In the five years since Jenn Armbrust opened Motel, the
gallery has become a staple of the Portland scene, creating a niche
space for both storybook-style illustrations and less categorical
artwork. Though she has long championed emerging local artists, from
Jesse Rose Vala to Carson Ellis, the last two years saw Motel steadily
importing impressive national talent. Sadly, the gallery is closing its
doors at the end of December. Armbrust, who also co-founded the local
art blog PORT, recently talked to the Mercury about the
gallery’s legacy and the state of art in Portland.
MERCURY: Is this just the beginning of your next role in the
Portland art scene?
ARMBRUST: I have no plans to be a part of Portland’s art scene in
the near or distant future, although one never knows where life will
lead.
What aspect of the gallery are you most proud of?
I am really proud of the fact that I started Motel at 25 with no
gallery experience, no art history training, no professional
connections, no business training, and no silver spoon. I had vision,
guts, integrity, commitment, and a whole lot of drive. I built a
nationally recognized gallery as a force of inspiration and sheer
will.
Is Portland’s art the same quality it was when you founded the
gallery?
Frankly, I am underwhelmed by Portland right now. I have a sinking
feeling Portland is on the tail end of its “glory days” of cheap living
and cultural expansion. Now that the risk takers and visionaries have
paved the way and the New York Times has caught on with
bi-weekly articles touting our quality of life, I’d expect the consumer
class is just around the corner. Is this too pessimistic? Maybe you
caught me on a bad day. I guess it would be more accurate to just say
that I love the entrepreneurial sense here and am grateful to be
surrounded by so many ballsy and innovative young people forging their
own careers and creating new values and ways of doing business. But
Portland has its limitations and these have only become more obvious
and stifling for me. I’ve put all my cards on the table and I feel like
I pretty much know what everyone else has in their hands. I’m ready for
a whole new game.