Arts & Culture

Best of 2023

The Top 4 Portland Arts Moments of 2023 (You Can Still See Two!)

This year, we just wanted to feel something. Here are the Portland experiences that stuck with us.

12/27/2023 By Matthew Trueherz and Rebecca Jacobson

Unionized

8th Time’s the Charm: Powell’s and Employees Agree to a Contract

Following a strike and more than 10 months of bargaining, employees at Powell’s Books have voted to ratify to the eighth contract on offer.

12/20/2023 By Matthew Trueherz

Sticker Shock!

The Most Expensive Book You Can Buy in Portland

Print isn’t dead, but books are certainly worth more if the author is.

12/14/2023 By Matthew Trueherz

Director’s Chair

Is HBO's New Tree Documentary about Trees? Portland Filmmaker Says Not Exactly.

Irene Taylor’s new film Trees and Other Entanglements weaves wooded PNW tales, from bonsai art to lumber fortunes.

12/08/2023 By Matthew Trueherz

In the Galleries

In Defense of Holiday Group Shows, and 4 You Shouldn't Miss This Season

Group shows get a bad rap. At these four Portland galleries, the end of the year brings a host of talent onto the walls, side by side.

11/29/2023 By Matthew Trueherz

Fashion Museum

Thrilling Africa Fashion at PAM Models Styles Past and Present, and a Very Queer Future

In the gorgeous, traveling exhibit on at the Portland Art Museum, clothes both reflect and drive culture.

11/22/2023 By Matthew Trueherz

Q&A

Director Todd Haynes Just Wants to Go to the Willamette

The Portlander talks about moving to town two decades ago and his 10th feature film, May December.

11/15/2023 By Matthew Trueherz

Book Business

Wanna Work at Powell’s Books? The Competition Is Steep.

5 booksellers who redefine “relevant prior experience.”

11/08/2023 By Matthew Trueherz Illustrations by Matty Newton

AAPI Pride

Night Market Could Be Portland’s Biggest Ever Asian American Event

The collaboration between Portland Night Market and Asian American Town takes place November 3 and 4.

10/26/2023 By Katherine Chew Hamilton

Homegrown Lit

Required Reading for the 2023 Portland Book Festival

Your syllabus includes six Portland-written books, covering fermentation to poetry, wolves to tigers, geopolitics to a shut-in retired librarian.

10/26/2023 By Matthew Trueherz

Private Collection

A Halloween Art Show Opens in an Unlikely Place

A Shriek of Color draws inspiration from Edvard Munch and opens in the lobby of a luxury retirement residence.

10/19/2023 By Matthew Trueherz

No Boys Allowed

Black Girls Brunch Club Creates a Safe Space for Connection

"There’s not many places where Black women can show up 100 percent ourselves."

10/19/2023 By Dalila Brent

New Word Order

3 Newish Portland Bookstores to Know About

Because one city can never have too many bookshops, we say.

10/17/2023 By Dalila Brent

Unrated

In a Former Porn Cinema, PAM CUT’s Tomorrow Theater Will Screen Everything But

Like live programming from the Talking Heads’ David Byrne, for starters.

10/11/2023 By Matthew Trueherz

Bar Week 2023

6 Very Different Karaoke Experiences around Portland

You can book a private room, share the stage with a stripper or a live band, bask in the glow of a tiki bar, and more.

10/11/2023 By Katherine Chew Hamilton and Margaret Seiler

Q&A

PhD in Pop? No-No Boy Weaves Asian American Tales on Postdoc Album

Singer-songwriter Julian Saporiti started No-No Boy as part of his dissertation at Brown University.

09/29/2023 By Matthew Trueherz Illustrations by Max-O-Matic

Culture

Want to Support the Arts? 7 Steps to Becoming an Arts Benefactor (Yes, You)

Prolific arts donor Ronni Lacroute tells us how to become a rookie arts benefactor.

09/25/2023 By Arianne Cohen Illustrations by Lars Leetaru

Cookbook

Kombucha Recipe from the New Fermenter Cookbook

A DIY guide to fermentation for all levels, from burgers and bowls to tempeh and miso, by chef Aaron Adams and food writer Liz Crain. Plus, try your hand at making botanical kombucha.

09/21/2023 By Katherine Chew Hamilton

Sway

New Photo Book Excerpts: NBA Fashion Decoded, Blazers and All

Portland-born Mitchell S. Jackson leads a swashbuckling tour of NBA fashion.

09/18/2023 By Matthew Trueherz

Arts

Arts Insiders Share Their Culture Picks for Fall 2023

No need to guess. We cribbed the must-see arts and music plans of Portlanders in the know.

09/07/2023 Illustrations by Lars Leetaru By Arianne Cohen

Portland Monthly