Summer is going out with a confusing bang: The last two weeks of August were cool and rainy but September is starting with a heat wave! The end of summer brings the beginning of school year – and fall of course- and it seems like everyone is exiting their relaxed summer mindset and getting back into the swing of things. Renewed routines, school or otherwise, are an opportunity to establish community and a sense of belonging. Both are vital during these tumultuous times so let’s consider how artists create, maintain, and foster belonging and community.

Excitingly, the well-known and dearly-missed Time-Based Art Festival (TBA) from the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA) is back this September in Portland after a hiatus. For those who find their community in Portland, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Elbow Room, PDX Contemporary, The Center for Native Arts and Cultures, and AB & Michihiro Kosuge (MK) Galleries, Sidestreet Arts have plenty to see. For those with communities in other areas of the state, September brings opportunities in Manzanita at the Hoffman Center for the Arts, in Bend at the High Desert Museum, and in Hillsboro at the Civic Center.

Time Based Art Festival (TBA)
Various Artists
September 5- 22
Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA)

The Time Based Art Festival (TBA) is back this year with an exciting array of events and featured artists! There are various types of performances, themes, and artists to see and enjoy this September. Notable artists include Ahmanefule Oluo, Sam Hamiliton, and Jess Perlitz among many more. Ahmanefule Oluo creates a dazzling musical score through musical instruments and everyday objects in his performance, The Things Around Us. Oluo follows up by sharing autobiographical stories of forced isolation due to the pandemic. Experience Oluo’s performance on September 6, 7, and 8. For more information about TBA, including several previews, check out Amy Leona Havin’s conversation with Linda K. Johnson in ArtsWatch .

Continuum 
Barbara Sternberger 
September 5- November 2
Elizabeth Leach Gallery
417 NW 9th Ave, Portland, OR 97209

Barbara Sternberger gets lost and finds her way home in her new painting series titled Continuum. In this series, she solves problems while making, falling back on simplified shapes and forms, shapes, textured marks, and indirect figures. Taken together, the works constitute a sort of portrait of the artist and her process. There is no conclusion: Sternberger’s paintings operate in the thin veil of complete and incomplete. She explains it as “hang[ing] in the balance of between mind and experience.” 

Once Upon A Jerry Looney Rainbow Miracle
Co-curated by Amy Osborn, Endale Abraham, and Shannon Anderson
August 24- October 27
Elbow Room
318 SE Main St Suite 125, Portland, OR 97214

Sponsor

Elbow Room, a community art studio and gallery that supports artists with intellectual disabilities, is currently showing a new exhibit of work by Elbow Room artists curated by Elbow Room artists. Curator Shannon Anderson describes the show as being “…all about color”; fitting since color features prominently in many Elbow Room artists’ works. Enjoy a range of mediums on display from images on paper to ceramic crabs. Featured artists include Endale Abraham, Michelle Fromme, Mohamed Omar, Robert Hubert, Shannon Anderson, and Amy Osborn. Discover how these artists find belonging at Elbow Room.

Properties of Layers
Bean Finneran
August 28- September 28
PDX Contemporary
1881 NW Vaughn Street, Portland, OR 97209

Properties of Layers is an exploration of the different properties and states of clay, ranging from to liquid to dry to soft to frozen. Bean Finneran’s objects celebrate the varied capacities of clay in vibrant colors and abstracted forms. The works processes of making are equally varied: adding layers of liquid clay over multiple days, throwing soft clay down from a ladder, reusing old clay, and even letting the sun create natural cracks. Also on display at PDX Contemporary this month are Johannes Girardoni’s striking sculptures made from wood, pigment, and beeswax ((in)finite).

Explorations in Curiosity
David Cohen
September 7
Hoffman Center for the Arts
594 Laneda Avenue, Manzanita, OR

After a career in promoting artists and their works including at the Museum of Contemporary Craft, David Cohen started to create his own work inspired by a reconnection with nature and his interest in history and science. Cohen combines these three themes into his new mosaic paintings, tesserated compositions reminiscent of Roman mosaic floor designs. The show is titled Explorations in Curiosity. Cohen will give a lecture on Friday, September 6 titled, “Rediscovering Curiosity and the Search for your Authentic Voice” in which he will recount his personal journey and artistic transformation.  

Citizen Fellow: Art as Archive and Memory
Various Artists
September 19- November 23
The Center for Native Arts and Cultures
800 SE 10th Ave, Portland, OR 97214

Samples of work from Native Arts and Cultures Foundation Fellows from the past fifteen years are on display this fall. Cultural consciousness and Indigenous identity are central to this exhibit and the work of the featured artists, all of whom have been supported by NACF. Various mediums are featured in this exhibit including printmaking, video, sculpture, painting, glass, and installation. Unearth belonging and culture with the featured artists; Joe Feddersen, John Feodorov, Linda Infante Lyons, James Luna, Brenda Mallory, Nora Naranjo Morse, Abigail Romanchak, Anna Tsouhlarakis, Dyani White Hawk, and Shirod Younker.  

Sponsor

Rick Bartow: Animal Kinship
Rick Bartow
September 20- February 9
High Desert Museum
59800 US-97, Bend, OR 97702

Rick Bartow, arguably one of the Pacific Northwest’s best-known artists, will be featured at the High Desert Museum in Bend beginning September 20. The works in Animal Kinship feature Bartow’s signature combination of traditional Native themes and contemporary images and styles of making. Paintings, sculptures, and prints on display at High Desert Museum show Bartow’s true multidisciplinary talent. Bartow passed away in 2016. These works from the collections of Jordan Schnitzer cover the last three decades of Bartow’s career and prominently highlight Indigenous stories and the combination of animal and human forms. 

Portland Fashion in the Aughts
Curated by Marjorie Skinner
September 30- October 31
AB & Michihiro Kosuge (MK) Galleries
2000 SW 5th Ave, Portland, OR 97201

Portland Fashion in the Aughts curated by Marjorie Skinner documents Portland’s early-21st century independent fashion movement through archival images, video, and physical garments. During this decade before Instagram or widely used social media, Portland found it self detached from other fashion capitals around the world. Despite this, Portland dove into the hyper-local approach to consumer goods which translated to the fashion scene at the time. This exhibition explores Portland fashion through archival images, video, and physical garments. Relive how Portland and its most fashionable found their sense of belonging through this trip back to the aughts.

Preview Show for: Lake Oswego Open Studios
Various Artists
September 5-28
Sidestreet Arts
140 SE 28th Ave, Portland, OR 97214

Check out Sidestreet Arts sneak peek into their host of talented artists with works ranging from ceramics, calligraphy, drawing, painting, fiber arts, photography, sculpture and more! As a member of Sidestreet Arts cooperative gallery, Ha Austin decided to invite Lake Oswego and West Linn Open Studios Tour to feature 40 artists at Sidestreet Arts gallery instead of having her own show. Enjoy a self-guided tour of artists’ home studios and galleries throughout Lake Oswego and West Linn with their Lake Oswego Open Studios program. Uncover how these accomplished artists work and belong in the world of art and in their communities. 

Reflections
Jim Miller
September 3- October 18
Hillsboro Civic Center
150 E. Main Street, Hillsboro, Oregon 97123

Sponsor

Nothing screams personal “belonging” more than a self portrait. Celebrate Jim Miller’s personal belonging with his series of stained glass works that cover the topic of self-expression and discovery. Miller’s artwork features bright and whimsical colors and shapes that urge a smile and delightful feelings out of the viewer. With a background in carpentry, Miller found interest in the challenge of working with glass and has created his glass works with the intent to bring joy to the viewer. Find his work on display at Hillsboro Civic Center.