Assembly 2021

Place Biographies

Friday June 11, 12-2pm PST
Sign Club, a collaboration between Laura Glazer and Jordan Rosenblum

Join us for a workshop creating historical markers for places with personal meaning. As armchair tourists we will take a tour of the wide world of historical markers, examining the visual design and language that defines them—including some of the best, and worst. We will critically discuss the problematic history and legacy of their use.

The workshop will then explore the role historical markers can play in helping us understand and make meaning of places that are of personal importance. Participants will be guided through a process of writing stories about places, drawing on the skills of oral history, including deep listening, reflection, and storytelling. 

This workshop includes a presentation, conversation, creative activities, and a break.

Sign Club is the ongoing collaboration between Portland-based artists Laura Glazer and Jordan Rosenblum engaging participants in explorations reinterpreting public and private spaces. Using the concept of a sign as a starting point, participants explore giving voice to unheard and unacknowledged aspects of our environments.

Laura Glazer is a student in the Art and Social Practice MFA program at Portland State University, and graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology with a BFA degree in photography. Her curiosity about people and the visible world guide her research, conversations, and collaborations. She processes and organizes research through publications and free distribution methods of printed matter and visual culture such as brochures, flyers, and postcards.

Jordan Rosenblum works as a socially engaged artist, designer, and educator. His projects include workshops, installations, and publications. He teaches at Portland State University, works as a visual designer, and co-directs the RECESS! Design Studio (in affiliation with the King School Museum of Contemporary Art)—an artist project that explores the power of design with elementary school students. He received a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA from Portland State University’s Art and Social Practice program.