Portland Spoke – The Official Blog of Travel Portland

Travel Portland is working with Oregon Arts Watch, a new, nonprofit journalism enterprise, to cover upcoming art exhibits, performances and events in the city.

During summer in Portland, the arts take on the attitude of the city as a whole: casual and celebratory. The full experience of the first-rate Chamber Music Northwest festival, for example, involves a pre-concert picnic, and the monthly gallery walks feel even more like street parties when it’s warm out. Amid these less formal and more adventurous offerings, the art experiences can still be profound.

Here are some of the visual arts highlights (see music and theater highlights):

Chris Antemann, Feast of Impropriety, 2010, 3-section centerpiece, dining table with 16 figures; porcelain with decals, luster and china paint

The Contemporary Northwest Art Awards
Portland Art Museum
June 11-Sept. 11

A replacement for the Oregon Biennial, the CNAA showcases the work of seven Northwest artists in greater depth than the museum’s previous survey show of state artists, and it awards one the $10,000 Arlene Schnitzer Prize. From figurative porcelain vignettes to large-scale sculpture, video installation and glass, works by Chris Antemann, John Buck, John Grade, Jerry Iverson, Susie Lee, Megan Murphy and Michelle Ross demonstrate the broad spectrum of work being done by the region’s artists. (more…)

Travel Portland is working with Oregon Arts Watch, a new, nonprofit journalism enterprise, to cover upcoming art exhibits, performances and events in the city.

Here are some of this summer’s music highlights (see visual arts and theater highlights):

Emerson String Quartet (photo credit: Lisa-Marie Mazzucco)

Chamber Music Northwest
Various venues
June 20-July 24

The summer center of Portland’s vital chamber music scene, the 30 concerts in the 41st annual edition of this festival include the world premiere of a new clarinet quintet commissioned from composer Marc Neikrug (July 1); classic unfinished works by Bach, Mozart, Schubert and others completed by leading contemporary composers and performed by the Brentano String Quartet (July 9); and perhaps the world’s most accomplished classical foursome, the Emerson Quartet (July 16). (more…)

Travel Portland is working with Oregon Arts Watch, a new, nonprofit journalism enterprise, to cover upcoming art exhibits, performances and events in the city.

Here are some of this summer’s theater highlights (see visual arts and music highlights):

As You Like It
Portland Shakespeare Project
Artists Repertory Theatre
July 13-Aug. 7

Yes, Oregon takes its Shakespeare seriously, thanks to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland. The sentiment extends to Portland, of course, and this promising new theater company, led by prominent local actor Michael Mendelson, stages Shakespeare’s great comedy with perhaps his finest heroine, Rosalind, this summer. (more…)

Photo: Yuko Kashima

I’ll be crossing a few items off my Oregon bucket list this week, as I drive to Eastern Oregon for a conference. 

With apologies to the Blue Mountains, the Wallowas and Hells Canyon, what I’m most excited to see are the Painted Hills, located about 200 miles southeast of Portland, just off Hwy. 26. Here’s hoping they feel as otherworldly as they look.

So, what’s on your list? What are the must-see side trips for any self-respecting Portland visitor (or local)?

For further inspiration, check out Travel Oregon’s helpful guide to Oregon’s scenic byways.

Travel Portland’s annual visitors guide is hot (well, medium-warm) off the presses and yours for the asking! This info-packed magazine includes detailed guides to the most happening neighborhoods, lots of restaurant recommendations, stories about fun activities outside of the city and much, much more.

Request your free copy today, or check out the PDF — and let us know what you think!