(Portland,OR) –
For the past four years, Portland Parks & Recreation and Ethos, Inc., a non-profit music-focused arts organization, have partnered with other local multi-cultural arts organizations to operate the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center (IFCC), located at 5340 North Interstate Avenue in Portland. Effective December 31, 2014, Ethos will return general management responsibilities of the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center to the City of Portland. Per Ethos’ mission, Ethos’ board and staff have agreed to redirect resources to low-income kids living in underserved communities in Oregon. Portland Parks & Recreation will assume management responsibilities at IFCC moving forward.
“I want to thank Ethos for their four years of partnership at IFCC,” says Portland Parks & Recreation Director Mike Abbaté. “Supporting the arts is a key part of what makes our city so livable. We want to continue the vibrancy and tradition of the historic firehouse and to foster more multicultural, diverse programming.”
"Ethos has been honored to partner with some of Portland's most dynamic arts organizations at the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center,” says Jedidiah Chavez, Executive Director of Ethos. “As we refocus our mission to meet the changing landscape of arts education in Oregon, Ethos’ board and staff have agreed to redirect resources to low-income kids living in underserved communities including isolated, rural towns in Oregon."
The Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center is a former firehouse that has been renovated into an arts facility consisting of a dance studio, art galleries, and a theatre, all of which are ADA accessible. Since 1982, the IFCC facility has provided a venue for multicultural arts programming in Portland. Over the years, IFCC has served as an art and cultural center, a theatre, an event space, a summer camp location, a community center, an after-school program facility, a gallery space, a dance studio, a venue for performing artists, and an educational facility for the arts.
Portland Parks & Recreation is committed to honoring the rich tradition of this historic space and will be working closely with the public to plan programming that celebrates multiculturalism and community access at IFCC. PP&R has begun the process of reaching out to current users, and any interested parties in reserving space after January 1, 2015 at IFCC should contact Portland Parks & Recreation’s Phil Lewis, Phil.Lewis@portlandoregon.gov