2023 • Oregon ArtsWatch

Booknotes: McGregor times two; Brian Doyle’s ‘Mink River’ takes to the stage

May 15, 2025Bob Hicks

Michael N. McGregor doubles up with his novel "The Last Grand Tour" and memoir "An Island to Myself," and Doyle's lavish Oregon Coast novel goes to the theater. Plus: Willie Vlautin's big prize; an Oregon Book Awards finalist stages a musical.

Historian Hampton Sides’ exciting account of Captain Cook’s Final Voyage

May 15, 2025William C. Stack

Sides closes the Oregon Historical Society's Hatfield Lectures season with tales of Cook's adventures in the 1770s among the people and places of the Pacific.

Portland Youth Philharmonic embraces music of different styles in season closer

May 15, 2025James Bash

PYP performed music by Robert Schumann, Valerie Coleman, Ruth Gipps, and Dmitri Shostakovich’s "Piano Concerto No. 2" with pianist Hansen Berrett.

Camerata PYP Goes Global — and Local

May 14, 2025Brett Campbell

The Portland Youth Philharmonic’s chamber orchestra performs new music by composers from around the world — and in Portland.

Wanderings and discoveries: Oregon choirs wrap up seasons and head into summer

May 14, 2025Daryl Browne

Music about pilgrimages, codices, bells, peace, and love abound at concerts throughout May.

Preview: Eugene Ballet’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and ‘Silk & Steel’

May 13, 2025Jean Zondervan

The two dances, both choreographed by Toni Pimble, mark the end of Pimble's almost half-century as the Eugene company's co-founder, artistic director, and creative force.

Ada Limón closes her tenure as U.S. Poet Laureate with May 20 appearance at Sitka Center for Art + Ecology

May 12, 2025Lori Tobias

The poet, a MacArthur “genius” grant and National Book Award winner, has made her signature project to connect poetry to the natural world via installations in national parks.

Stage & Studio: Vanport Mosaic turns 10!

May 12, 2025Dmae Lo Roberts

The "memory activism" festival, established to tell stories of the lasting cultural effects of the 1948 Vanport Flood, continues with a rich tapestry of music and theater. Dmae Lo Roberts talks with the Mosaic's leaders and co-founders.

Grand entrance: Rogue Valley Symphony brings home The Raven

May 12, 2025Jim Flint

The symphony needed a truly grand piano. A stunning Steinway D in a New York high-rise needed to spread its wings. Now in Oregon, the big bird prepares for its debut at Medford’s Craterian Theater in a week-long "Pianopalooza."

‘Kauaʻi Storm,’ Tori Eldridge’s new mystery, is also a story about Hawaiian culture and family

May 11, 2025Amy Wang

The Beaverton author says she hopes readers will come away with an appreciation of what Native Hawaiians — the Kanaka Maoli — are facing today.

PuzzleWatch: Mother-Inspired Art

May 11, 2025Daryl Browne

In honor of Mother's Day, here's a crossword puzzle that celebrates the theme of motherhood in the arts.

Oregon Writing Festival: Nurturing the voices of young writers for 40 years

May 9, 2025David Bates

The pandemic put the daylong workshop into rebuilding mode, but students at this year’s event at Woodburn High School emerged jazzed by the power of story.

Believe the HYPE: Bag&Baggage’s new youth performance group exemplifies a company that looks to theater’s future

May 9, 2025Brett Campbell

The Hillsboro Youth Performance Ensemble offers youth hands-on experience in theater craft and management through a paid workforce development program.

FilmWatch Weekly: Under-the-radar action in ‘Fight or Flight’ and ‘Sharp Corner,’ plus ‘Secret Mall Apartment,’ Log Lady doc, and more

May 8, 2025Marc Mohan

Two modest releases from Vertical Entertainment offer a welcome break from the standard big-budget studio fare.

MusicPortland and the potential closure of Portland Community College’s Music and Sonic Arts program

May 8, 2025Charles Rose

The local musicians advocacy group has started a survey to help with students and instructors opposing PCC's proposal to end their MSA program.

A brilliant ‘Joe Turner’s Come and Gone’ at Portland Playhouse (even with its NEA grant pulled)

May 8, 2025Darleen Ortega

As its grant goes on the chopping block, August Wilson's American classic gets a transcendent performance in a tale of people wrestling with profound human questions.

Love and joy to the little ones: The Lullaby Project continues

May 8, 2025Daryl Browne

The long-running program connects new mothers with local songwriters, Oregon Symphony musicians, and social service organizations.

Portland Center Stage launches $9 million emergency campaign

May 8, 2025Bob Hicks

The city's biggest theater company aims to shore up its finances by June 2026 – and needs $2.5 million by the end of August to keep its doors open and begin its next season.

Dance Review: Grupo Corpo thrills with precise and dizzying energy

May 7, 2025Beth Sorensen

The Brazilian dance company, renowned for its precise synchronized dancing and Afro-Brazilian movement, provided a joyful night that transfixed and transported its Portland audience.

Fully reflective of life: PSU Opera’s Puccini double-header

May 7, 2025Lorin Wilkerson

Portland State University’s opera program presented a pair of strikingly different productions of “Suor Angelica” and “Gianni Schicchi.”

Emergency Alert: Six action steps if your NEA grant was just canceled

May 6, 2025Claire Willett

Arts organizations can learn how to still appeal the cancellations, and find free resources and support on what steps to take.

DramaWatch: ‘The Other Place’; Portland Playhouse campaigns to aid Oregon arts groups; Fuse’s OUTwright Festival

May 6, 2025Linda Ferguson

Plus: More openings and continuing shows; Native Theater Project awards; a look ahead as theaters begin to announce their 2025-26 seasons.

The same yet different: The reunion of David Friesen and John Stowell

May 6, 2025Lynn Darroch

The bassist and guitarist renew a partnership that helped shape Portland’s jazz in the 1970s and ‘80s.

Oregon Department of Education launches new, virtual arts education program

May 6, 2025Amanda Waldroupe

There are high hopes that the Arts, Care & Connection program will expose elementary school students to art. But will it be successful?

‘Solito’ author Javier Zamora will speak Wednesday at Linfield University on migration, identity, and memory

May 5, 2025David Bates

The appearance by the poet and memoirist is part of the school's “Learning Across Boundaries” program, which also includes a literary and visual art display.

Identities and paper at The Reser

May 5, 2025Shannon M. Lieberman

The artists in the group show 'Infinite Possibilities' use paper as a medium to explore complex ideas around family, memory, and history. The resulting works are as poignant as they are beautiful.

Ashland Independent Film Festival roars back

May 4, 2025Jim Flint

With robust audiences and several hit films, this year's lively festival climbed out of the pandemic-years slump. Coming in 2026: AIFF's 25th anniversary celebration.

NEA Funding Cuts Hit Oregon Arts Organizations

May 3, 2025Claire Willett

Grant recipients scramble as promised funding is withdrawn for programs already in motion.

The Cultural Landscape: Part 21

May 3, 2025K.B. Dixon

Photographer K.B. Dixon continues his series of cultural profiles with portraits of actor & acting teacher Brooke Totman, glass artist Andy Paiko, poet Jennifer Perrine, writer Ferris Jabr, and musician Naomi LaViolette.

Peter Gallo: Divine sense and madness

May 2, 2025Hannah Krafcik

The artist's West Coast debut, "Peter Gallo: Gods, Sluts & Martyrs" on view at Adams and Ollman, incorporates found materials, thickly painted impasto, and juxtaposed text to explore creativity and art's social framing.