Oregon ArtsWatch

Arts & Culture News
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Cultural Hubs

Cultural centers fill a vital role in communities, often serving multiple functions as performance halls, art galleries, historical repositories, gathering places, and educational resources. They help to build essential connections and strengthen the social fabric. A series that profiles essential cultural hubs, prioritizing centers in rural and underserved areas, examines how they uniquely serve and reflect their communities. These stories will produce a broad cultural snapshot of the state, provide a window into Oregon’s many distinct communities, and help to bridge the urban/rural divide. This project is supported by funds from the Oregon Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts.

KEY SPONSORS

Braemar Charitable Trust
Hampton Family Foundation of Oregon Community Foundation
Oregon Arts Commission
The Reser Family Foundation
The Roundhouse Foundation

Honoring the past, investing in a future in Indigenous art

At an open house and marketplace at the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde's museum, artists weave a story that carries traditional skills and values into the modern world.

Ten Fifteen Productions: The Astoria theater company that doesn’t shy from the controversial

November 6, 2025Lori Tobias

The theme of the community theater’s next season is “America the Beautiful?” And, yes, the question mark is intentional.

Emerald Art Center: The ‘real’ Springfield’s art heart

October 19, 2025Ester Barkai

The 68-year-old nonprofit is famous for its mural of The Simpsons, but local artists know it for classes, workshops, youth camps, and gallery space.

Columbia Gorge Discovery Center & Museum reopens after Rowena fire

September 23, 2025Jean Zondervan

Closed due to fire and water damage since June, the museum’s reopening this month includes a new exhibit celebrating the high desert rangelands of Wasco County and the ranchers and artists dedicated to sustainable stewardship of both the land and animals.

Tillamook County Pioneer Museum: Bringing Tillamook to the world, from shipwrecks to service members, from research to a nature reserve

September 9, 2025Lori Tobias

The 90-year-old museum has an archive of more than 55,000 objects and 20,000 photos, as well as stewardship of the 200-acre Kilchis Point Reserve.

Art on the Road: Some thoughts on heritage

September 6, 2025Friderike Heuer

Discovering the pioneer pleasures of Thompson's Mills, Oregon's newest State Heritage Site, and the loss of a deeper Indigenous history in the closure of Five Oaks Museum.

From Outliers to Kosher Pop Art, a new look at the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education

August 26, 2025Elizabeth Mehren

Rebekah Sobel, the museum's executive director since December 2023, is aiming for a trifecta of highlighting Jewish culture, Jewish art, and managing trauma stories.

‘It’s just home’: Marianas Festival will share Pacific Island culture and heritage with thousands this weekend

August 20, 2025Amy Wang

The three-day festival includes workshops in Vancouver, Wash., as well as dance, music, and food across the river in Fairview’s Blue Lake Regional Park.

In Philomath, Maxtivity maximizes the creative capacity of community

August 12, 2025Erin Jimerson

Through collaborative arts, a small-town nonprofit offers historically disadvantaged groups and others a place of wonder, welcome, and connection.

Prismid Sanctuary: esperanza spalding creates a destination by cultivating community

August 5, 2025Brian Libby

The Grammy-winning musician’s long-gestating BIPoC artists retreat in Portland comes together through collaboration with artists, development firm Adre, Allied Works architects, and listening to the land.

Astro-Zombie Bio-Labs: In McMinnville, a place to practice weird and wacky art

July 25, 2025Andrew Beauchamp

Mental-health therapist Matthew Taylor, who designed the makerspace for neurodivergent people, says it is based around inclusivity. “I would almost say we’re neurotypical inclusive.”

At Florence children’s theater group C.R.O.W., family is a big part of the fun

July 6, 2025Lori Tobias

Children’s Repertory of Oregon Workshops — C.R.O.W. — offers low-cost classes in dance, musical theater, and performance — not to mention The Tutu Dads.

‘I’m Into This Place’: Adriana Baer celebrates the culture of Clark County

July 6, 2025Bobby Bermea

Bobby Bermea talks with the longtime Portland theater leader about her new podcast focusing on the rich arts and cultural scene in her new home across the Columbia River.

In the heart of Oregon wine country, a hotel gathers Northwest writers for residencies

June 30, 2025David Bates

McMinnville's Atticus Hotel, in partnership with Linfield University's Creative Writing Department, gives Northwest authors time and space to meet, mix, and work on their book projects.

MFA:NW connects emerging artists and rural communities, this month at the Pendleton Center for the Arts

June 12, 2025David Bates

In its pilot year, a juried show of work by eight young artists explores issues of gender, sexuality, and being in the world as a physical body.

Alberta Abbey: One Space, One Vision, One Hundred Years

June 12, 2025Kristin Thiel

Through decades of transitions, the 100-year-old space in Northeast Portland has remained at the heart of the community, even while navigating financial challenges, a pandemic, and even ghosts.

Trail’s End Art Association: In Gearhart, a fellowship of artists

May 16, 2025Lori Tobias

The club, which offers an egalitarian welcome to artists ranging from painters to needleworkers to gourd-crafters, is celebrating its 75th anniversary.

Star Power: How Rogue Theater found its voice at Ashland’s Grizzly Peak Winery

April 27, 2025Jim Flint

The company, which features many current and former Oregon Shakespeare Festival actors, draws a loyal and growing audience for contemporary plays in the heart of Shakespeare territory.

A democratized access to synthesis: Synth Library Portland

April 25, 2025Charles Rose

Nine years on, the local non-profit benefits the electronic music community with open houses, workshops, jam sessions, and a synthesizer lending program.

MECCA used art supply store in Eugene encourages creativity through recycling

March 30, 2025Ester Barkai

The nonprofit Materials Exchange Center for Community Arts, which offers workshops and provides free supplies to teachers, is a cross between a garage sale and an arts-and-crafts thrift shop.

Astoria Public Library’s renovation looks to the future while preserving building’s history

March 27, 2025Amanda Waldroupe

The full-scale refurbishment doubles the library’s size, adds windows, and celebrates Astoria’s history, culture, and architectural heritage.

Tolovana Arts Colony: Nurturing the Cannon Beach arts scene for 20 years

March 12, 2025Lori Tobias

The nonprofit sponsors this week’s comedy festival and Get Lit at the Beach in April, as well as an autumn celebration of Indigenous heritage, art classes, concerts in the park, and a mini-golf fundraiser.

North County Recreation District: From a pool to plays, Nehalem’s hub serves coastal community

February 12, 2025Lori Tobias

Based in a school designed by A.E. Doyle, the 30-year-old NCRD is home to concerts, lectures, an art gallery, and soon, a new $16.4 million aquatics center.

Art Center East in La Grande: Bringing art opportunities and access to Eastern Oregon

February 7, 2025Marc Mohan

The nonprofit center serves a 10-county swath of the state with exhibitions, classes, and annual events, often engaging with the past in ways that speak to the present.

All Classical Radio’s Media Arts Center: Portland’s newest cultural hub

December 25, 2024Brett Campbell

The venerable broadcaster’s move to new studios in downtown's KOIN Tower opens space for an energetic and expanded mission beyond the radio dial.

TOC Portland: A new song for an old institution

December 14, 2024Brett Campbell

The venue formerly known as The Old Church Concert Hall reimagines and expands its mission to provide greater support to its home community.

The Jazz Station: Willamette Jazz Society creates a place to play and connect in Eugene

December 1, 2024Ester Barkai

The club, started to help students get into University of Oregon jazz camps, is the only full-time community-run jazz club in Oregon.

Collaboration and community at Living Studios in Corvallis

November 21, 2024Hannah Krafcik

Progressive art studios offer space and support for artists to create and thrive. Navigating the art world's power dynamics requires attention and care.

Kids Make Theatre: In Astoria, teaching the performing arts, igniting a passion

November 17, 2024Lori Tobias

Since April 2023, the Liberty Theatre’s low-cost program has brought theater, dance – and self-confidence – to North Coast kids.

Up Close and Personal: Oregon Contemporary Theatre champions new work and intimate experiences

November 6, 2024Ester Barkai

The Eugene theater’s production of "The Last Yiddish Speaker" gathers actors and audiences closely together for a Rolling World Premiere.