Strategic Plan Overview
Our Vision
We envision a world enriched by artists and designers who are empowered to create with profound and practical impact.
We educate artists and designers for life. We embolden a diverse group of creative thinkers to ask questions and to solve problems. We activate students of all pursuits to make art, make an impact, and inspire change.
Our Values
We are EXPERTS. Every day we hone our grasp of method, material, process, and technique, immersing ourselves in learning our craft with rigor from the ground up. We respect the educational process and how it informs both practice and creativity and commit to sharing, cherishing, and challenging the methods and concepts used by artists and makers before us.
We are AGILE. We adapt to the world around us and we experiment with verve. Now more than ever, ideas with elasticity are imperative to the dynamic artist. We educate to create sustainably, scalably, and differently, in communities large and small. From this springboard, our potential to influence the world becomes possible.
We are INCLUSIVE. We are committed to all artists and designers—no matter who they are, where they come from, or what their goals are. We believe placing this value at the forefront of our work cultivates artists who are true agents of change and connects our community to the world in meaningful ways. By focusing on building authentic relationships, we strive to serve as a belonging and equity incubator for our College community and for the greater region of Portland.
We are SUPPORTIVE. Through individualized education, thoughtful discourse with our faculty, integrated career preparation and professional services, and an ethos of celebration over competition, we enable a culture of shared accountability, visibility, and collaborative success.
We are ANCHORED. As Portland’s creative heartbeat, we draw upon the ebbs and flows of our city and state for both influence and opportunity. To honor our relationship with our urban hub and natural surroundings, we as cultural workers strive to make our community’s goals ours, invite it to inspire everything we do, and return impact at every possible turn.
We are TRANSFORMATIONAL. We draw from our unparalleled setting and the diversity of our creativity to grow through every pursuit—by taking risks, by following through, by willing bravery, and by seizing every opportunity to make our mark. We embrace our evolution, propelled by the knowledge that creative growth through art, within ourselves and our culture, can ultimately provide fulfillment.
Leadership
Board of Trustees
- Kathryn Yates, Chair
- Diane Garthwaite, Vice Chair
- Dan Bailin
- Jordan Carey ’19
- Jennie Coyne
- Reid Crewe
- Deborah H. Dluhy
- Kerem Durdag
- Edward Friedman ’08
- Reza Jalali
- Kathryn Knight-Wise
- Meredith Koerner P’16
- Sue Rogers
- Damien Saccani
- Jenny Scheu
- Susan Schraft, MD
- Kristin Valdmanis
- Brit Vitalius
- Abigail Wark, Ph.D.
- Brian Wilk ’95
Emeritus Trustees
- Joan L. Amory
- Jane G. Briggs
- Betsy Evans Hunt, Hon. DFA ’13
- Candace Pilk Karu, Hon. DFA ’13
- Deborah Spring Reed
Leadership
- Laura Freid, President
- Beth Elicker, Executive Vice President
- Ian Anderson, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of the College
- Laura Retherford, Associate Vice President of Development