Michaela Bourgeois, Emily Burris, and Ken Boddie
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – For the first time in Portland, a Juneteenth rodeo is coming to the Portland Expo Center on Saturday, celebrating Black cowboy culture and aiming to inspire the next generation of riders.
Portland-based photographer, Ivan McClellan, documented Black rodeos through a photography project before turning it into the now sold out 8 Seconds Juneteenth Rodeo show — inspired by the time a rider has to stay on a bull or a bronco for a qualifying score.
“I view the rodeo to be an interactive art project that just kind of got out of control. We just kept building on it and it got bigger, and bigger and bigger. As soon as we said we’re doing a Black rodeo in Portland, Oregon, everybody got excited. The town is buzzing, and people are excited to come support it,” McClellan said.
“It went from photography to a rodeo because I had been working on this photo project, I got connected with brands, I got a big audience, and I thought I could just put all those together in one space and that’s what the rodeo is,” McClellan said.
McClellan says Black rodeos are mostly held in Oklahoma or Texas but is hoping to inspire Black cowboy culture in Portland, adding, “the athletes are thrilled to come to Portland and show off their skills to an audience that maybe has never seen Black cowboys.”
“I’ve been here for 11 years; I love it here. Portland is in transition, it’s becoming something new, and I thought the rodeo could be a part of that new Portland and the place it’s going toward,” McClellan said. “The thought of having all of these Black cowboys come out in front of the crowd and thrill all the kids and inspire them, and say, ‘Hey, this is something you can do. You can get on a horse; you can learn to rope; you can learn to ride.’ And that’s really what inspires me…we hope to breed that next generation of cowboys right here in Portland.”