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Bob Hicks
Bob Hicks
Bob Hicks
Bob Hicks 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."

News & Notes: Seattle’s new art museum

A $300 million gift of more than 200 artworks jump-starts the Seattle University Museum of Art. Plus: Maryhill Museum season begins, Asian American writers, Andrew Proctor returns, jazz at Milagro, Billie Holiday tribute night.

News & Notes: Libraries turn the page

As Central Library reopens in downtown Portland, The Library Foundation takes on new leadership. Plus: A new leader for the Parks Foundation; talking Nevelson and Neel at PNCA.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it slow

Yes, Portland’s in the middle of a rare winter storm, and events are shutting down. Then again, it’s a good time to slow down, take a break, reminisce and recharge.

Eugene Weekly fighting for its life

The paper, whose journalism includes vital arts and cultural coverage, is fighting a financial crisis allegedly caused by embezzlement, and is turning to the public for help.

Giving and the Oregon Cultural Tax Credit

As the giving season moves into high gear, the state’s innovative tax credit system allows you to double the impact of your donations to nonprofit cultural groups.

Jewish Museum hires a new leader

Rebekah Sobel will join the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education in January, moving from the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

‘Scene Shifting’: The Western land in flux

“The view never stays the same for long; never for a moment, actually”: Dan Powell’s book of photos captures moments from an ever-changing landscape in the dry stretches of the West.

Playing Clarence Darrow in Pakistan

In 1997, Portland actor Tobias Andersen portrayed the famous American lawyer at a huge arts festival in the sprawling city of Lahore. In a new book, he tells the story of his adventures.

News & Notes: Art as an economic driver

A national study reports that the arts rang up an $829 million impact in Oregon in 2022, boosting the economy and creating many jobs. Plus: Oregon is looking for its next poet laureate.

Clackamas County drops RACC funding

The county follows the City of Portland’s lead in defunding the regional arts granting group – and RACC, in turn, makes plans to continue its services.

Oregon artist Martha Banyas, 79, dies

Banyas was known nationally for her visionary work in metal arts and enameling: In 2022 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the national Enamelist Society.

RACC board ousts executive director

The embattled regional arts funding agency cuts its ties with leader Carol Tatch amid a continuing dispute with the City of Portland, The Oregonian reports.

Artists Rep lays off its artistic director

The company, beset by financial problems in the midst of a major construction project and a suspended season, parts ways with Jeanette Harrison, its artistic director of only a year.

News & Notes: Dell’Arte on the ropes

The noted school for physical theater announces an emergency fund drive to keep its doors open. Plus: new Oregon Arts Commission grants, Dan Ryan’s quartet of city Art Talks.

Sabina Haque’s portals of hope and alarm

As the world’s climate wobbles, the Portland artist’s show at Waterstone Gallery looks for windows of possibility through fire-and-water catastrophes in Oregon and Pakistan.

RACC puts its top leader on leave

The arts and culture funding group, in the midst of a fierce battle over funding with the City of Portland, puts Executive Director Carol Tatch on paid leave pending investigation of unspecified issues.

Bringing women into the center of the art world

News & Notes: A new series of lectures on prominent women artists of the 20th century; The Immigrant Story goes live at The Armory; The –Ism Youth Files kicks off a podcast series.

News & Notes: Party in the Pearl

The 27th annual Art in the Pearl festival highlights Portland’s Labor Day Weekend. Plus, art around Oregon in Astoria, Eugene, and The Dalles.

Black History IS History? Of course.

A Multnomah Arts Center exhibit of work by Black Northwest artists delves into the past to create a celebration of Black creativity in the present.

U.S. chooses Jeffrey Gibson for Venice Biennale

Portland Art Museum and curator Kathleen Ash-Milby play key roles in spotlighting the first solo Indigenous artist at the U.S. Pavilion in the international art showcase’s 129-year history.

The big arts breakup: RACC and PDX

The City of Portland tells the Regional Arts & Culture Council it’s going to go it alone on arts policy and funding – and it’s taking its money with it.

Lively ghosts and an artist rediscovered

At Hallie Ford Museum, the Tom Prochaska retrospective “Music for Ghosts” and a revival of works by the late Jim Hibbard traverse the thin line between traditional and contemporary.

Arts funding bottoms out in Legislature

As Oregon lawmakers stumble through a long Senate walkout and then rush to finish business, a cultural sector still hurting from Covid shutdowns loses on several fronts.

Music critics elect Allen, Bash

The Music Critics Association of North America chooses ArtsWatch writers Angela Allen as secretary and James Bash as treasurer.

Maryhill Museum names a new leader

The museum names Amy Behrens, executive director of a Southern California cultural center and botanical gardens, to lead it into the future.

A fresh new day at the Jewish Museum

After a four-month construction shutdown, the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education reopens with new shows, a new gallery, and a celebratory street fair.

Bonnie Bronson 2024 Fellow Wendy Red Star Reed College Reception Kaul Auditorium Foyer Portland Oregon
Kalakendra Indian Classical Instrumental Music First Congregational Church Portland Oregon
Portland Center Stage at the Armory Nassim Portland Oregon
City of Hillsboro Walters Cultural Arts Center Tony Furtado Hillsboro Oregon
Maryhill Museum of Art Goldendale Washington
Portland State University College of the Arts
Portland Chamber Orchestra A Feast of Beethoven Kaul Auditorium Reed College Portland Oregon
PassinArt Theatre and Portland Playhouse present Yohen Brunish Theatre Portland Oregon
Golden Road Arts Grey Raven Gallery Near the Reser Beaverton Oregon
Triangle Productions presents Eleanor starring Margie Boule Portland Oregon
Pacific Maritime Heritage Center Prosperity of the Sea Lincoln County Historical Society Newport Oregon Coast
Newport Performance and Visual Arts Centers Newport Oregon Coast
Portland Art Museum Virtual Sneakers to Cutting Edge Kicks Portland Oregon
Portland Area Theatre Alliance Fertile Ground Portland Oregon
Northwest Dance Project Sarah Slipper Newmark Theatre Portland Oregon
High Desert Museum Sasquatch Central Oregon
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