Bob Hicks

Bob Hicks, Executive Editor of Oregon ArtsWatch, has been covering arts and culture in the Pacific Northwest since 1978, including 25 years at The Oregonian. Among his art books are Kazuyuki Ohtsu; James B. Thompson: Fragments in Time; and Beth Van Hoesen: Fauna and Flora. His work has appeared in American Theatre, Biblio, Professional Artist, Northwest Passage, Art Scatter, and elsewhere. He also writes the daily art-history series "Today I Am."

A farewell to theater critic Misha Berson

The longtime Seattle theater and culture writer, who also contributed often to Oregon ArtsWatch, embraced life and art with passion and a constant case of curiosity.

Cappella Romana’s stalled NEA grant is released

The Portland choir's $35,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, snagged by the Trump Administration's freeze on approved grants, breaks free as the choir prepares for a key series of concerts.

Opinion: Trump’s sham ‘golden age’ of arts

Far from creating a flourishing new culture, the new administration's upheaval of norms could visibly weaken Oregon’s and the rest of the nation’s arts and cultural life.

Remembering theater and music artist Ernie Lijoi

The multi-talented actor, playwright, composer, singer, lyricist, and recording artist, who came to Portland from New York City, leaves a host of memories and fine work.

Cappella Romana survives Trump Administration’s attempt to shut down federal grants

A $35,000 National Endowment for the Arts grant is still stalled, but private donations have helped fill the gap, and a crucial concert will go on. Meanwhile, nonprofits across the nation aren't sure what comes next.

Better together: Oregon Arts Commission, Cultural Trust aim for a merger

The two state agencies are asking the Legislature to OK creating a new united agency, with the hope of more efficiency, creative thinking, independence, and impact on Oregon's art and culture.

At the Portland Art Museum, a new gallery for Black art & expression is in the making

The museum and 1803 Fund team to provide a new home for Black art when PAM rolls out its rebuilt campus late this year. Also: PICA wins a $120,000 Warhol Foundation grant.

52 Oregon arts groups share $260,000 in grants

Oregon Arts Commission awards $5,000 Arts Build Communities grants to cultural groups across the state. Plus: A $50,000 national grant for Oregon artist Takahiro Yamamoto.

High Desert Museum scores two NEH grants

The museum's grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities will help fund projects on desert climate change and a website exploring the culture and nature of the High Desert. A third grant to historian Julie Weise will help underwrite a book on migrant workers in the U.S. and beyond.

‘Krapp’s Last Tape’: Beckett’s solitary journey back and ahead in time

Review: Bruce Burkhartsmeier delivers a masterful performance at the intimate 21ten Theatre of Samuel Beckett's 1958 one-act tale of loneliness and regret (with flashes of wit).

Turning the page: Looking back on ’24 and ahead to ’25

From construction projects at the Portland Art Museum and elsewhere to tight budgets and uncertainty about money to tales about Portland's Black music history and a puppet museum and a giant pumpkin regatta, Oregon's arts world presses ahead.

Oregon Cultural Trust: Giving and getting back

The state's innovative Cultural Tax Credit program lets you give money to any of 1,600 Oregon arts & cultural groups, match your gift to the Cultural Trust, and get a deduction on your state taxes. Deadline is Dec. 31.

20 Oregon artists win $25,000 awards

The Miller Foundation's individual Spark Award grants are the first in a three-year program that eventually will award 60 grants totaling $1.5 million to a broad range of artists.

Oregon Cultural Trust: Giving and getting back

The state's innovative Cultural Tax Credit program lets you give money to any of 1,600 Oregon arts & cultural groups, match your gift to the Cultural Trust, and get a deduction on your state taxes. Deadline is Dec. 31.

Remembering Darcy White, talented music director and stellar cabaret figure

White, the much-loved pianist and director who made the music sing in theaters across Portland, was also the talent behind Cabaret White, which showcased many of the city's best singers.

The long stretch of comedy, from ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ to ‘Waiting for Godot’

Triangle Productions' "Little Shop" and Corrib Theatre's "Godot" dive into the deeply entwined depths of the comic and the tragic, which in both plays rely on each other.

The Actors Conservatory: Hale and hearty and going on 40

The Portland professional training school, which began life in 1985 in a former dental office, now draws students from across the nation seeking careers in the theater world.

Portland artist Eunice Parsons dies at 108

Parsons, known and admired for her collage work and her long teaching career at The Museum Art School, was active as an artist well into the 21st century.

Rebuilding grants for Oregon arts groups

A continuing revitalization-grants program of the Oregon Community Foundation has awarded $578,000 so far to arts and cultural groups from Coos Bay to Bend to Baker City and beyond.

City announces $4 million+ in arts grants

General operating grants from Portland's new Office of Arts & Culture aid 80 organizations – and some smaller groups say the grants are going disproportionately to the city's big companies.

‘Broken Open’: Martha Gies meets life

Book review: The Portland writer's new book of essays is a fascinating mix of memoir and social observation, from Willamette Valley fields to Pablo Neruda's footsteps and more.

Theatrical giant Tobias Andersen dies

The actor, director and writer, whose professional career spanned almost 60 years, is dead at 87, leaving a brilliant legacy ranging from Hollywood to Portland to Pakistan.

DramaWatch: The Fourth Wall tumbles in ‘Latine Vote,’ ‘Every Brilliant Thing’

At Milagro's world-premiere political farce and Clackamas Rep's solo show about loss and lovely things, the audience becomes an eager part of the action. Plus: a month of clowning at CoHo.

Russo Lee Gallery looks to recovery

An adjacent restaurant fire Aug. 5 poured smoke and soot into the blue-chip gallery, coating everything. Now restorers are beginning to clean 1,500 artworks, and the gallery hopes to reopen in December or January.

For Labor Day, the art of work

As the labor movement faces new challenges, a look at art that reveals the highs and lows of work and its significance in life.

Art in the Pearl gathers in the Park Blocks

A Labor Day weekend fixture in downtown Portland since 1997, the free festival offers booths for more than 100 artists, plus food, music, demonstrations, and hands-on activities.

DramaWatch: The (1921) future is now

As the fall theater season rolls out and the big dogs get ready to bark, the revival of a century-old sci-fi play about humans and human-like robots imagines an unnerving new world.

DramaWatch: Cirque du Soleil, C.S. Lewis, ‘Peter Pan’ fly into town

Cirque's "Kooza" settles under the Big Top for a lengthy run. A fireside chat with the author of the "Narnia" novels. And Larissa FastHorse gives a bold new twist to the musical "Peter Pan."

Satiric artist and ad man Jim Riswold dies at 66

Riswold, known for his groundbreaking work at the ad firm Weiden+Kennedy, also made his mark as a visual artist creating sharply pointed and often deeply comic satiric works deflating notorious autocratic strong men.

News & Notes: Parks/arts levy in, city arts tax out? Plus: Portland Opera backs PSU Keller replacement plan.

As the city puts its parks and arts programs under the same umbrella, it considers replacing the arts tax with a new levy for both. And one of Keller Auditorium's major tenants comes out staunchly in favor of PSU's proposed replacement halls.