"While OrpheusPDX has not incurred debt and is not facing an immediate financial crisis, the company is responding proactively to shifting funding realities by taking a deliberate, strategic pause."
March 8 itself has been International Women's Day for just over a century, and although there are several versions of "why March 8?" the answers all lead back to early 20th-century socialists and communists. Soviet Russia in particular made a big thing of commemorating March 8 as the beginning of the first of the two revolutions that created their empire.
These cuts threaten shovel-ready projects, major employers, and rural and urban communities across the state. And they come at a time when [Oregon] arts funding is already among the lowest in the nation. Legislators had been considering cutting nearly $900,000 in arts and culture funding when the session started on Feb. 2.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a Fiscal Year 2026 ominibus appropriations bill by a vote of 397 to 28 on Jan. 8 that included $207 million each for the NEA and NEH. It includes funding for multiple other federal agencies, too, including the Department of Commerce, the Department of Justice, and the Department of the Interior. The bill now moves to the U.S. Senate, which is expected to take up the legislation during the week of Jan. 12-16.
WolfBrown found that Eugene had an abundance of art; however, the town needed more support from the business sector. The results showed that "we punched above our weight for a community our size," said Kelly Johnson, executive director of the nonprofit Arts & Business Alliance of Eugene, which the city created in 2008 to link the arts and business communities.
OREGON CITY - It'll be a long and arduous journey emblematic of the original 1840s Oregon Trail migration itself. But, in the end, some years from now, restoration of the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive and Visitor Center in Oregon City should produce a beacon of history, education, and pride for the state and citizens of all backgrounds. An updated venue will include a new addition housing original wagons, a beautiful plank house, amphitheater events, and expanded programming.
We can find a middle ground. PSU could reduce the size of its planned theater to between 800 and 1,200 seats, clearing the way for the Keller to be remodeled as a mid-size 1,500 to 1,800 seat venue.
We've already bemoaned and lamented last year, so let's close the eyes on our rearward Janus face and look forward. Hey, Mr. Grumpy Gills, when life gets you down, you know what you gotta do? Just keep swimming!
Upon entry, Kent's "IF" (1965) lures the eye upward. The serigraph-a silkscreen print in fine art parlance-hangs high on the wall with a subtle vulnerability. Two orange letters hover toward the composition's top edge, as if pushing to transcend the picture plane. A feeling of possibility emerges through the conjunction and its visual form.
Angels exist, I swear! If you were at the sold out Austra show on Monday, you would have witnessed Portland-born, Berlin-based multidisciplinary artist Colin Self descending from the heavens to bless us mere mortals with their angelic vocals and cherub-like presence. If you're looking for something to believe in, believe in music-it's one of the very few things with ability to unite complete strangers in dialog, movement, and tears.
With most of us, 90 minutes of reminiscing wouldn't make for scintillating theater. Gert Boyle, as played by Wendy Westerwelle, is the exception to that rule. The late Gert came to fame when she took the reins of Columbia Sportswear after her husband's death in 1970 and also became the "One Tough Mother," with gray hair and glasses, of its comedic '80s and '90s ad campaigns. In one, she put her son, Tim, through a carwash to test the durability of a coat.
The Keller is profitable, popular, and central to downtown's recovery. It is time to stop the time-wasting charade and make a decision that reflects fiscal responsibility and the will of Portlanders.
Tickets go on sale at 10 am unless otherwise noted. MUSIC A.J. Croce Presents Croce Plays Croce Revolution Hall (Thurs Oct 1) Blackberry Smoke: Rattle, Ramble and Roll Tour 2026 Revolution Hall (Thurs June 11) Buck Meek with Kisser Mississippi Studios (Fri Dec 4) Brandi Carlile Hayden Homes Amphitheater (May 2021)
The day after Whitelaw testified, the state economist said that Oregon now has about $300 million more to spend than previously expected. The new revenue forecast does not mean the budget is in the black, however. There are new demands for the available dollars, including $600 million in upgrades to the Moda Center to retain the Portland Trail Blazers, a recently announced $50 million shortfall in Portland Public School funding,
The sad part of theater, says Illya deTorres of Chapel Theatre Company in Milwaukie, is that the experience evaporates. "It's like being in summer camp," he says. "It just goes by in a blur."
On January 17 Jennifer Wright gave a stellar performance of her compositions for her self-crafted instruments. This performance marked the conclusion of a month-long exhibition of her instruments and sound sculptures in the galleria of PLACE in Northwest Portland. This is the performance where she said she "finally had a chance to let all the parts of me out to play."
Portland officials released a Market Feasibility Study on Friday, Jan. 23, that declared the region cannot support two venues capable of hosting popular touring Broadway shows. That upends the proposal approved by the City Council in late 2024 calling for a new Broadway-capable performing arts center to be built at Portland State University before the Keller Auditorium is closed and remodeled to continue hosting such large show.