Portland Spoke – The Official Blog of Travel Portland – Travel Portland's Staff Blog

For 10 days (Sept. 8-18), Portland Institute for Contemporary Art’s TBA:11 brings cutting-edge dance, performance and visual art to the city. The action centers on the east side’s Washington High School, and happens in performance spaces, non-traditional venues and the streets throughout Portland. This year’s schedule features an international roster of emerging and established artists, including some from France, Korea, Brazil and Japan, alongside a handful of Portland-based artists.

Here are some of the highlights:

Jesse Sugarmann, "Red Storm Rising (live in LA)," photo courtesy of the artist

Visual Arts Opening – Thursday, Sept. 8
Washington High School, Southeast Stark and 13th

Centered on ideas of building up and tearing down, TBA:11 On Sight features smart works by international art stars such as the Parisian collective Claire Fontaine and Korea’s YOUNG-HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES, as well as regional artists like Jesse Sugarmann, whose “Lido (The Pride is Back)” is a slow-motion car wreck involving stacks of blow-up air beds and Chrysler minivans. (more…)

Summer is a great time to soak up some Portland, whether you’re enjoying outdoor food carts, farmers markets, or a long scenic hike. And it’s also a wonderful time to enjoy a variety of arts festivals and events. Here are some upcoming art events that are sure to inspire and delight the senses!

Estacada Summer Celebration 2011
This free festival of music and art takes place July 22-23 in the heart of beautiful downtown Estacada.

Behind the Shoji Art Show & Sale
The Portland Japanese Garden will showcase a collection of artful handmade items including pottery, glass, jewelry, wood carvings, textiles and more. This one-of-a-kind sale featuring Asian-inspired original artwork and unique gifts runs July 23 through September 5 and is open during regular garden hours (10 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday and noon-7 p.m. Mondays).

Art in the Pearl
More than 120 artists offer their creations at this Labor Day weekend event in Portland’s North Park Blocks of downtown Portland, Sept 3-5. The festivities include artist demonstrations, music and food.

Time-Based Art (TBA) Festival
PICA’s annual Time-Based Art Festival (TBA) draws artists from across the country and around the globe for a convergence of contemporary performance and visual art in Portland, Oregon. Now in its ninth year, the TBA Festival is presented September 8-18, 2011, with visual art exhibits running through October.

Last year was my first experience with the very fun, very Portland phenomenon that is  Trek in the Park. You may have to be a bit of a geek to get excited about live reenactments of original Star Trek episodes — so call me a geek. Everyone I know who’s been to Trek in Park considers it a must-see summer event. Heck, even the mayor’s a fan. Happily, you have plenty of opportunities to see this free show at Woodlawn Park in Northeast Portland: there are performances at 5 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday in July.

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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…)

The Wall of Warhol

As an artist and art lover, I figured it was time to put my money where my mouth is, so I recently became a member of the Portland Art Museum; an amazing venue that I’ve long appreciated. I imagined languid lunch hours surrounded by the still beauty of the ages, modern explosions of color and stunning examples of contemporary design. As always, the Portland Art Museum has not disappointed!

If you haven’t yet seen it, don’t miss Riches of a City: Portland Collects, which closes on May 22. Drawn from local collections, the exhibit includes exceptional works by the likes of Picasso, Lautrec, Miro and Warhol. The exhibit delivers on this quote from museum founder, C.E.S. Wood: “Good citizens are the riches of a city.” (more…)

Photo courtesy of Portland Japanese Garden/Adam Royer

Like those around the world, Portlanders have been shocked and saddened by the recent disaster in Japan. Portland has a sister city relationship with Sapporo, and below are just a few of many ways that our community is supporting our friends in Japan.

• Japan-related organizations in Portland have joined forces to provide financial aid to survivors of the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The newly formed Oregon Japan Relief Fund will contribute 100 percent of donations raised through the fund to Portland-based Mercy Corps’ relief efforts. The local humanitarian agency is working with a Japanese partner to provide emergency assistance to earthquake survivors in Japan. The donation website can be found at: http://www.mercycorps.org/fundraising/oregonjapanrelieffund

• The Portland Japanese Garden has set up a “Wish Arbor” as a place to reflect, visit and remember victims of the recent disaster in Japan. Visitors are invited to write wishes and condolences on cards that can be hung on the memorial. The arbor is located just outside of the garden’s admission gate, open during operating hours, and does not require admission to the garden. http://japanesegarden.com/japandisaster

• There will be a candlelight vigil held for Japan on Fri., March 18th from 6-8 p.m. in Portland (venue TBD, please check www.vigil4japanpdx.org for updates). Donations will be accepted to send to Japan via Mercy Corps.

• Hellion Gallery, which presents contemporary art shows in both Portland and Tokyo, will be donating 20% of profits from this month’s art sales in Portland (the current exhibition is of paintings by Ai Ohkawara) to the relief effort in Japan.

• Mt. Hood Meadows ski resort will donate $5 from each night-ski lift ticket purchased ($15 on-site or $10 in advance online) to ski on March 23rd and 24th (Wednesday and Thursday) from 3-9 p.m. to Mercy Corps’ Japan disaster relief fund. Tickets are normally $29, thus offering both a discount and a donation.
http://www.skihood.com/Store/Products/Tickets-and-Equipment-Rentals/Tickets/Japan-Disaster-Relief-Night-Ticket

• Rapha Performance Roadwear is organizing fundraising bike rides (Rapha Rides for Tohoku) in Japan and the U.S., and will match donations of $10 or over on their website. The ride in Portland begins at Albina Press at 9 a.m. on Sat., March 19th. http://www.rapha.cc/rapha-rides-for-tohoku

• Beast restaurant is serving a fundraising dinner on Tues., March 29th. Tickets are $200 per person, and reservations can be made through their website. http://www.beastpdx.com/reservations.htm

• Portland Design Collective will be staging a fashion show on April 1st from 7-9 p.m. Originally a fundraiser to send teenage design students from Mt. Tabor Middle School to Japan, it has evolved into a joint effort to do so, and raise funds to help friends and family in Japan. Ticket sales will benefit the students, but other donation opportunities will be available at the event.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Portland-Design-Collective/157191524322470

• Mercy Corps has a constantly updated list of events held around Greater Portland to benefit the Japan relief cause, which you can check here: http://www.mercycorps.org/events.

Some exciting news from The Biggest Little City: Pre-production work is underway on a film version of The Motel Life, the first book by Portland musician and writer Willy Vlautin, a Reno native.

Vlautin’s novels, which have drawn comparisons to Steinbeck and Carver, are like his songs: plainspoken yet lyrical, heartbreaking but hopeful.

You can catch Vlautin and his Richmond Fontaine bandmates in Portland on April 14 at the Doug Fir.

Vlautin’s other novels include Lean on Pete – a finalist for this year’s Oregon Book Awards — and Northline.

Sometimes, the winter weather in Portland can be a bit … dicey.  Fortunately for us, we have a great arts scene that provides some cozy distractions, from festivals (the Jazz Festival and the Portland International Film Festival are on right now) to season-long offerings from companies like the Oregon Ballet Theatre, Oregon Symphony and White Bird Dance.

Now through the end of March, downtown Portland’s performing arts organizations have teamed up to provide a break from the winter doldrums with a 2-for-1 offer on select performances.  Shows include STOMP, Alvin Ailey Dance, and a piece from Oregon writer Ken Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.  In addition, local restaurants and retailers are providing dining, shopping and parking discounts to showcase the full downtown Portland experience.

These deals are open to locals and visitors, so check out the details at downtownportland.org.