Jennifer Armbrust, photo by Anthony GeorgisJennifer Armbrust is as bullish on Portland as an arts center and as savvy a gallerist as a young Elizabeth Leach. Armbrust’s motel gallery is a few blocks closer to the river than Leach’s, but she’s every bit as committed to building a stable of artists, nurturing a new crop of collectors, and fostering what’s essentially healthy soil in which PDX visual arts can thrive. motel has cut its own path brilliantly, combining gallery with gift boutique featuring primarily local designers. Last and best from our perspective, Armbrust is one of the critics behind PORT, the Portland arts blog with a level of criticism that rivals or surpasses what one finds locally in print. Here she takes a minute out to answer the ultra Q:
Qualities you most admire in design:
Functionality, integrity & pleasure.
Qualities you most despise in design:
Form without function.
Reading:
Emails, they never end!
Listening to:
Old Jazz, Classical, Hip-Hop, This American Life, streaming iTunes
Dream project:
Fully integrated and self-contained gallery, artist’s boutique, design studio, resource lounge and print studio with on-site chef.
Favorite virtue:
Glowing optimism
Favorite vice:
Fine dining
Tragic flaw:
I’m a princess.
Secret superhero power:
Ad hoc psychoanalyst / motivational speaker.
That which keeps your afterburners firing:
Visions of grandeur.
What you’d like to be when you grow up:
How much longer till I qualify as a grown up.. haven’t I earned it yet? I’ve got lots of gray hair!
Portland’s best kept secret:
Wine and sunset on the roof of a SE industrial warehouse. And the racing car arcade games at Wonderland.
Portland heroes (sung or un-):
All of my local heroes are essentially anonymous. They offer amazing wisdom, support and inspiration. You know who you are.
Interesting on the horizon (PDX):
Portland is the next big thing. Artists are moving here like mad from all over the country; the national press will catch on and then the professional class will follow. Just you wait…
updated Tuesday August 30 2005 16:19
WHAT TO DO NOW?