Artists represented include Kazz Artis, Beth Ann Short, Brian Horay, Pat Jenkins, Joanna Miller, Cynthia Veum, Cherie Epstein, Claire Polansky, Birch Dwyer and Serena Appel.  Artists represented responded to a call for art specifically for art created by professionals and graduate students using Art Therapy.  The art in the show is the art of his or her own creation, not client’s work.

Art Therapy provides anyone with an opportunity to explore personal problems and potentials utilizing both verbal and non-verbal expression.  Some art therapists use the art therapy process in treatment offering clients a safe place to clients to project the struggles and concerns interfering with daily functioning and address them in a controlled and safe environment.   Art Therapy provides an approachable environment for anyone to explore overwhelming problems.

Art therapists are trained at a master’s level.  In the Portland area, Marylhurst University is the closest facility to become a trained art therapist.  This training not only covers the clinical information that most social workers get in their masters level training, but also in addition includes the proper use of art and it’s mediums in the therapeutic relationship.  The 100^th Monkey Studio is a business that will provide anyone, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation, a safe and affordable place to use art materials.  The studio will support artists in their journey using art materials as a means of individual self-expression.  The studio also provides the community a creative place to visit, view art and locate personal resources.  Beth Ann Short, who is a nationally registered art therapist with the American Art Therapy Association, also has her private practice in one of the offices of the studio.

The 100^th Monkey Studio believes that self-expression is vital in our daily lives. Art is a powerful tool that may be utilized in a variety of ways to create positive change in anyone’s life.  For more information on art therapy, future shows or other studio events call (503-232-3457) or refer to the website at http://www.the100thmonkeystudio.com.

Artists represented in the show will include art from Martha Shade, Michelle Ramin, Joanna Schwartz, Jennifer Mercede, April Alden, Joy Leising, Beth Ann Short, Tim Combs, Carol Weliky, Kate Stigdon, Felicity Fenton, Ruthie Tavor and Cameron Parker.  Artists responded to a call for art that sought out art pieces utilizing recycled/reused materials, although some pieces also depict earth conscious living in their thematic content.  This month’s show will also include a majority of the Tossed and Found show that spent the month of March at Outside In.  This show includes primarily functional works with reused materials, and was created with the goal of inspiring creativity with free materials.

At the opening event, artist Taylor Stevenson, will demonstrating the technique of basket weaving using recycled materials (2 liter bottles and magazine paper).  This class will be offered in the studio on April 14 & 21, 2007 from 11:30am-1:30pm.  The class is $5 for studio members and $10 for the general public.  The technique Stevenson will use is practiced in South America.  Taylor Stevenson is an artist and social service advocate who creates and promotes art and craft with reused materials.  She explores reused art as a free form of art therapy, and strives to present and teach art in non-traditional settings.  She was born and raised in Portland, Oregon but has strong ties to Latin America.  Her website, www.redsemillaroja.org is a bilingual network for activist artists. 

The studio will also be hosting a recycled art-making workshop on April 22, 2007 (Earth Day) from 12-2:00pm.  For more details about future shows, upcoming classes/workshops, support groups or other studio events call 503-232-3457 or via web www.the100thmonkeystudio.com.

Musician Rachel Taylor Brown is known for her heretical creep pop style.  Taylor Brown is currently working in the studio with Jeff Stuart Saltzman on her next album called, “Half Hours With the Lower Creatures.”  Taylor Brown also plays in bands “The Sort Ofs” and in “Fear of Heights.”  “Fear of Heights” will be embarking upon their first tour on March 16^th.

Additional artists represented in this show include Serena Barton, Kindra Crick, Michelle Freedman, Julia Gardner, Hadley Hutton, Autumn Kern, Carly Laney, Joy Leising, Kim Manchester, Molly McDavitt, Mariana Orantes, Darlene Pucillo, Joanna Schwartz and Beth Ann Short.  The artists represented responded to a call for art that sought out themes relating to family systems, prejudice/discrimination, community, health, support, politics, heritage, education and stereotypes.  National Women’s Day also falls on March 8^th.  The 100^th Monkey Studio is woman owned business.  The 100^th Monkey Studio is a space providing workshops/classes, art therapy, community resources and a place to view art.  The studio changes it’s shows monthly and all shows are group shows with the intent to give the community a place for expression. 

A portion of all art sales goes to the Art Scholarship Fund.  With severe cuts in Portland public schools and community mental health services, the studio offers patrons the opportunity to find community on many different levels.   The 100th Monkey Studio Art Scholarship Fund has been created to support the studio’s mission in allowing people that are passionate about art and creativity, but may not have the funds to access the Studio on their own, a way to do so.  More details about future shows, the Art Scholarship Fund and other studio events can be found at www.the100thmonkeystudio.com 503-232-3457.

100th Monkey Studio

Monkeying around with personal art is a little easier thanks to a newly opened community studio in Southeast Portland.

"We have three work spaces," said Beth Ann Short, who has a master's degree in art therapy and co-owns The 100th Monkey Studio with Joy Leising. "Along with a kids room with chalkboard walls and an array of different colors of chalk, so children and parents can work on their art at the same time."

Besides the guiding advice of the owners, resources at the studio include shelves of reference books, and business cards from area professionals.

The community studio is an affordable alternative to working alone; artists can drop in to use art materials and enjoy a creative space to view and create art.

The owners host classes, workshops and groups, with materials and tools included in the fee, or an hourly rate ($7.50) to use the studio, which also includes most materials. Other media, such as tiling for mosaics, are for sale in a supply room.

What's this "100th Monkey" business? A Japanese legend tells of one monkey washing dirt off sweet potatoes in a stream. This behavior spread among other monkeys, and once it reached the 100th monkey, it became an ideological norm for the monkeys, even crossing the seas.

Short and Leising think the same sort of phenomenon is possible by using art as a means of self-care and self-expression.

The 100th Monkey Studio, 110 S.E. 16th Ave.; 503-232-3457; www.the100thmonkeystudio.com.

-- Joshua Sommer

Special to The Oregonian

100th Monkey First Friday Art Show

100th Monkey Art Studio opens a new exhibit displaying art either by people living with HIV/AIDS, or by family or friends of those with the disease. Several pieces are part of the international Zimbabwe Art Project and African AIDS Response. Local artists in the show include Chris Haberman, Beth Ann Short, Joy Leising and Ross Slyter. 110 SE 16th Ave., 232-3457. 6-9 pm. Free.

Events in Oregon to mark World AIDS Day

As World AIDS Day today draws attention to the international dimensions of the epidemic, there are signs that young Oregon men don't treat the illness as seriously as they should.

Dr. Mel Kohn, Oregon state epidemiologist, said that in Oregon and elsewhere in the U.S., AIDS drugs have been so successful in extending the lives of those infected with the virus that younger people often do not see the disease as life-threatening.

"The sense of urgency in protecting yourself has gone," he said. "Young men who have sex with other men are seeing all these people who are living with the disease instead of dying," he said.

The result, he said, is that the number of new infections has held steady instead of declining.

Oregon has about 300 new infections and 150 deaths from the disease each year. Health officials estimate there are 4,500 people in the state living with the infection. About two-thirds have AIDS.

Kohn said he is disturbed by an upswing in syphilis and gonorrhea cases because it indicates people are having unprotected sex.

"We're trying to figure out new ways to refresh the message so people will notice it," he said.

According to the World Health Organization, almost 40 million people worldwide are living with HIV infections, with 4.3 million new infections in 2006. In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, infection rates may have risen by more than 50 percent since 2004. This year alone nearly 3 million people died of AIDS-related illnesses.

These events, to be held today, mark World AIDS Day in Portland and Salem:

Portland State University benefit concert for Cascade AIDS Project, 7 p.m. in Room 229 of the Smith Memorial Student Union's Multicultural Center. Concert features members of the Portland Gay Men's Chorus, Johanna and Paul Clay and the Lab Family. Admission, $8 students, $10 general admission.

100th Monkey Studio, 110 S.E. 16th Ave., will feature an exhibit of artists who are living with HIV/AIDS or who have had friends or family members with the disease. The exhibit will include art from the Zimbabwe Artists Project. The First Friday exhibit is from 6 to 9 p.m. Refreshments will be served and live music from Zimbabwe will be featured. Free.

PDX AIDS Day Promise Vigil, 7 p.m., Shemanski Fountain, South Park Blocks near Salmon Street. The vigil is to remember those lost to the epidemic and keep the promise of hope to those affected by it today. Glowsticks will be given out. Bring a nonperishable food item to donate to Esther's Pantry.

Kiehl's Pharmacy, 712 N.W. 23rd Ave., will donate all proceeds from store sales between 5 and 7 p.m. to Youth AIDS, an international organization that works to prevent the spread of AIDS in young people.

Willamette University, Salem: 1 to 5:30 p.m., speakers and workshops on AIDS and HIV in Cone Chapel in Waller Hall. At 7 to 8 p.m., poetry and music of the AIDS epidemic, Hudson Hall. Free.

The Zimbabwe Artists Project

The Zimbabwe Artists Project holds their annual winter sale, Dec. 9, 10-am-5:00pm and Dec. 10, 1:00pm-5:00pm at The 100th Monkey Studio, 110 SE 16th Avenue.

Featured are new board and fabric paintings from Zimbabwe as well as holiday cards, puzzles and discounted items.  The artwork makes wonderful gifts as well as colorful additions to any home.

Zimbabwe Artists Project was created as a non-profit organization in 1999 at the request of women artists form Weya in rural easter Zimbabwe.

Their primary goals are 1) to assist artists to create economic security for themselves and their families, and 2) to use art as a medium for making human connections across boundaries of race, culture and priviledge.

Contact Jessica Stern at Zimbabwe Artists Project 503-232-7057 or visit www.zambabweartistproject.org

The 100th Monkey Studio in Portland provides a supportive creative environment for artists young and old, including instructional workshops, after-school groups, a senior art studio and a gallery. The studio was created by Beth Ann Short, an art therapy specialist, and Joy Leising, an active member on the Zimbabwe Artist Project Board.

The 100th Monkey Studio believes that self-expression is vital in our daily lives. Art is a powerful tool for creating positive change. Art combines verbal and non-verbal communication, opening new pathways for learning. Using both types of communication also promotes the use of the left and right brain hemispheres. Art encourages appropriate risk-taking and creativity in thought, expanding one’s learning potential beyond the traditional academic modes of learning (linear, verbal, sequential and fact-oriented). Art in a group setting reduces social anxiety, increases positive self-thought and empathy, leading to a freer expression of feelings and self that would normally be ignored and kept inside.

The studio is located at 110 SE 16th Ave. in Portland. Visit www.the100thmonkeystudio.com.

When Monkeys Paint

    Beth Ann Short and Joy Leising opened 100th Monkey Studio last month at 110 S.E. 16th Ave. to serve as an open art studio and community space that encourages creativity in all people.  Part of its mission is to provide anyone— regardless of age, gender, income, ethnicity orsexual orientation—a safe and affordable place to use art materials. They also support artists in their self-expression.
    “Serious artists with limited resources could be members at a nominal rate and have a place to store
their art and work in an open or private studio atmosphere,” said Short. “People who enjoy being creative [but] have not had as much exposure to art technique can take classes and benefit from the teachings as well as the social connections. We see the studio as a place for anyone to get started using their creativity in hopes to use free expression and self-care in their daily lives.”
    Leising and Short met while working at the Boys and Girls Aid Society of Oregon. Short, who moved west from Michigan 15 years ago, went back to school in 1996 to attain a master’s degree in art therapy. Leising moved to Portland from Minnesota in 1997 to attend Lewis & Clark College, where she earned a degree in sociology, anthropology and gender studies. 
    “Both Joy and I saw a need in the area for a safe place where people could come and be creative,”
Short said.
    The studio holds first Friday events and changes its shows monthly. A list of upcoming themes and a call to artists are at www.the100th monkeystudio.com.
    The Web site also lists support groups that meet
in the space, including a prenatal transitions group, a self-empowerment mandala workshop and diabetes
groups for adults and children. The second Thursday of every month is an HIV/AIDS support group night from 6:30 to 7:45. The drop-in gather-ing is $6 for members and $12 for nonmembers.

• The 100^th Monkey Studio will provide anyone, regardless of age, gender, income, ethnicity or sexual orientation, a safe an affordable place to use art materials.
• The 100^th Monkey Studio will support each artist in their process using art materials as a means of individual self-expression.
  
• The 100^th Monkey Studio will provide the community a creative place to visit, view art and/or locate personal resources.

• Instructional workshops
• Informational resources
• After-school groups
• Senior Art Studio
• Artistic Support/Education
• Counseling
• Gallery

Portland, Oregon.  April 19, 2006  The 100^th Monkey Studio was incorporated.