Cathy Edwards comes to Portland having been Artistic Director of Dance Theater Workshop (DTW) in New York and, most recently, in her current role as the Director of Programming for the International Festival of Arts & Ideas in New Haven, CT. While at DTW, Ms. Edwards was recognized by The New York Times for supporting “provocative, experimental choreographers,” and for “daring curatorial choices [that] showed her to be as creative and imaginative as many of the artists she booked.” She was also recognized for her support of international artists and her dedication to commissioning and presenting work from a next generation of important performing artists.

During her first two years at the International Festival in New Haven, Edwards designed innovative programming initiatives in dance and emerging performance forms including such diverse performers and companies as the dance group Headlong Dance Theater (Philadelphia), Aurelia Thieree with a nouveau cirque production (France), dance company Chunky Move (Australia), the Apparatus Theatre Group (Russia), the theater ensemble Siti Company (New York), the sound and performance artist Ray Lee (UK) and a new play by Sebastian Barry produced by Fishamble (Ireland). While at Dance Theater Workshop, Edwards was instrumental in bringing the work of artists such as Meg Stuart / Damaged Goods (Belgium), Rachid Ouramdane / Association Fin Novembre (France), Maria Hassabi and Miguel Gutierrez to the DTW stage as well as for her commitment to residencies and commissions.

Edwards was appointed DTW Co-Artistic Director in 2001 and DTW Artistic Director in 2003. In 2003, while Edwards was Co-Artistic Director, DTW opened its new facility in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, which includes a 200-seat state-of-the-art blackbox theater, a digital laboratory, two dance studios, a gallery/café, as well as administrative and technical offices.

PICA's Executive Director Victoria Frey manages PICA's vision and direction and is responsible for all aspects of the organization's operations and fiscal management. Prior to her tenure at PICA, Frey was the owner and director of Quartersaw Gallery. As one of the first galleries in Portland's Pearl District and among the most influential galleries in the Pacific Northwest, Quartersaw was responsible for launching and furthering the careers of many Northwest artists. A pioneer on the Portland arts scene, Frey has been a long-standing arts advocate in our community. Frey has served numerous boards and commissions that focus on the arts landscape locally, regionally, and nationally. She currently sits on the board for Travel Portland, is Vice Chair for the Creative Advocacy Network and serves on the Advisory Boards for Caldera and the White Box at the University of Oregon in Portland.

Previous board and advisory posts include the NW Business Committee for Culture and the Arts (Board of Directors), the Oregon Arts Commission (Commissioner), The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art (Advisory Panel) and the MayorÕs Creative Capacity Initiative. Frey was the founding secretary/treasurer of PICA's Board of Trustees, served on the Executive Committee, and Co-Chaired the Campaign for PICA as the Development Chair. In addition, she has been involved in strategic planning and fiscal oversight of the organization from the time of PICA's inception.

Erin Boberg has worked alongside Executive/Artistic Director Kristy Edmunds on PICA's Performance and Residency Programs since it’s inception in 1995. In 1999 she was invited to participate in the National Association of Artist’s Organizations Co-Generate program, which identifies and fosters new leaders in the arts. She is one of 6 U.S. delegates to the International Leadership Development Forum, a multi-national platform for professional and artistic exchange in dance. Boberg has also served on several artist selection panels and awards juries for the Regional Arts and Culture Council, Creative Capital, and other local, regional and national organizations in the performing and visual arts.

Prior to joining PICA, Boberg was an intern for Kristy Edmunds at the Art on the Edge program and served as the Education Outreach Coordinator for the Northwest Film Center’s Video/Filmmaker-in-Schools program, where she directed the Young People’s Film and Video Festival. Boberg is an independent performance artist and has studied dance, music and theatre at Lewis and Clark College in Portland Oregon. She received her Bachelor of Arts Degree with Honors in Theatre from Lewis & Clark College in 1994.

Kristan Kennedy is an artist and curator who is currently the Visual Art Program Director for the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art. Kennedy's curatorial initiatives focus on the creation of new work by working with emerging artists on large scale installations and helping foster their projects from concept to completion. Kennedy curates video, installation, music and new media projects presented at PICA's annual Time-Based Art Festival. She has organized exhibitions and commissioned projects by Matthew Day Jackson, Sara Greenberger-Rafferty, RED 76, Charles Atlas, Ruby Sky Stiler, Storm Tharp. Fawn Krieger, Kalup Linzy, Arnold Kemp, Peter Kreider, Guido van der Werve, Lizzie Fitch, Jacob Hartman and Brad Adkins among others. In addition she has presented the work of Marina Abramovic, Hans Weigand, Harrell Fletcher, Beth Campbell, Johanna Billing, Brody Condon, Antoine Catala, Carter, Jessica Jackson Hutchins, Ryan Trecartin and Mike Kelley.

In 2007 Kennedy was asked to develop a collection initiative for the CW Network. She selected curators from several regions to identify emerging artists from burgeoning cities across the United States. The resulting show High Five : Emerging Art in America was presented at the CW Network and resulted in the company purchasing pieces from each region. Kennedy has collaborated with Stephanie Snyder of Reed College on a publication documenting PICA's commission of Peter Kreider's work which was released in the Fall of 2009, she is currently working on a series of publications documenting PICA's commissioning and residency program from 2005-2010. She has acted as a juror and curator for several West Coast institutions, including Un/Common at the Pacific Northwest College of Art, Exit at the Portland State Universty, Soft at Tilt Gallery and Grounded? at Southern Exposure and Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco.