition 10/50, Screenprint, relief, fabric, collage, 24 x 18 inches, Published by Tandem Press, Madison, WI, Collection of Jordan D. Schnitzer, © Derrick Adams, Courtesy of the artist and Tandem Press, Madison, WI
Heidi Schwegler, They are all equal now (detail), 2024, Resin, rubber, wood, metal, mini projector, 72 x 72 x 31 inches
© Heidi Schwegler, Courtesy of the artist
Audio Tour
Audio Tour
Brochure
Brochure
Just Playing Around Brochure.pdfPast Events + Programs
Past Events + Programs
Thursday, January 23
Conversation with Artists & Curators
4:00–5:00 PM
We are thrilled to host Just Playin’ Around featured artists Heidi Schwegler and Joshua Sin in conversation with curators Nancy Downes-Le Guin and Theo Downes-Le Guin. Starting at 4:00 PM, the artists will discuss their art practice and its connection to play. A reception will follow the talk where both artists' work is on view!
Thursday, January 23
Opening Reception
5:00–7:00 PM
Join us for a night of fun at the opening reception of Just Playin’ Around! Featuring the work of 11 contemporary artists, the exhibition is a peephole into some of the many ways in which art is play, play is art, and both are in all of us.
Saturday, February 1
Storytime
11:00 AM–12:00 PM
Join us for Storytime with Portland-based artist Latoya Lovely! Featured in our current exhibition Just Playin’ Around, Lovely invites you to interact with her installation through stories and songs! This program is free to the public and includes ASL interpretation.
Storytime is geared towards pre-K through early elementary students. Children must be accompanied by a guardian throughout the event.
Saturday, February 15
Exhibition Tour
1:00–2:00 PM
JSMA at PSU is pleased to present an exhibition tour of Just Playin’ Around. Led by curators Nancy and Theo Downes-Le Guin, the tour will cover highlights of the exhibition. They will be joined by artist Calvin Chen, who will share insights on his photographs in the exhibition!
Thursday, February 27
Arlene Schnitzer Visual Arts Prize Reception
5:00–7:00 PM
Join the Schnitzer School of Art + Art History + Design to celebrate the work of our 2024 Arlene Schnitzer Visual Arts Prize recipients: Olivia DelGandio (MFA in Contemporary Art Practice: Social Practice ‘24), HG Garner (BFA in Art Practice, Comic Studies Certificate, ‘24), and Michelle Jackson (BFA candidate in Art Practice, ‘25).
Saturday, March 1
Storytime
11:00 AM–12:00 PM
Join us for Storytime with Portland-based artist Latoya Lovely! Featured in our current exhibition Just Playin’ Around, Lovely invites you to interact with her installation through stories and songs! This program is free to the public and includes ASL interpretation.
Storytime is geared towards pre-K through early elementary students. Children must be accompanied by a guardian throughout the event.
Thursday, March 6
Fresh Connections: Joshua Sin
12:00–1:00 PM
JSMA at PSU invites you to the Winter 2025 Fresh Connections gallery discussion with exhibiting artist Joshua Sin, featured in the museum's current exhibition, Just Playin’ Around. Led and moderated by PSU students and faculty, the Fresh Connections program series spotlights community voices in dialogue with leading contemporary visual artists. Free and open to the public.
Saturday, March 15
Exhibition Tour
1:00–2:00 PM
JSMA at PSU is pleased to present an exhibition tour of Just Playin’ Around. Led by curators Nancy and Theo Downes-Le Guin, the tour will cover highlights of the exhibition. They will be joined by artist Matthew Earl Williams, who will share insights on his prints in the exhibition!
Saturday, March 22
LetterPDX Drawing Meetup
1:30–4:30 PM
JSMA at PSU and LetterPDX are thrilled to collaborate on a drawing meetup! Join us at 1:30 PM for an interactive tour of Just Playin’ Around, followed by artmaking in a classroom connected to the museum! Basic materials such as pencils, and paper will be provided, but participants are encouraged to bring their own materials! We hope to see you there!
Saturday, April 5
Storytime
11:00 AM–12:00 PM
Join us for Storytime with Librarian Shimmy! Inspired by our current exhibition Just Playin’ Around, they will read playful stories of art and community! This program is free to the public and includes ASL interpretation.
Storytime will be indoors and is geared towards pre-K through early elementary students. Children must be accompanied by a guardian throughout the event.
Saturday, April 19
Storytime at the PSU Farmers Market
11:00 AM–12:00 PM
Celebrate Earth Day with JSMA at PSU for a special Storytime hosted at the PSU Farmers Market! Portland-based artist Latoya Lovely will read stories exploring how art supports the environment and builds community. This program is free to the public and includes ASL interpretation.
Storytime is geared towards pre-K through early elementary students. Children must be accompanied by a guardian throughout the event.
Saturday, April 19
Exhibition Tour
1:00–2:00 PM
JSMA at PSU is pleased to present an exhibition tour of Just Playin’ Around. Led by curators Nancy and Theo Downes-Le Guin, the tour will cover highlights of the exhibition. They will be joined by artist Jeremy Okai Davis, who will share insights on his paintings in the exhibition!
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