Barry Johnson

Barry Johnson has written about and edited arts and culture stories of various sorts since 1978, when he started writing about dance for the Seattle Sun. He edited the arts section of Willamette Week and wrote a general culture column in the  early 1980s and started at The Oregonian as arts editor in 1983, moving between editing and writing (visual arts, movies, theater, dance) until leaving in 2009. Since then, he's been thinking about new ideas to help make arts and culture journalism ever more useful and engaged. Oregon ArtsWatch is one of those ideas.

Starting Over: It’s not about the elk, it’s all about the elk

October 8, 2020Barry Johnson

Barry Johnson starts with a beloved statue and then follows it and a New York Review of Books article all the way to Confederate monuments and buttons.

On revolt in the streets, circa 1971

September 24, 2020Barry Johnson

"Mayday 1971" by Lawrence Roberts gives us a window on a massive protest of the past. That's useful in our own protest-drenched time.

Interview: Daniel Mathews on trees, fire, and public policy

September 9, 2020Barry Johnson

As fires consume vast swaths of the Northwest, Mathews' book "Trees in Trouble" moves to the front burner.

Starting Over: The value of crisis

May 20, 2020Barry Johnson

Where is the culture now? Culture critic and philosopher Raymond Williams has ideas we can use to figure it out.

Oregon arts news: Covid-19 updates

April 29, 2020Barry Johnson

Covid-19-inflected arts news: Literary Arts, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, BodyVox, The Old Church, more.

Starting Over: Masks and democracy

April 28, 2020Barry Johnson

Can we move forward when our government can't test, trace or isolate us? The processes of artists can show us how.

Foundations pool their Covid-19 arts relief cash

April 22, 2020Barry Johnson

Major foundations join forces to create the $1.3 million Oregon Arts and Culture Recovery Program.

Starting Over: Point to point

April 21, 2020Barry Johnson

How are big arts groups handling the pandemic? Portland Center Stage's Cynthia Fuhrman takes it step by step.

Friday coronavirus arts news roundup

April 10, 2020Barry Johnson

Relief efforts for artists affected by income loss from the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting crash of the economy continue. More is needed.

State of the arts: “Everyone is experiencing the worst”

April 9, 2020Barry Johnson

We talked to Brian Rogers, who leads the state's arts services organizations, about current conditions and some help on the way.

Starting Over: Enter the Dragon

April 7, 2020Barry Johnson

Combine a pandemic and an economic crisis and you get the dragon. How do you fight it? With songs and strategies, poems and music. You wait the dragon out.

Starting Over: The arts fight back

March 27, 2020Barry Johnson

Starting Over is a new column about arts and culture in the time of the pandemic. This is its first issue.

News: RACC reorganizes and changes directions

January 28, 2020Barry Johnson

Regional Arts & Culture Council shifts its focus to fundraising, advocacy, outreach. One result: 15 layoffs, 15 new positions.