Greenhouse Cabaret Sweeney Todd
Picture of Brian Libby
Picture of Brian Libby
Brian Libby
Brian Libby is a Portland-based freelance journalist and critic writing about architecture and design, visual art and film. He has contributed to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Architectural Digest, The Atlantic, Dwell, CityLab and The Oregonian, among others. Brian’s Portland Architecture blog has explored the city’s architecture and city planning since 2005. He is also the author of “Tales From the Oregon Ducks Sideline,” a history of his lifelong favorite football team. A graduate of New York University, Brian is additionally an award-winning filmmaker and photographer whose work has been exhibited at the American Institute of Architects, the Portland Art Museum’s Northwest Film Center, and venues throughout the US and Europe. For more information, visit www.brianlibby.com.

A time of art, cuisine & making hay

Chef Naomi Pomeroy’s recent death brings to mind a quirky group art show in 2000 that elevated her career as well as the artists’ – and set a tone for a culturally emerging city.

The new Burnside Bridge: Options and choices

How best to replace Portland’s busy east-west span? Bridge designer Keith Brownlie of Britain’s BEAM Architects parses the best choice from a sextet of arches and cable-stays. Now the bridge committee has selected an inverted “Y” cable stay design.

PSU doubles down on its performance hall bid

The university’s revised design proposal for a Keller Auditorium replacement offers two venues in one: a Keller-sized 3,000-seat hall and a versatile 1,200-seat companion space.

Corvallis’s PRAx of life opens its doors

OSU’s new performance and exhibition space, a busy hub of activity from morning to evening, brings a chance to transform how people see the university – and it has an open house April 6.

Dennis Nyback: The show must go on

Fifteen months after the death of the legendary showman and collector of rare and offbeat films, friends and colleagues are rescuing his films and bringing them back into theaters.

Two conversations with Takahiro Iwasaki

The Hiroshima-based artist-in-residence at the Portland Japanese Garden’s Japan Institute discusses his parallel explorations of time, place, and what lies beneath.

Forty Years of ‘Princess’ Pride

“Quarterback Princess,” a 1983 TV movie that kicked off two future Academy Award winners’ careers, is also a McMinnville (or rather, “Minnville”) time capsule.

Framing the Rothko Pavilion

The Portland Art Museum’s redesigned, glass-ensconced addition, due to open in summer 2025, will make viewing easier and could be a boon to an ailing downtown.

Art review: Animal magnetism

The group exhibit “Biomass,” in a Pearl District warehouse space, reunites a contemporary art community after a lengthy pause.

Eva Lake shakes the tree

After a tumultuous few years, a recent self-curated show in her new home gave this venerable, multitalented artist a sense of agency and renewal.

Japanese Garden’s Circle of Art

“Kenji Ide: A Poem of Perception” marks a new era for contemporary art at the Portland Japanese Garden as well as a requiem for its late curator, Matt Jay.

Reviving the tale of a musical ‘Lost Angel’

Portland documentary filmmaker Brian Lindstrom (“Alien Boy,” “Finding Normal”) and co-director Andy Brown discuss their new film about the life and sorrows of ’70s singer Judee Sill.

Keller Auditorium: Renovate or replace?

Either way, seismic concerns are pushing a decision. A recent tour of Oregon’s biggest performance hall demonstrated the building’s need and its untapped potential.

Jon Raymond: To Oregon and Beyond

With his new novel, the writer known best for his Oregon-set movies with director Kelly Reichardt ventures beyond our borders and into the future.

This is your brain on art

Portland psychobiographer William Todd Schultz’s book “The Mind of the Artist” demystifies the driving forces behind creative inspiration.

The Elk’s compromised return

Portland’s beloved Elk statue and accompanying fountain were removed after sustaining considerable damage in the protests of 2020. The city recently announced an imminent, yet imperfect, return.

At long last, the keys to it all

A pandemic piano acquisition a century in the making: After stops in Chicago, Sioux Falls, a school music room in Tigard & more, it feels like home.

Seeing Double

Double-exposure photographs by Mike Vos, Dinh Q. Lê and Gary Burnley speak to our polarized times.

Watershed moments

The Oregon Jewish Museum reopens with a deep dive into the story of the fountains that reshaped the city.

Spaces: Artists make room for the arts

Our series on artist spaces, which began before the pandemic, continues as artists try to figure out where to make art as resources dry up and Covid-19 continues.

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