In the 1972 print We Are the Revolution, the artist Joseph Beuys faces the viewer confidently. Standing more than six-feet tall, he strides firmly into the future while encouraging others to do the same. Designed as a poster for a 1971 Beuys exhibition in Naples, Italy—the original print reads La Rivoluzione Siamo Noi—the work currently serves as the title for a remarkable, once-in-a-lifetime, curated exhibition of Portland’s premiere collection of contemporary art: the expansive holdings of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation.

An anchor event for Converge 45’s citywide 2023 biennial, Social Forms: Art As Global Citizenship, the exhibition We Are the Revolution plumbs the depth of commitment of Jordan Schnitzer to the art of his time, while tapping into a living history of social expression through art in diverse media—from monumental paintings to free-standing sculpture to works on paper. Designed in part to explore ways in which the art of the past meets and affects the art of the present, the exhibition gives voice to art as both social commentary and aesthetic experimentation from the 1960s to today. Driven by the conviction that history is constructed through both continuity and discontinuity, the exhibition strives to establish unexpected juxtapositions and revealing connections among historical and contemporary artists and artworks.

We Are the Revolution features over 100 works by 32 artists and is co-curated by William Morrow, Director of Exhibitions, Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation, and Converge 45 Guest Curator Christian Viveros-Fauné.