• King School Museum of Contemporary Art (KSMoCA)

  • About KSMoCA

    KSMoCA Wall with logo

    KSMoCA, Dr Martin Luther King Jr School Museum of Contemporary Art, is a contemporary art museum inside of Dr. MLK Jr. School in northeast Portland, Oregon. Founded in 2014 by Portland State University professors Lisa Jarrett and Harrell Fletcher, the project creates an unusual pairing between public school students and internationally renowned artists and their work. KSMoCA’s programs are collaboratively developed with the Dr. MLK Jr. School community, PSU students, and volunteers.

    Students learn through experience about museum practice and careers in the arts by participating as curators, preparators, artists, gallerists, writers, and docents. KSMoCA reimagines the way museums, public schools, and universities can affect people, culture, and perspectives by creating radical intersections and sharing resources across organizations.

    For more information, visit www.ksmoca.com and Instagram.

    Exhibitions

    KSMoCA hosts three main exhibitions throughout the course of the school year (Fall, Winter and Spring). Each exhibition features the artwork of a world-renowned contemporary artist, and work made by Dr MLK Jr school students who met the artist and participated in a workshop. This artwork is displayed in the hallway between the cafeteria and the gym.

    KSMoCA also hosts three exhibitions annually in the MLK Jr. Gallery. This space is curated by the Student Curatorial Committee, a group of 4th and 5th grade students who meet with and select artists for this space. This gallery is located in the hallway between the office and the cafeteria.

    To learn more about these exhibitions, please visit the exhibitions page on their website. 
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  • Upcoming Events

    portrait of a man wearing a colorful vest

    Artist Talk and Exhibition Opening with Napoleon Jones-Henderson, KSMoCA’s Winter 2025 artist in residence

    THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 2024
    10 — 11 AM
    SCHOOL LIBRARY and CAFETORIUM

    For more than 50 years, Napoleon Jones-Henderson has created works that strive to highlight, celebrate and empower the communities where he lives. As an image maker and  founding member of the artist collective African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists (AfriCOBRA), his art practice is inspired by the lived experiences and cultures of people of the African diaspora. Self-affirming and reflective, his work illuminates both a fraught past and a liberated future. As artist-in-residence at KSMoCA, Jones-Henderson led a series of workshops with second grade students who created works inspired by his own. The resulting student artwork will be exhibited at KSMoCA alongside Jones-Henderson’s work. 

    Jones-Henderson was born in 1943 in Chicago, Illinois. He attended the Sorbonne Student Continuum-Student and Artists Center in Paris, France in 1963 where he was immersed in an independent study program in French Art History and Figure Drawing. Upon returning to the United States, he enrolled in the Art Institute of Chicago receiving his B.F.A. degree in 1971. Jones-Henderson went on to earn credits in advanced graduate studies in Fine Arts at Northern Illinois University and earned his M.F.A. degree in Interdisciplinary Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2005.

    His artwork is in the collections of the DuSable Museum of African American History, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Southside Community Art Center, Hampton University Museum, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Museum of National Center of Afro-American Artists and Studio Museum in Harlem. In addition, his artwork is in distinguished private collections and numerous public art commissions. He lives and works in Roxbury, Massachusetts.

    PAST EVENTS:

    color photo of a woman standing in front of artwork

    Artist Talk and Exhibition Opening with Adriene Cruz, KSMoCA’s Fall 2024 artist in residence

    THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2024
    9:45 — 10:45 AM
    SCHOOL LIBRARY and CAFETORIUM

    "The art I create fulfills a powerful desire to express visually what's not easily spoken, a passion for color, a love of symbols, and a deep interest in matters of the Spirit. Gifts of my ancestors,  angels, and spirit guides celebrating the power of art beyond visual image flows through me as a celebration of survival. Ancestral roots real and imagined offer a base to channel elements of healing and blessings. "

    Harlem native Adriene Cruz was deeply inspired by her mother's creative use of color and the rich cultural influences of her childhood community.

    Adriene attended the High School of Art and Design and  received a BFA from the School of Visual Art in NewYork. After relocating to Portland, Oregon she explored quilting at the Oregon School of Art and Craft. What emerged were brilliantly colored and adorned quilts, large and small, piecing together richly patterned materials in rhythmic arrangements, structured as well as improvisational, deeply moving on a spiritual level and simply enjoyable for their sheer beauty. 

    kids with ms. ruby and a plant

    Exhibition Opening — The Hold: Land & Water Stewards of Pacific Northwest Turtle Island, Intisar Abioto with Ms. De Lara-Vargas' Kindergarten Class

    THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 2024
    10:30 AM  11:00 AM
    CAFETORIUM HALLWAY

    For her KSMoCA exhibition, Intisar Abioto will showcase a photography series that focuses on Black and Indigenous stewards of the land across various landscapes—family farms, gardens, and other rural domains. As such, we thought it would be fitting that this exhibition also include our favorite steward at Dr. MLK Jr. school, the incomparable Ms. Ruby Sims!

    For over fifteen years, Ms. Ruby has served tasty and nutritious meals to students, emphasizing the importance of fresh fruits and vegetables. As an avid gardener and herbalist, she is passionate about wellness and strongly believes in the healing power of plants. The exhibit features a portrait of Ms. Ruby by Abioto taken in the park next to the school.

    For this exhibition’s accompanying workshops, Ms. Ruby led a “touch, smell, taste” session with Ms. De Lara-Vargas’ kindergarten class, where students had the opportunity to taste and learn more about her favorite herbs. In a second workshop, the students generated a creative response to the first workshop, adding drawings of their favorite herbs to t-shirts. After the workshop, they wore their shirts to the cafeteria, surprising Ms. Ruby with a “Kinder GARDEN Parade” through the lunch line. Documentation of both workshops will be exhibited with Abioto’s photography series.

    KSMoCA hosts many projects, activities, and artist talks throughout the school year. Stay up to date on upcoming activities by visiting their events calendar or by following their Instagram page.
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