"Watching masses of people heaving clubs at one another during the Portland Juggling Festival last weekend, one wonders: How exactly did Reed College, an exclusive liberal arts college tucked away in the Woodstock neighborhood of Southeast Portland, become a destination for jugglers and other circus artists? It's hazy. The best I could figure was this: In the '80s, Stuart Celarier, a Reed student who got into juggling after reading a book called Juggling for the Complete Klutz,"
"In 1992, "we had a lot of great jugglers, and we'd get together on Wednesdays and juggle, but we weren't really coalescing as a community," says Celarier, who may accept the title of creating the Portland Juggling Festival if pressed, but is quick to defer to the people who juggled and organized with him along the way. "I wanted to make sure that happened. It wasn't just about having a festival, it was about getting Portland to step up and be hosts.""
Reed College cultivated a persistent juggling practice that evolved into a public community hub and festival catalyst. Stuart Celarier began juggling in the 1980s, took the college class for PE credit, continued attending, and now directs the weekly Wednesday class at Reed's gymnasium. The class operates as a hybrid public/college offering where students receive credit and community members join to learn, practice, and develop routines. Celarier helped launch the Portland Juggling Festival in 1992, prioritized local hosting and leadership succession, and notes that the festival accelerated the regional juggling scene and attracted performers who later moved to Portland.
Read at Portland Mercury
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