Top Things to Do in Portland This Week: June 2–6
Jenny Don't and the Spurs
Image: Michael Picking
Events are back, baby! This week brings major “nature is healing” vibes, with the first rumblings of Pride and a (sadly sold out) two-date Dandy Warhols engagement down at Zidell Yards. Plenty else to sink your teeth into, too. Have at it.
Music
Jenny Don't and the Spurs
7:30 pm. Thurs, June 3, The Lot at Zidell Yards, $35–50 per person (tickets sold in pods of 2, 4, or 6)
This Portland band sits somewhere between Patsy Cline and David Lynch with its reverb-drenched country goodness, and they'll hit the newly christened king of Portland event spaces, Zidell Yards, for a Thursday night show. Doors open at 6, and tickets are sold in pods, so round up a friend or five and soak up some sun before the cloudy weekend hits.
Polka Dot Downtown
12 p.m. 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. Upcoming performers at Pioneer Courthouse Square include jazz pianist Stephanie Cooke, rock/funk/blues hybrid the Colin Trio, Americana performers the JT Wise Duo, jazz vocalist LaRhonda Steele, pop singer JoAnna Lee, acoustic blues guitarist Ben Rice, R&B vocalist Jermaine, funk instrumentalists Machado Mijiga, and the indie-pop duo Fox and Bones.
Special Events
Come Thru Market
12–4 p.m. Monday, June 7, The Redd on Salmon, FREE
This Black and Indigenous incubator market sets up shop every first and third Monday at Inner Southeast’s Redd on Salmon building, offering visitors an array of produce and handmade goods. Recently, the org also a launched a farmer training program for farmers of color with basic experience who aren't currently enrolled in training; check out the details here.
Double Dipped Brunch
Sundays through June 27, Local Lounge, $10 plus food
Who doesn’t love a little entertainment with brunch? To that end, MLK queer bar Local Lounge presents Double Dipped, a weekly brunch drag show. Previous Double Dipped performers include the former amateur winner of Local Lounge’s Lavish Pucker Pageant Anne J. Tifah and renowned local drag performer, Blondie. The Local invites anyone and everyone to sit down and enjoy a mimosa or two while local drag performers do their thing.
Vanport Mosaic Festival
Thurs May 26–Weds June 30, Various locations & prices
The Vanport Mosaic Festival, a mix of in-person and virtual events this year around the theme "We the People," launched last week and runs through the end of June. Highlights from this weekend include a reading of Martha Bakes, a play that premiered as a part of this year’s Fertile Ground festival, and a walking tour of Albina led by Portland Black Panther co-founder Kent Ford.
Visual Art
Ansel Adams in Our Time
10 a.m.–5 p.m Weds–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
12–5 p.m. Weds–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 Lomasson’s What We Carried series.
