Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA) revealed the location of its new headquarters and events space Thursday afternoon. With the news, the 31-year-old arts organization also announced the appointment of its current development director, Betsey Brock, to the role of executive director.
Brock has been with PICA since November 2025, a relatively short tenure, but shows an extensive background in arts executive and development roles, with past positions at Seattle Arts & Lectures, On the Boards, and University of Washington’s Henry Art Gallery. PICA announced the departure of its previous director Reuben Roqueñi in June, writing that Roqueñi had chosen “to pursue new professional opportunities.”
PICA announced its intention to move in mid-October, with a grateful nod to local philanthropist and former PICA board member Allie Furlotti who notably allowed the organization to lease an industrial warehouse space on NE Hancock for 10 years without rent and with only modest upkeep expenses. In recent years, Furlotti founded gallery ILY2, which also has a location in New York and previously ran artist residency and youth programs out of a location in Lloyd Center Mall.
If it were possible to fill a cart with curtains and cutting-edge audio visual equipment and jump the Interstate 5 highway, PICA would essentially be rolling up to their new digs with ease, as their future building will eventually open at 721–723 N Tillamook.
Sidebar: Longtime readers and cannabis-fanciers will remember this as the warehouse the Mercury rented for Weed the People, a party we threw in 2015 to celebrate recreational cannabis legalization in Oregon.
According to a release from PICA, opening festivities and details about “a major spring 2027 exhibition” will be shared in the coming months, as will winners of its 15th round of Precipice Fund grantees.
