Portland artist Wynde Dyer addresses the citys affordable housing shortage through quilts like these.
Portland artist Wynde Dyer addresses the city's affordable housing shortage through quilts like these. Courtesy Wynde Dyer

Here's something that can't be said of most art shows:

Each piece is priced at the exact amount of one individual's rent increase, and the full proceeds will be donated to cost-burdened renters as one-time, no-questions-asked micro grants.

That's from the press release for Portland artist Wynde Dyer's latest show at Stumptown's Division location, Sharing the Scraps, which envisions a "sharing economy" with a DIY bent—rather than a corporate one—and addresses Portland's affordable housing emergency through Wynde's tarp quilts. Among them: A body of work called "Hazelnut Grove Quilts." For this project, Dyer solicited designs from the residents of the Hazelnut Grove homeless encampment located along N Greeley. Wynde, who has herself experienced homelessness, hosts Hazelnut Grove residents in her apartment every Sunday for what she calls "Bath + Art Time sessions." Any proceeds from "Hazelnut Grove Quilts" will go back to the encampment's residents.

There will be a reception for Dyer's work at Stumptown (4525 SE Division) this Sunday, March 27, from 4-6 pm, with music from Gepetto, food and drink provided by the Hazelnut Grove Community Kitchen and New Deal Distillary, and a performance from dry-land synchro swimming troupe the Olivia Darlings.

We've written previously about intersections between art and issues surrounding housing and homelessness, and as Portland evolves—and as property values go up, and new development comes in—my guess is we'll be seeing more and more artworks that address them. We'd do well to pay attention.