For stories published before 2018, visit our archive site.
Culture Subcategories
Family
Gender Deconstruction
Indigenous History & Resilience
Learning
PuzzleWatch
Only an expert can solve a problem. (23. March 29, 2024, at Keller Auditorium in Portland, Oregon, Laurie Anderson was as provocative, brilliant, inspiring, whimsical and stylish as ever.)
Blackhawk, winner of a 2023 National Book Award for his history of Native life in the U.S. and its historical misrepresentation, speaks in the Oregon Historical Society’s Hatfield Lecture series.
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.
K.B. Dixon’s cultural-portrait series continues with black & white images of novelist Lydia Kiesling, actor Charles Grant, multidisciplinary artist Emily Ginsburg, photographer Thibault Roland, and writer/editor Margaret Malone.
The founder of the Waterston Desert Writing Prize and the Writing Ranch will receive the Holbrook award during the April 8 Oregon Book Awards ceremony.
The Portland author’s new book about 16 Oregonians who survived atrocities ranging from the Holocaust to Rwandan genocide launches March 29 with an event at Mekong Bistro.
Five artists interpret the legendary creature in sculpture, paintings, film, and multi-media work in a show that goes beyond the popular-culture image of Bigfoot.
The 3,000-seat Keller needs replacing. What’s the best choice: a new building at PSU, a new hall at a revamped Lloyd Center, or a full-scale renovation where it is now?
The busy cultural hub celebrates its 20th anniversary with a day-long party this Saturday, March 16
The new center, whose name means “butterfly,” seeks to create a “microscopic utopia” for artists who are often dispossessed.
Recent productions “North” and Red Door Project’s “The Evolve Experience” highlight the Beaverton arts center’s socially responsive programming.
Entries are open for May’s “Rising from the Trashes” event, which includes an art gallery, fashion show, and storytelling – all spotlighting trash.
On March 14, tours and an open house will celebrate the 37th anniversary of the hotel that lifelong friends Goody Cable and Sally Ford took from flophouse to world famous.
The exquisite enamel artist and traveler to Bali and beyond in pursuit of her art created a legacy of storytelling and beauty.
Speaking to a Hatfield Lecture Series audience about her book “Oath and Honor,” the former congresswoman talks about Putin, China, Israel/Hamas, Trump’s “Big Lie” and more.
The recently-released album captures the quartet playing standards and film songs in Portland and Vancouver just before the recording of their ground-shaking classic “Time Out.”
The traveling exhibition, created by the Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center, reminds viewers of the multiracial history of Oregon’s timber towns.
Students had a say in picking the artists whose work is featured in the artistically complex and politically engaged exhibition, which runs through March 16 at the McMinnville university.
As the Oregon dance card fills up for a busy month of movement, a performance space goes away and another springs to life.
The quirky museum includes what may be the largest glass fishing float collection in the Northwest and an exhibit about a 1930s celebration of redheads.
The 65-year-old Grants Pass library has not kept pace with the city’s growth; funds from the Cow Creek Band and a bill before the Legislature would help pay to replace it.
Exploring life’s transitions and one’s quest for self-actualization through an Afrocentric lens, new and re-staged works by Oluyinka Akinjiola, Derrel Sekou Walker and others find fellowship along the way.
In which we discuss the virtues of imperfection and risk-taking with the clarinetist, bar-owner, and Opera Theater Oregon executive director.
A bustling studio in close-in Southeast Portland is a magnet for makers of short films, music videos, commercials, and maybe even movies.
Looking at “Black Artists of Oregon” and “Africa Fashion” at the Portland Art Museum.
The exhibit, which runs through February, includes both aesthetic and pedagogical components, and has a high “wow” factor. An artists’ reception will be Feb. 16.
Celebrate Valentine’s Day with a crossword puzzle that aims to please both the besotted and the bitterly single.
A former student recalls how the one-time University of Oregon and Oregon State professor taught generations of writers to use the techniques of drama to tell true stories.
With music and dancing and dining and a welcoming vibe, a refugee from Pol Pot’s Cambodia has created a gathering place for Southeast Asians and others in greater Portland.
Finding a community model for their crowd-sourced choreography helped the Eugene dance company connect with donors, partners, and the public, and build sustainable financial support.
K.B. Dixon’s cultural-portrait series continues with black & white images of jazz drummer Ron Steen, multimedia artist Pamela Chipman, musical-theater leader Sharon Maroney, filmmaker Jim Blashfield, and author and environmentalist Allison Cobb.
How Beauford Delaney’s “Twilight Street” got from 119 Waverly Place in New York’s Greenwich Village to the studio of art conservator Nina Olsson to the Portland Art Museum’s walls.
The exhibition’s first iteration since the pandemic opens Feb. 1 as an invitational event and honors Henk Pander, the Northwest art giant who died last year.
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.
The Albina Music Trust celebrates its trove of recordings, photos, memorabilia, articles, and oral histories with a searchable archive and a Feb. 3 release party at Oregon Historical Society.
The vibrant musician, born in Mexico and bringing its sounds and traditions to the Northwest, has died. Dmae Lo Roberts brings back this podcast conversation with him.
The iconic conductor, composer, and music educator, back in the limelight after getting the biopic treatment, now receives the greatest honor of them all: his own ArtsWatch crossword puzzle.
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, take seven minutes to watch and hear the eloquence and artistry of the famous speech that helped re-set a nation’s compass.
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.
Filming commercials for tech company Ubiquiti, actors develop their characters while navigating a disorienting, featureless world.
During the day, a family fun event featuring crayons, dance, music, and a noon ball drop. The evening before, PCO and Ortiz performed music from 19th-century Vienna.
The Eugene museum, which began with a collection of pioneer memorabilia, has evolved into a more inclusive institution.
In small towns, libraries are often the only places that host art and cultural events. Librarians say grants, such as one open this month from Oregon Humanities, are crucial to making that happen.
It was a year of building booms, an Off-Broadway triumph, a financial flop in the Legislature, a great cultural-funding divorce, AI everywhere, and a good number of artistic happy surprises.
Katherine Ace, Yaki Bergman, Margaret Chapman, Walt Curtis, Darcelle, Cai Emmons, Michael Griggs, Donald Jenkins, Henk Pander and more: Oregon arts figures who died in 2023.
From dancerly Broadway musicals to Éowyn Emerald’s return to a Bantu circus, a mystical being from Buenos Aires, Linda Austin’s birthday bash and more, 2024 kicks off in grand style.
Our LitWatch columnist looks back on a year of good reading, writing, and talking about books.
Graham Cole’s newest production, featuring dramatic lighting design and a joyful solo performance by Elenaluisa Alvarez, struck an incongruent note with the introspective, feminist poetry which was its inspiration.
From a magnificent dancerly takeover of Zidell Yards to a push/FOLD contemporary festival to her own solo Odissi show, our DanceWatch columnist steps deftly through a busy year.
From coast to desert to hills and valleys and places in between, culture thrived in towns large and small around the state. Wherever people were, so was art.
Give to our GROW FUND.
