Top Things to Do in Portland This Week: July 8–15
Michael Keaton comes to the Lloyd Center rooftop this weekend.
It's already mid-July and turns out we're right in the thick of a summer that's going by way too quickly. Time to maximize with Beetlejuice, Britney Spears-themed bike rides, a Black excellence exhibit, and brunch, Portland-style.
Film
NW Film Center's Rooftop Screenings
Doors 8 p.m. Sat, July 8-15, Lloyd Center rooftop, $15–60
The NW Film Center's rooftop screening series—formerly located at Portland State University—continues into its second weekend at the Lloyd Center with five films coming up this week, including the Tim Burton classic, Beetlejuice (July 10), promising charm and chutzpah aplenty with a star-studded cast that feels like an ode to the '80s. Other upcoming highlights include The Muppet Movie (July 8), and Jurassic Park (July 15).
Summer of Soul at the Hollywood Theatre
7 p.m. July 9-15, Hollywood Theatre, $8–10
Music
Chamber Music NW Summer Festival
Various times July 1–25, Kaul Auditorium at Reed College, $20–325
Chamber Music NW launched its ambitious summer festival last weekend, with in-person and virtual events, and a home base at Reed College's Kaul Auditorium. This Thursday and Friday (July 8 and 9), Sounds of Brilliance & Unity will feature clarinetist David Shifrin, followed by performances of works from Jeff Scott, Valerie Coleman, and Aaron Copland.
Polka Dot Downtown
Noon daily (plus additional times, see here) through August, Pioneer Courthouse Square, FREE
Portland artist Bill Will has unleashed a set of more than 100 colorful 12-foot vinyl dots throughout downtown, setting a wide variety of stages for local musicians and artists. The dots were created last summer, and designed to provide a safe entertainment space for Portlanders to enjoy local music during the pandemic.
Special Events
Rose Cup Races
7:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. Fri-Sun, July 9-11, Portland International Raceway, $5-45 (children under 16 and people with military ID get in free).
This weekend marks the 60th annual Rose Cup Races at Portland International Raceway. Spectators can come and watch the seven different racing groups, check out vintage cars, various displays and exhibits, and more. The Rose Cup Races were the first major event to ever be held at PIR in 1961, and have been vroooming ever since.
Pedalpalooza!
Calendar for each day’s events on website, June 1, to August 31, 2021, prices depend on events planned within rides.
Pedalpalooza is upon us, the beloved three-month biking festival that holds multiple events every single day. For this weekend specifically, start it off on the right wheels on Friday with a 6 p.m. Britney Spears bike ride (#FreeBritney). Don’t know how to ride a bike? They offer classes to learn how to ride, with loaner bikes and helmets available. How about this Saturday you learn to ride, and then show off your new found skills the next day at the Mimosa Brunch picnic ride?
Portland Drag Queen Brunch
11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., Sat. July 10, Night Light Lounge, $25
What to dine with some Drag Queens? Fancy a stellar lip synch with your eggs bennie? You're in luck. Nae Nae Dominatrix hosts a weekly drag brunch for people 21 and up (sorry, kids). Community style seating means you meet new people at this event, with doors open at 10 a.m., so show up early and ready to party.
Visual Art
Color Line: Black Excellence on the World Stage
10 a.m.–5 p.m. Wed–Sun through August 1, Portland Art Museum, $17–20
Two African American women, three-quarter length portrait, seated, facing each other (1899 or 1900), part of W. E. B. Du Bois’s albums of photographs exhibited at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1900, v. 1, no. 48. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
Image: Courtesy Portland Art Museum
This exhibit was originally put together as "The American Negro Exhibit" by sociologist, historian, and civil rights activist W.E.B. Dubois for the 1900 Paris Exposition. Dubois created this collection of photographs of African American men and women, and other institutions such as churches, to challenge the racist stereotypes and the existing “colorline,” which he deemed the 20th century’s worst problem.
Ansel Adams in Our Time
10 a.m.–5 p.m. Wed–Sun through August 1, Portland Art Museum, $17–20
Clearing Winter Storm by Ansel Adams
IMAGE: COURTESY PORTLAND ART MUSEUM
This exhibition (originally from the Museum of Fine Arts Boston) revitalizes the work of legendary landscape photographer Ansel Adams, successfully reminding us that his legacy spans far beyond postcards. Putting Adams’ photographs—particularly shots of the Bay Area and the Southwest—in conversation with contemporary images of the same landscapes, the show underlines his considerable influence on our collective understanding of the West. And crucially, it treats the contemporary work as more than just a foil, with enough variety per room to hold down several individual shows.
I Am My Story: Voices of Hope
Noon–5 p.m. Wed–Fri & Sun, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Sat, through August 22, Oregon Historical Society, FREE–$10
A photo of the shirt Olive Bukuru wore when she immigrated to Oregon, accompanied by handwritten recollections
IMAGE: JIM LOMMASSON
The latest collaboration between The Immigrant Story and Oregon Historical Society focuses on six women who’ve come to Oregon from Burundi, Congo, and Eritrea. Featuring their portraits, words, and photographs of the objects they brought with them from Africa to Oregon, the exhibition is an extension of Jim Lommasson’s What We Carried series.
Time Being
Noon–5 p.m. Fri–Sun, through August 8, Oregon Contemporary, FREE
This group show—the first to open at North Portland’s newly renamed Oregon Contemporary (formerly Disjecta)—features works by Lisa Jarret, Bean Gilsdorf, and several others that distort the figure to tease out questions about our physical relationship with time.
