Books & Talks

Matthew Desmond
7:30 p.m. Thu, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, $15–65
As part of Multnomah County Library’s Everybody Reads program, Desmond—a sociologist at Harvard and MacArthur “Genius” Fellow—discusses his book Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, which profiles eight poor families in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Tender Table
7­ p.m. Fri, IPRC, FREE ($5–10 suggested)
Listen to powerful presentations and stories from queer women of color including Moroccan-American Muslim writer Melika Belhaj and queer Latinx art collective Pochas Radicales founders Blanca Stacey Villalobos and Andrea Telles.

Morgan Parker
7:30 p.m. Fri, Powell's City of Books, FREE
Rarely has a poetry collection boasted a nervier title than Parker’s latest, There Are More Beautiful Things Than Beyoncé. Drawing on politics, jazz, and modern pop culture, her work has both moxie and depth. In addition to her Powell's appearance, she’ll be joined by high school poets for a reading on Saturday, March 11 within Portland Art Museum’s Constructing Identity exhibit, which is devoted to the work of black artists (more on that show here). For more, check out our Q&A with Parker.

De-Canon: A Living Canon Talk
6:30 p.m. Sat, High and Low Art Space and Gallery, $5 suggested
A new “visibility project,” De-Canon aims to spotlight writers and artists of color. At this event, local poets Neil Aitken and Samiya Bashir (check out one of her poems published in our August 2016 issue) will read from and talk about their work. Zahir Janmohamed of the Racist Sandwich podcast moderates. 

Comedy

Back Fence PDX
8 p.m. Sat, Alberta Rose Theatre, $16–28
The homegrown, first-rate storytelling series tackles the theme “Snapshot”: tales about those things that remain forever lodged in your mind. A portion of this show's proceeds will benefit Youth, Rights and Justice, which provides legal representation to children in foster care and juvenile court, and to parents in the child dependency system.

Sebastian Maniscalco
5 and 8 p.m. Sun, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, $35.75–49.75
Once upon a time, according to the LA Times, Maniscalco waited on Jerry Seinfeld while working at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills. These days, the Chicago-born comic—with his colorful facial expressions, exaggerated sense of exacerbation, and splashy physicality—counts Seinfeld among his biggest fans.

Dance

Companhia Urbana de Dança
8 p.m. Thu–Sat, Newmark Theatre, $21–58
Fusing the street-dance roots of its nine company members—eight men and one woman from Rio’s favelas—with the classical training of its director, this Brazilian troupe has been hailed for its exuberance and ferocity.

Music

Los Romeros
7:30 p.m. Fri, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, $19–49
Also known as the “Royal Family of the Guitar,” Los Romeros formed nearly 60 years ago and could now be a case study for the link between genetics and talent. The lineup has shifted, but it remains a family affair, with the members’ classical guitar chops as virtuosic as ever.

Jackson Boone
9 p.m. Fri, Mississippi Studios, $5
The Portland native, who recorded his first album in the basement of a greenhouse, hits the stage with his psych-folk tunes in celebration of the release of his album Organic Light Factory.

Dvořák’s Cello Concerto
7:30 p.m. Sat–Mon, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, $29–85
Oregon Symphony conductor Carlos Kalmar pairs Dvořák’s always popular Cello Concerto with Aspects of an Elephant, a world premiere by fast-rising Portland composer Kenji Bunch.

Ceremony of Sludge VI: Benefit for Planned Parenthood and ACLU
8 p.m. Sat, High Water Mark, $10-20 sliding scale
This annual celebration of heavy music will feature Witch Mountain, Disenchanter, Year of the Cobra, and other local bands. All proceeds will be donated to Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette and ACLU of Oregon.

Theater

Chiflón: El Silencio del Carbón (The Silence of Coal)
7:30 p.m. Thu, Reed College, FREE
How do you dramatize the dangers and exploitations of coal mining? If you’re Chilean theater company Silencio Blanco, you do it with white papier-mâché puppets, tiny props, and no words.

OPENING Feathers and Teeth
7:30 p.m. Thu–Sat, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sun, Artists Repertory Theatre, $25–50
Thirteen-year-old Portland hotshot Agatha Olson stars in Charise Castro Smith’s new “thrilledy” (that’d be a thriller comedy, with ample camp) as a girl mourning the death of her mother while contending with her dad’s new girlfriend—and a plumed monster in a stew pot.

OPENING Brontë
7:30 p.m. Fri–Sun, Hillsboro Public Library, $25–30
It’s off to the Yorkshire moors in Polly Teale’s play, which fuses fact and fiction to explore the tempestuous lives and stories of the Brontë sisters.

Trifles and Dutchman
7:30 p.m. Thu–Sun, Back Door Theater, $15–25
Defunkt presents an evening of challenging one-acts: Amiri Baraka’s Dutchman and Susan Glaspell’s Trifles, two plays that dig deep into America’s complicated path through race and gender inequality.

Visual Art

CLOSING Arvie Smith
10 a.m.–8 p.m. Thu–Fri and 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Sat–Sun, Portland Art Museum, $19.99
With lush colors, swirling lines, and potent references—the Ku Klux Klan to Aunt Jemima to the police shooting of Michael Brown—the Portlander’s huge canvases are a politically charged visual feast.

CLOSING Todd Norsten
11 a.m.–5 p.m. Thu–Sat, Adams & Ollman, FREE
With just a few words or a simple phrase tossed onto the canvas, Norsten’s paintings are minimal, cheeky, and even lyrical.

Emily Counts
Noon–6 p.m. Thu–Sun, Nationale, FREE
Counts's second solo exhibition at Nationale, Form Factor, is a display of sculptural pieces inspired by early computer graphics and playground designs. 

The Golden Age of Poster Design
11 a.m.–4 p.m. Thu–Sun, Pittock Mansion, $10
The late 19th century was a boom time for advertising, with major advances in lithographic printing and graphic design. This exhibit collects American posters from the 1890s hawking magazines such as Harper’s and (the now-defunct) Century and Lippincott’s.

Special Events

Point of Access: 36th Annual Gender Studies Symposium
Various times Thu–Fri, Lewis & Clark College, FREE
Head to Lewis & Clark for a packed lineup of lectures, workshops, and panel discussions about gender issues, from sex work to abortion to the social impact of young-adult literature. Two top-notch keynote speakers have been booked, too: brilliant Bad Feminist author Roxane Gay, and disability rights activist Eli Clare. Find the full schedule here.

Feral Camp Night
7 p.m. Sat, 2510 NE Sandy, $20
This fundraiser for Feral Girls Camp—which runs programs for girls as a "wild, hands-on response to messages of misogyny, objectification, and disempowerment"—is like a week of summer camp, jam-packed into a single night, and tweaked for grown-ups. Think capture the flag, crafting, camp songs, and s'mores.