#portland-arts

#portland-arts

On Saturday, January 10, approximately 10-15 protesters wearing inflated frog costumes performed a not-very-synchronized dance beneath the bright lights of the South Portland Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility. Heralded on a flyer as the "Original Frog Dance" the loose choreography-set to "We're the Frogs," an AI-created ballad by local lyricist Delanae Elle Eanaled-lasted just over three minutes. An organizer with the Frog Brigade, Will-also known as "Ribbit Wrangler"-told the Mercury that the costumed dancers had practiced only that day and for "not very long." The performance consisted of "moves someone could make in a frog costume."

When Donna Guardino passed away at age 81 this past April, artists and fans alike mourned the extraordinary woman who created not only an artistic community, but also brought together a troubled Northeast Portland neighborhood. They also wondered what would become of her eponymous gallery, a landmark destination at the corner of NE Alberta Street and NE 30 th Avenue since 1997.

Consider Do This, Do That your holiday advent calendar this month, where you'll pry open one of those little perforated cardboard doors (read our weekly round-ups) to reveal a foil-wrapped piece of chocolate shaped like a star (find events you should check out each day). If anything, Do This, Do That is a bit better than a physical advent calendar. It's less packaging-dense, just as joyous, and also, it doesn't cost you anything. Let's get into some glad tidings.

A Larger Reality: Ursula K. Le Guin isn't a typical exhibition. Ursula Kroeber Le Guin wasn't a typical artist. Curated by her son, Theo Downes-Le Guin, the new show installed at Oregon Contemporaryis, by his definition, "nonobjective"-a sprawling love note unembarrassed by its devotion. Braiding her personal and creative worlds, the exhibition pulls together interactive installations, a working typewriter, and hand-drawn maps of Earthsea. And that's just scratching the surface.

William Thomas Berk's new play Anno Machina: An Apocalyptic Elegy follows the fortunes of a sentient AI robot, played by Gabby Bosso, whose job it was (and that of other Human Service Units) to save humanity from itself. But humanity refused to be saved despite the robots' best efforts, and now Bosso's character is forced to reconcile her failure at achieving her programmed directive against the fact of her continued existence.

"It's always been DIY. It's always been for the people, for the community. It's all about inclusivity: BIPOC and LGBTQIA2+ Portland artists playing so many different kinds of music."