Oregon ArtsWatch

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Oregon carves its own path in 2026’s America 250 anniversary celebration

The Oregon Historical Society, Oregon Humanities, Oregon Contemporary and The Immigrant Project are looking beyond 4th of July fireworks to the nation's and state's histories of inequities – and toward a brighter future.

Multnomah County Library’s Everybody Reads program brings Black History 101 Mobile Museum to libraries

Roger Dorband’s Eco Imagination

Looking ‘When the World Looks Away’

At the Coos Bay Public Library, confronting a sinking feeling

The Latest

FilmWatch Weekly: ‘The Testament of Ann Lee,’ Gus Van Sant’s ‘Dead Man’s Wire,’ and more

4 hours ago

Hello, friends: Newport Symphony Orchestra opens 37th season with Beethoven, Frank, and Runestad

5 hours ago

Oregon carves its own path in 2026’s America 250 anniversary celebration

11 hours ago

Multnomah County Library’s Everybody Reads program brings Black History 101 Mobile Museum to libraries

2 days ago

Fields Artist Fellowships award $150,000 each to four Oregon artists

2 days ago

The unfurling of reality: Eugene Difficult Music Ensemble’s annual New Music Festival

3 days ago

Sponsor

Broadway Rose Theatre Company Portland Oregon

Fields Artist Fellowships award $150,000 each to four Oregon artists

The awards go to a quartet of artists who "spark hope, inspiration and connection, and ... raise voices that aren’t always heard." Eight finalists receive $10,000 each.

Roger Dorband’s Eco Imagination

January 12, 2026Susan Grace Banyas

The lasting impact of the photographer, writer and environmental advocate who died in October 2025, and whose work and life are honored in an exhibit at Astoria's RiverSea Gallery through February 10.

Welcome news: U.S. House approves future NEA, NEH funding

January 9, 2026Jim Redden

The bill to fund the national arts and humanities endowments is headed for the Senate, and then must be signed by the president to take effect. But the House approval is a promising first step.

Sponsor

PADA Portland Art Dealers Association Portland Oregon

Explore our series

Hello, friends: Newport Symphony Orchestra opens 37th season with Beethoven, Frank, and Runestad

NSO’s late September concerts featured a hearing-themed program revolving around Gabriela Lena Frank’s “Elegia Andina,” two by Ludwig van Beethoven – Oregon-born pianist Ben Kim performing the “Emperor” concerto and Willamette Master Chorus joining in for the “Choral Fantasy” – plus Jake Runestad and Todd Bass’s interpretation of LvB’s chilling and heroic “Heiligenstad Testament.”

The unfurling of reality: Eugene Difficult Music Ensemble’s annual New Music Festival

January 12, 2026Charles Rose

The aptly-named “ensemble” (a loose collective) of Eugene musicians making “difficult” (or “experimental”) music hosted their fourth annual gathering in October.

MusicWatch Monthly: Just keep swimming

January 8, 2026Matthew Neil Andrews

ChatterPDX shows us how it’s done; Jennifer Wright echolocates; Pyxis Quartet takes Portland to school; New Wave Opera previews Caroline Louise Miller; Orchestra Nova Northwest revives Giancarlo Castro D’Addona’s flute concerto for Adam Eccleston; Jimmie Herrod dominates the Oregon Symphony.

Sponsor

Chamber Music Northwest The Old Church Concert Hall Portland Oregon

Looking ‘When the World Looks Away’

Sam Marroquin's vivid paintings at Alexander Gallery of the ongoing horror experienced by Palestinians in Gaza go straight to the heart of both shame and action.

Remembering Ed Cameron, Newport artist, author, and unofficial Mayor of Nye Beach

January 6, 2026Lori Tobias

The 94-year-old was a fixture in the coastal community, a “bridge to the past” famous for his Bloomsday Celebrations, outrageous outfits, and storytelling.

VizArts Monthly: Illumination

January 5, 2026Raylee Heiden

Light, patterns, and reflection thread through January art exhibitions. Raylee Heiden features some highlights.

Sponsor

Portland Center Stage at the Armory Portland Oregon

DramaWatch: Theaters hit the ground running in 2026

As a new year rolls out, shows are opening at Experience Theatre Project, Portland Center Stage and many more. Plus: Twilight Theater is 12 years old and as edgy as ever; Ten Fifteen Productions offers free classes.

Where Oregon Shakespeare Festival costumes go to work again

January 4, 2026Jim Flint

Inside the Talent warehouse in Southern Oregon, thousands of festival costumes are preserved and reused, then sent to stages across the country, including "Saturday Night Live."

‘A Beautiful Noise’ musical tells the story of legendary singer Neil Diamond

January 2, 2026Jason Vondersmith

Robert Westenberg, who plays Diamond as his older self in the Broadway touring musical that performs Jan. 6-11 in Portland's Keller Auditorium, talks about the pleasures of playing the great pop star onstage.

Sponsor

Friends of Chamber Music Portland Oregon

FilmWatch Weekly: ‘The Testament of Ann Lee,’ Gus Van Sant’s ‘Dead Man’s Wire,’ and more

Plus: "Night Patrol," Ralph Fiennes in "The Choral," and the documentary "Rainier: A Beer Odyssey."

FilmWatch Weekly: Jim Jarmusch’s ‘Father Mother Sister Brother,’ Palestinian drama ‘All That’s Left of You,’ and more

January 8, 2026Marc Mohan

Also this week: Lucy Liu in "Rosemead," and the Portland Art Museum's Whitsell Auditorium reopens after a lengthy renovation.

FilmWatch Weekly: ‘No Other Choice,’ ‘Resurrection,’ ‘The Plague,’ and more

January 1, 2026Marc Mohan

2026 starts off strong with new films from Park Chan-wook and Chinese director Bi Gan.

Sponsor

Resonance Ensemble Presents Sweet Honey in the Rock Newmark Theatre Portland Oregon The Reser Beaverton Oregon

DanceWatch: Looking back and ahead

Jamuna Chiarini spotlights leading dance events coming up in January and looks back on highlights, changes, and significant events in the Oregon dance world in 2025.

Books to get your mind and feet dancing

December 23, 2025Martha Ullman West

Cheer up: As the year and "Nutcracker" season near an end, Martha Ullman West comes to the rescue with a list of five gift books to help dance lovers through the holidays.

Dance Preview: Eugene Ballet’s “The Nutcracker”

December 17, 2025Jean Zondervan

From December 19 to 24, Eugene Ballet audiences will once again travel with Clara into the Land of the Sweets in "The Nutcracker," this year featuring a special sensory-friendly performance.

Sponsor

Friends of Chamber Music Portland Oregon

Multnomah County Library’s Everybody Reads program brings Black History 101 Mobile Museum to libraries

The museum is one of many events in the community reading program, this year focusing on Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s memoir, “Lovely One.”

‘Basques of the American West’: Richard W. Etulain summarizes Basque history and literature

January 11, 2026William C. Stack

The essay collection explores the migration of a "mystery people" from Europe to the American West, as well as providing thumbnail sketches of novels in which they feature.

At the Coos Bay Public Library, confronting a sinking feeling

January 9, 2026Amanda Waldroupe

The 61-year-old building is structurally unsound and the library may soon move. But after two failed bond measures, supporters ask where and how.

Sponsor

Sunstone Theatre Intro to Grant Writing Portland Oregon

Oregon carves its own path in 2026’s America 250 anniversary celebration

The Oregon Historical Society, Oregon Humanities, Oregon Contemporary and The Immigrant Project are looking beyond 4th of July fireworks to the nation's and state's histories of inequities – and toward a brighter future.

Multnomah County Library’s Everybody Reads program brings Black History 101 Mobile Museum to libraries

January 13, 2026Ellen Clarke

The museum is one of many events in the community reading program, this year focusing on Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s memoir, “Lovely One.”

Fields Artist Fellowships award $150,000 each to four Oregon artists

January 13, 2026Bob Hicks

The awards go to a quartet of artists who "spark hope, inspiration and connection, and ... raise voices that aren’t always heard." Eight finalists receive $10,000 each.

Sponsor

Friends of Chamber Music Portland Oregon

Multnomah County Library’s Everybody Reads program brings Black History 101 Mobile Museum to libraries

The museum is one of many events in the community reading program, this year focusing on Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s memoir, “Lovely One.”

Dance Preview: Eugene Ballet’s “The Nutcracker”

December 17, 2025Jean Zondervan

From December 19 to 24, Eugene Ballet audiences will once again travel with Clara into the Land of the Sweets in "The Nutcracker," this year featuring a special sensory-friendly performance.

Midwinter Revels: Dancing by the Highland Hearth

December 12, 2025Bobby Bermea

Thirty years into a popular Portland tradition, the Revels sing, dance and play with Scottish tradition as the company prepares to enter a new chapter in its life.

Sponsor

High Desert Museum Joe Feddersen Earth Water Sky Bend Oregon

Fields Artist Fellowships award $150,000 each to four Oregon artists

The awards go to a quartet of artists who "spark hope, inspiration and connection, and ... raise voices that aren’t always heard." Eight finalists receive $10,000 each.

Sponsor

Oregon ArtsWatch Annual Report. Read it now.

Sight meets sound at ‘Noise & Grain’

Portland's Franklin Foto is a gathering space for devotees of classic film photography — and its newest exhibit, featuring shots of local musicians, brings in the music crowd, too.

Future emerging: Four young classical musicians win Young Artists Competition

The teen winners each get a $1,000 scholarship and will perform with professional musicians in the chatterPDX Sunday musical series.

Oregon carves its own path in 2026’s America 250 anniversary celebration

The Oregon Historical Society, Oregon Humanities, Oregon Contemporary and The Immigrant Project are looking beyond 4th of July fireworks to the nation's and state's histories of inequities – and toward a brighter future.

Stage & Studio: Daniel H. Wilson’s ‘Hole In The Sky’

In her new podcast, Dmae Lo Roberts talks about science fiction, alien visitors, how science and art interact, and Indigenous tradition with the Portland author of "Robopocalypse" and his new novel "Hole in the Sky."

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