Linda K. Johnson is an Oregon native. For over four decades, she has been deeply influential in the maturation of dance in the NW region, contributing as a maker, performer, academic, somatic educator, Contemporary Alexander Technique teacher, mentor, curator, and arts administrator. Her choreographic work has been presented by PICA/TBA, On the Boards, and ORLO, among many others. Nationally, she is honored to be one of seven custodians of Yvonne Rainer's seminal post-modern work, Trio A. Johnson has participated in residencies at Yaddo, Caldera and Rauschenberg/Captiva, and is one of 12 featured artists in the recently released book by Kristin Timkin - The New Explorers, which includes a forward by Lucy R. Lippard. In 2014, she opened her private practice teaching Contemporary Alexander Technique, having studied for four years with master teacher Robyn Avalon and the Alexander Alliance.
Abbreviated CV for Linda K. Johnson
Upcoming / Current / Recent Activities
Mycelium Dreams Project: PASTfuture Longform Artist Interview Project (RACC); PICA TBA:2024
PICA/TBA:2016 - Festival Scholar
Congress on Research in Dance (CORD) Presenter; Nov/2016
Artist in Residence. N.E.W. Artist Residency Program, Studio 2, 2014
Adjunct Faculty/Dance & Performance, Portland State University, 2014-current
Alexander Technique Certified Teacher
(Un)Made – Linda Austin Solo Relay Project – May/2015
PICA/TBA: 2014 & 2015. Community Conversations: Luke George, Alessandro Sciarroni
Axis Dance Company, Trio A Repertory Project; Oakland, CA; 2014
PICA Precipice Fund Awardee (with Linda Austin and Tahni Holt).; 2014
Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Artist Residency. Captiva, FL; December 2012
Historical Custodian. Trio A by Yvonne Rainer
Featured Speaker. TEDxPortlandConcordU; March 2012
Independent Artist. Dance: before, after, during, small group exhibition; Marylhurst Art Gym, Portland, April/2011
Guest Lecturer. Stanford University/Freshman Humanities Core; May 2010 & 2011
Visiting Assistant Professor. Mills College, Oakland, CA; 2009-2011
Creative & Choreographic History
2022 Mycelium Dreams, Buidling5 Residency (community archiving project)
2018 PolkaDots/Pioneer Courthouse Square, PDX (community site-based choreography)
2014 Every Place Needs An Atlas (after Solnit); Studio 2
2014 Great Expectations; Boris and Natasha Cabaret, PWNW
2013 In the slow, wide deep of all that is passing…; Conduit Dance+ Series
2012 Terms and Conditions; PICA/TBA:12, Ten Tiny Dance
2012 The Habit of Being; TEDxPortlandConcordiaU. March/2012
2011 Terra Cognita: Walking to Know/Satellite (commissioned solos with exhibition)
2009 The Henna Project (site-based, temporary public art; collaboration)
2008 The City Dance of Lawrence and Anna Halprin (site-based; curator/producer)
2008 Promenade (site-based public performance gathering; collaboration)
2008 South Waterfront Artist in Residence Program: curator/director/producer
2007 Carton Services Warehouse Project (site-based; collaboration)
2007 a lunch time (site-based, mixed-media public performance project)
2007 Merge (mixed-media solo; commissioned solo)
2005 what remains…requiem (solo, mixed-media)
2004 twentyonedays; (solo; commission)
2003 Layers of Location; collaboration w/architect Martin Houston (site-based)
2003 Works [1966-2003]; collaboration w/Shelley Senter; new/historical works
2002 Trio A (1966; Yvonne Rainer) permission to teach and perform in perpetuity
2000-01 Tax Lot #1S1E4ODD - performance installation (site-based; public art)
2000 Evidence (solo/group; site-based; artistic director)
1999 The View From Here (performance installation; solo; site-based; public art)
1998 Not Fully Myself (7 commissioned solos; artistic director/producer/performer)
1997 HeadOut (ensemble; artistic director)
1996 A Small Piece of My Mind (trio; collaboration)
1996 CandyBox (duet; collaboration; producer)
1996 Pipe Dreams (solo performance; site-based; collaboration: L.Wysong)
1995 Co-founded Conduit Contemporary Dance Center; Portland, OR
1995 Transient Habitations (solo; site-based; artistic director/producer/performer)
1993 - 1996 Concept Planning Team, Vancouver School for Arts and Academics
1991 Finding the Forest (ensemble; site-based; artistic director/producer)
1991 Intersection (ensemble; site-based; visual/conceptual collaboration: L. Wysong)
Grants / Commissions / Fellowships / Residencies
2024 Dance C3 grant, RACC; Longform Dance Artist Interview Project
2022 Building5 Artist Residency, Portland, OR. ‘Mycelium Dreams’
2020 Commission: Pioneer Courthouse Square, Portland, OR. “Polka Dots’
2014 N.E.W Artist Residency, Portland, OR. ‘Every Place Needs An Atlas (After Solnit)’
2012 Rauschenberg Artist Residency, Captiva, FL
2011 Commission: Satellite, Marylhurst Art Gym – Dance: before, after, during
2009 Commission: The Henna Project”, Oregon Arts Commission
2008 Commission: “City Dance: The Legacy of Lawrence and Anna Halprin”
2007 Commission: American Association of Landscape Architects – “a lunch time”
2006 Commission: “Merge”, Ohio State University MFA Thesis Project
2005 Residency, Caldera Artists’ Community, Sisters, OR
2004 Commission: “twentyonedays”, University of Oregon MFA Thesis Project
2003 Artist-in-Residence (Trio A and performance), Reed College; Portland, OR
2003 Dance Special Projects Grant – “Works [1966-2003]” (RACC)
2003 Residency - Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, Cascade Head, OR
2001 Yaddo Residency Fellowship. Saratoga Springs, NY
2000 Public Art Commission (RACC): "Tax Lot #1S1E4ODD "; Portland, OR
2000 Commission: Reed College. RAW (Reed Arts Weekend), "Evidence". Portland
1999 Oregon Individual Artist Fellowship in Dance: Oregon Arts Commission
1999 Commission: ORLO "The View From Here". Portland, OR.
1999 Technical Assistance Grant: (RACC). Portland, OR
1998 Dance Special Project Grant: "Not Fully Myself", (RACC) Portland, OR
1997 Commission: "Head / Out", Vancouver School for the Arts and Academics, WA.
1996 Dance Special Project Grant: "CandyBox";(RACC). Portland, OR
1995 Dance Special Project Grant: "Transient Habitations", (RACC). Portland, OR
1994 Commission: Oregon State University, Dept. of Music. Corvallis, OR
1991 Interdisciplinary Special Project Grant: "Finding the Forest" (RACC). Portland
1991 Commission: "Intersection", Artquake Outdoor Arts Festival; Portland, OR
Collections / Notations
2009 Where the Revolution Began – Lawrence and Anna Halprin and the Reinvention of Public Space; Spacemaker Press.
2009 Landscape Architecture Magazine, Jan/2009
2003 Core Sample Exhibition Catalogue for Layers of Location; Clear Cut Press
2001 Public Art Network "Year in Review - Compel + Provoke 2001". Curated online collection of "Best of Public Art" for 2001 "Tax Lot #1S1E4ODD" (3 slides)
2001 The Rain People: Stories of the Portland Art Scene (CD) by Dmae Roberts
2001 Greater Portland; Urban Life and Landscape by Carl Abbott (for The View From Here)
2000 Metropolis Magazine. Oct/2000, p. 50; "Farming the Urban Core" (Tax Lot review)
2000 Visual Chronicles of Portland. Archival collection of works on paper owned by the City of Portland. Two prints - "The View From Here" series.
2000 NPR/Living on Earth radio documentary of "Tax Lot"; 12 minutes
Exhibitions / Installations
2011 Dance: before, after, during; Marylhurst Art Gym, Portland, OR
2004 Public Art Gallery - RACC’s 25th Anniversary Exhibition; featured project:
TaxLot 1S1E4ODD (2000-01); The Portland Building.
2003 Virescence Project: Recycled Art Show; curated by Daniel Duford
2000 Taking Space, Making Place - American Institute of Architects Gallery
Collaborative Installation: Mark Lakeman, Brian Borello and Vanessa Renwick; Portland, OR
1999 The View From Here – PNCA Feldman Gallery; project artifacts; Portland, OR
Performance (1987-2016)
Yvonne Rainer: Trio A (1966)
Getty Center/ LA: An Evening of Dance with Yvonne Rainer and Simone Forti; 2000
Judson Church/NYC: Movement Research at Judson Church (w/ Shelley Senter); 2003
Reed College/Portland: [Works 1966-2003], a shared concert with Shelley Senter; 2003
Dance Mission Theatre/SF: Range of Motion Series I (w/Shelley Senter); 2002
Bebe Miller: Rain (2003)
Reed College/Portland: [Works, 1966-2003]; 2003
Mary Oslund:
Behavior (2000)
Arch (1998)
The Salvation Pieces (1996)
Dark Rooms (1991)
Ohh Ahh (1989)
Entry (1987)
Linda Austin:
Mutt (2010)
The Use of Rumor (1999)
Silence (1999)
Kristy Edmunds:
Daily Fevers (1998)
Over There (1997)
Perusal (1996)
Partitio (1992)
Randee Paufve:
Red Snow Suit (1999)
James Canfield:
Sonata (1998)
Keith V. Goodman:
PSU Contemporary Dance Series (1991)