University of Oregon - Oregon Acoustic Research Laboratory (OARL)(Art)

The University of Oregon seeks artworks for the Oregon Acoustic Research Laboratory (OARL), a new research facility under construction at the Port of Portland’s future Mass Timber and Housing Innovation Campus. OARL will serve as a center for innovation in sound research and mass timber technology, advancing acoustic testing, sustainable building, and regional design and manufacturing excellence. The University is looking for artworks that reflect the laboratory’s distinctive intersection of science, sound, material innovation, and Oregon’s industrial and environmental heritage. Artists may propose either preexisting works or new commissions. Opportunities exist at three prominent sites: a large interior lobby wall, a public-facing exterior entry plaza, and a semi-enclosed tenant courtyard. Works may engage themes of sound, vibration, resonance, silence, sustainable construction, timber, craftsmanship, and the riverfront industrial setting. The University welcomes visually compelling, durable, and publicly accessible artworks that strengthen the identity of the new facility, invite curiosity and reflection, and help express OARL’s role as a forward-looking center for research, innovation, and community connection.