PORTLAND, Ore. — An art space in Southwest Portland was slated to showcase the artwork of Taravat Talepasand for the entire month of March. Now, just a week into the month, the space sits empty.
"I'm feeling a great loss," Talepasand said. "It's very traumatic."
Talepasand said on the night of March 1, she and another artist installed all of their work at ILY2 gallery near Southwest 10th and Oak ahead of the month-long exhibit. The next morning, Talepasand woke up to a text message.
"The owner of Sizzle Pie and another resident in the building saw three people sleeping in the space and it looked destroyed, so they called the police," she said.
A spokesperson for the Portland Police Bureau told KGW officers arrested one person on a warrant, but the damage had already been done.
Talepasand said ILY2 was vandalized. Lights were smashed and walls were spray painted. The place wreaked of meth and cigarette smoke, she said, and a lot of the artwork was damaged or stolen.
"I'm really devastated and saddened by it," Talepasand said. "As an artist over 20 years, I've never ever had this experience in any other gallery space, nationally or internationally, and none of my artist friends have ever had anything like this happen before."
It happened to an exhibit titled "Take Care." Talepasand said the works of art she was going to feature were centered around protection and reciprocity.
"What happened is the exact opposite of our intentions for the show," she said.
A GoFundMe has been launched to help Talepasand and the other artists recoup some of their losses.