(upbeat music) - These are the pictures for the second decade show.

So, I'm just laying it out to see how things fit.

- [Narrator] Portland photographer Christopher Rauschenberg has got his work cut out for him.

- I think, it's 381 prints, so this is gonna be a lot to look at.

- [Narrator] Along with tracking down hundreds of photographers, he's curating five separate exhibitions, each focused on a decade in Blue Sky Gallery's 50-year history.

- One side of the gallery will be three pictures from shows that we had during that decade, and then facing across from it mirror wise will be three newer pictures by the same artist.

- [Narrator] It all started back in 1975 when photographers Ann Hughes and Bob DiFranco found themselves with some extra space at the front of their dark room.

- Craig Hickman, one of the other co-founders, said, "Well, we could kind of have a gallery."

And Ann thought about it and she said, "Well, that'd be good, 'cause then if a photographer comes to town, they'll come to the gallery and we'll meet them."

So, the gallery was kind of conceived as kind of a honey trap to meet photographers.

- [Narrator] Chris, along with friend, Terry Toedtemeier, joined the group and the five began converting the nine by 11-foot space on Northwest 23rd Avenue into one of the first American galleries devoted entirely to the art of photography.

- [Chris] Originally, we thought we would just show local photographers, but once we opened the gallery and Ann Hughes' beautiful posters started getting mailed out nationally, we were getting show proposals from all over the country.

We didn't really realize that this was gonna go on for anything like 50 years.

It just has kept on.

I mean, if you're doing something that is really actually useful, you find it self-sustaining in a certain kind of a way.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] Today, Blue Sky still operates much as it did at the start, from welcoming submissions from literally anyone free of charge.

- And the amount of items that can be composed in one shot here.

- [Narrator] To inviting members to decide what work is shown on the gallery's walls.

- But he's crafted them so well that that's not a detraction to me.

I think, that just speaks to his skill.

- Okay, so who's seen this before and would like to show it?

Who'd like to hold it?

Who'd like to not hold it?

Okay, that's a show.

(upbeat music) - When Blue Sky first started in the seventies, it put Portland on the map as a place that would show photography in a gallery.

It also then became just critical to really creating this space here in Portland that was in a window into the rest of the world.

(upbeat music) We also continue to create spaces for local artists.

So, we have the Pacific Northwest Drawers program where we select 60 artists that get to show a series of 10 prints in the drawers all year long.

- [Narrator] Each fall and spring, local artists with work in the drawers meet the public in an event known as the print walk.

- Okay, is everybody in the front room?

Great.

Thank you all for being here today.

We're super excited.

This is a great opportunity for the artists that are featured in the Pacific Northwest Drawers to talk with folks about their work, how they made the work, and what goes into it.

(audience applauding) - My name's Allen Myers and I live in Portland, Oregon, and in 2018, my parents' home burned down in Paradise, California.

I returned home to see what I could do to just be part of my own healing process, and there was a moment where my parents were standing in the ashes of their home.

I knew that it was something that needed to be preserved.

(somber music) What I've come to see and understand is that these incredibly painful places, our instinct is to run from them, and that in order for us to really make sense and to heal, there needs to be a moment of pause.

The photography provides an opportunity for participants to stand in that pain, to be seen in it, to sit with it, and then to begin to step into a new future, whatever that might be.

- Just like making these minis still lives.

Without seeing like you, the home can tell you a lot about a person without seeing them.

My name is Wyndi DeSouza.

I am from Newark, New Jersey.

My grandmother was a really great image maker.

She's 92 now, and I think, she had so much to say, but has not been able to tell that story because what times were.

A lot of the images are around her home and it's her response to the question, what home means to you.

Her home is something she worked so hard for and means so much to her.

I learned about Blue Sky Gallery and that it was really, really important for me to just be a part of this institution that's been here for 50 years.

Also, to like make myself be ingrained and be a part of the Portland art community.

It's been like, like my first step in.

(people chattering) I love a flat landscape.

Most people don't, but I love a flat landscape.

- That's cool.

You must have a beautiful garden.

- Every year it's a new experience, you know?

I'm Claudia Hollister, and I live in Portland, Oregon.

I started doing cyanotypes in 2014.

Cyanotype is a photographic process that goes back to 1842.

It was originally designed for blueprints.

You're using UV light to print instead of chemicals.

(upbeat music) (people chattering) - Getting in the drawers the first time was a huge confidence boost for me and trusting how I see things.

Being in them for now three years in a row, has been a huge honor.

- [Christopher] We really have been putting a lot of energy into the photographers who are in the drawers and helping them to sell their work, helping them to get recognized.

We have a outside curator do the drawers and it's a chance for a curator to find out about all the wonderful work that's in the Northwest.

So, it's always about how do we help the photographers.

As we look forward at our 50th birthday, I realized that Blue Sky was in a unique position having had 1,000 exhibitions over the last 50 years to create a sort of a watering hole where photographers could go and look at the work that had happened over the last half century and discover somebody that they haven't heard of.

We try to do a lot on our website.

We have over 200 artist talks and we've put up 1,000 web pages, so there's 10 to 20,000 images there.

We've tried to make as thorough a place to be inspired as possible.

- [Narrator] Showing 50 years of images in five gallery exhibitions spread over one year's time has taken work and creativity.

- So, we are just coming up on the second show from '85 to '95.

We're not just showing work that we've shown before, but hey, what are they making now?

to really kind of see how these artists have evolved.

(people chattering) I think, there's a great energy from being here for the 50th anniversary.

The vibe has been kind of like a college reunion in some ways it feels like.

I think, especially for the founders, they were friends in their early twenties when the gallery first started and built this incredible reputation.

People are just really proud that we have something so special here in Portland that's lasted so long.

- From the very beginning, it seemed like a nice communal thing to do together, and it's been something where you feel like you're just walking down the street and you look behind you and you're leading a parade, 'cause what we were doing was so needed.

I've really found it so satisfying to be playing uh, point guard on the photography team, and I've got the wonderful opportunity to help photographers further their careers by having exhibitions here, and I find that tremendously satisfying.

(upbeat music)