Downtown Dreams

This story is published in cooperation with Willamette Week and Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation.

Jordan Schnitzer—the legendary local philanthropist, director of the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation, and president of Schnitzer Properties—is no ordinary art collector.

As the owner of works by Jasper Johns, David Hockney and Andy Warhol, Schnitzer possesses one of the largest private collections of art and sculpture in the nation, with some 20,000 pieces. It’s no wonder that museums at the University of Oregon, Portland State and Washington State University bear his name.

Yet to Schnitzer, art is more than an array of objects to be owned and observed. It is a many-faced entity with the power to awaken a more spiritual understanding of the world and oneself—a power that he believes must be shared in any community that values good citizenship.

“The art, for me, takes me on little journeys, raises my heart and soul, makes me feel inspired, lets me go back to my issues with more clarity and determination,” Schnitzer says. “So as much as I have passion for the art around me, I have even more passion for sharing the art.”

Lately, the Jordan Schnitzer and the Harold and Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation has been taking the sharing ethos to new heights. From Aug. 24 to Aug. 26, the organization presented the free Director Park Live Paint Off in conjunction with Converge 45, a city-wide contemporary art biennial taking place at over 17 museums, galleries and art centers across the city.

For Schnitzer, events like these are not just an opportunity for fans of all ages to watch ingenious artists at work. They are a cornerstone of his efforts to revitalize Downtown Portland in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and continuing concerns regarding public safety.

“The only way we’re going to get our downtown back—both physically and attitudinally—is to stand up and show pride in our community, and be downtown,” Schnitzer says. The Paint Off certainly brought people downtown, with 32 Portland artists competing for more than $25,000 in cash prizes in a one-of-a-kind painting competition.

As the son of Arlene Schnitzer, who founded the Fountain Gallery of Art in Portland in 1961, Jordan Schnitzer is practically royalty in Portland’s art community. It’s a role that brings burdens that he shoulders with grace, fully conscious of the dark fate that can befall a city devoid of creativity and generosity.

“I think if we don’t turn Downtown Portland around in the next 12 months, it could be another Detroit,” Schnitzer says. “Downtown could be a wasteland with buildings. So Converge 45 comes at just the right time.”

Even before the pandemic, Portland could have looked very different without Schnitzer’s stewardship. Over a decade ago, his funding helped make Director Park possible—and with the Paint Off, he manifested his dream of artistic creation not as a solitary act, but as a ritual to strengthen a community.

“A community is more than just buildings and jobs,” Schnitzer says. “What caused people to come to Portland is, yes, the beach, the mountains, hiking, the outdoors. But I think it was also the cultural vibe. And unless you have a vibrant downtown, it’s like an open wound in the metropolitan area.”

With Schnitzer’s help, that wound is beginning to heal.

To learn more about the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation and its newly opened Schnitzer Collection gallery, you can visit www.jordanschnitzer.org.