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PDX Life |
So, you just purchased a rare and important work of art for your collection.
Maybe you paid five, or even six figures for it, unframed.
Who you gonna call?
Whether that’s a typical consumer scenario for you, or the décor you recently bought resembles a poster print from a local festival, there’s a frame for it at Northwest Portland’s Katayama Framing. And if you’re interested in browsing among an assortment of fine pieces by Northwest artists and others, that’s another reason to stop by.
From the outside, Katayama Framing doesn’t look like a shop or a gallery. The only clues that framing services can be found there are numerous sample ‘corners’ pressed inside the high windows in the building’s white façade. Painted on the exterior wall is the tasteful representation of the Katayama family crest, the Japanese ‘mon.’ Inside is a specialty shop that is unmatched in this region.
Dennis Katayama moved in 1972 to Portland from Berkeley, California, where he had studied painting. “I knew I wasn’t going to be a great artist,” he says, so he considered the industry differently. To choose a location for the shop, he mapped out the city’s existing framers and decided on an area that felt like home. “I wanted to pick a neighborhood that felt diverse and up and coming.” His partner in the business since 1985 is Marilyn Murdoch.
The vision Katayama and Murdoch bring to their work is based on years of experience looking at and collecting art. “Marilyn and I are collectors, but we’re not very focused,” Katayama says. “We like good-quality things.” The scope of what attracts them makes them exceptional at framing others’ art. After all, if they owned only wildlife prints, say, then a Portlander’s original Jackson Pollock painting could end up framed like a cheetah photo. Diversity is crucial. “We read a lot; Dennis and I travel a lot just to see frames,” Murdoch says.
But vision can’t get far without hands-on creating.
“A lot of the money that we spend here is retaining good people,” Katayama says.
Some of the employees have 25 years of experience; until recently, the least experienced worker on the production team had 12 years in the industry.
“Because we handle really expensive artwork here, experience is very important,” Katayama says.
Every member of the staff specializes. Some mount fabrics, wile others cut mats or assemble frames. The business employs gilders, carvers, textile workers and wood fabricators.
Besides the creating, Murdoch says Katayama Framing is an “omni gallery,” gathering together Northwest and international artists from a variety of eras and media. The shop supports other galleries by directing customers their way. And Katayama Framing has a corporate mission committed to the advancement of culture in the city. Fifteen percent of its gross sales are donated in cash or as in-kind gifts.
Murdoch, Katayama and their staff don’t hesitate to try wacky things.
“That’s part of the fearlessness, because we can always change it,” Murdoch says. The possible combinations for any frame are absolutely limitless. The showroom has about 1000 samples of corners and mats, and each component can be altered or made “from scratch” for a one-of-a-kind project.
“Our creativity is our only limitation,” Katayama says.