Winter Adventures

Get ready to skate, snowshoe, ski, luge, skijor, ice fish, snow camp ... or just make a vat of hot cocoa! Plus: How to sleep well in the cold, hibernation staples, cannabis comforts, volunteering virtually, DIY hot tub, and more.

In this issue:

Arts & Culture

Was COVID Really the Most Devastating Blow to Portland’s Art Scene?

Some legacy players say it’s only the latest intensifier of decades of neglect.

12/14/2020 By Conner Reed

Feature

Middle-Grade Graphic Novels Are Storming the Best-Seller Lists

Portland creators are getting in on the boom.

12/13/2020 By Julia Silverman

Year in Review

The Best Oregon-Made Culture of 2020

From street art to stage sweat, these were the year’s most essential pieces.

12/05/2020 By Conner Reed and Fiona McCann

Music

Portland Monthly’s Essential Winter Playlist

Reimagined holiday classics, warm Americana, and rainy hip-hop by homegrown talent to keep you warm

12/03/2020 By Conner Reed

Comics

Meet Miles Morales, the New, Portland-Born Spider-Man

With help from Polygon comics editor Susan Polo, we untangle the web of Miles's complicated origin story.

11/19/2020 By Marty Patail

Eat & Drink

Recipe

Hot Cocoa Recipe Ideas from the Rambler, Xico, and Our Own Cupboard

Winter just isn't winter without that hot cup of cocoa.

11/27/2020 By Ainslee Dicken

Recipe

Biba CHamoru Kitchen’s Buñuelos Åga: A Guamanian Holiday Table Essential

These banana doughnuts were a staple at Ed Sablan’s family fiestas growing up on Guam.

11/24/2020 By Katherine Chew Hamilton

Food Listings

Taco Chronicles: PDX Edition

Where to find all the tacos from season two of Netflix’s mouthwatering docuseries

11/22/2020 By Katherine Chew Hamilton

Eat & Drink

Local Fermented and Frozen Foods to Help You Hibernate for the Winter

Warm up with a freezer full of dumplings, Hmong sausages, and horseradish vodka.

11/18/2020 By Katherine Chew Hamilton

Health & Wellness

Our Guide to Being OK in 2021

Does wellness seem like too high of a bar right now? Think of this as your guide to being OK.

01/01/2021 Edited by Katherine Chew Hamilton

Volunteer

Put Your Talents to Good Use at These Portland Organizations and Nonprofits

Using your skills to give back can make you feel good, too.

01/01/2021 By Fiona McCann

Health

I’d Never Done Yoga Before. Then Lockdown Hit.

Perfecting my down dog from the comfort of my own home

12/10/2020 By Conner Reed

Fitness

Keep Moving Even When Many Gyms Are Closed

Virtual classes from local meditation, dance, and fitness instructors.

12/09/2020 By Ainslee Dicken, Morgan Westling, and Riley Blake

Wellness

Here’s How to Find a BIPOC Therapist in Portland

Three local therapists on connecting with someone who gets it.

12/08/2020 By Katherine Chew Hamilton

Health

Clear Masks at OHSU Teach Babies How to Smile

Restrictions at the pandemic’s onset were affecting the way newborns and parents bonded—until Mollie Poor did something about it.

12/07/2020 By Fiona McCann

Coronavirus

An Oregon Scientist Breaks Down His Suddenly Hot Profession

As we move into a new year, how will epidemiology play a role in our understanding of the coronavirus and infectious diseases?

12/06/2020 By Marty Patail

Wellness

How Cannabis Helps Me Get Through 2020

The relationship between cannabis and mental health is complicated, but it’s helped me survive this year in ways it never has before.

12/06/2020 By Jenni Moore

Health

Actual Good News! Norovirus Outbreaks Are Way Down in 2020

Sorry COVID made you postpone your wedding, but here’s one more disease you won’t be getting. (Maybe.)

12/03/2020 By Margaret Seiler

Coronavirus

This Medford Clinic Is Developing a Coronavirus Vaccine, and You Wouldn’t Even Know It

The Clinical Research Institute of Southern Oregon has quietly conducted more than 700 clinical research trials. Now, it’s working on a coronavirus vaccine.

11/19/2020 By Gabriel Granillo and Riley Blake

Coronavirus

This Portland-Based Company Is Helping Non-English Speakers Get Medical Care They Need

With the coronavirus’s disproportionate effect on the Latinx community and communities of color, language access and medical interpretation are more important than ever.

08/03/2020 By Gabriel Granillo

Home & Real Estate

Organizing

Feeling Overwhelmed? Take Some Time to Organize, and Reap the Sweet Serotonin Boost

You can’t single-handedly heal the world of its many ills. But you can create order at home and clear your own head in the process.

12/30/2020 By Julia Silverman

Design

A Stunning, Storybook Open Entryway Brightens This West Hills Midcentury Home

“I like to think of it as a narrative entry,” Stewart Horner says.

12/15/2020 By Marty Patail

Home Projects

Should You DIY a Galvanized Steel Hot Tub in Your Backyard?

It might depend on your—and your partner’s—patience levels.

11/24/2020 By Julia Silverman

Design

How Retired MAX Cars Could Help Portland’s Most Underserved Communities

A revolutionary concept dubbed "The Afro-Village Movement" aims to reconstruct the models to offer food, hygiene, and therapy for those experiencing homelessness.

11/23/2020 By Sam Pape

Design

These 6 Northwest Schools Are Inspiring Post-Pandemic Design

From high-tech ventilation systems to “flex spaces” for students to work while social distancing to sweeping outdoor classrooms, here are a few spookily prescient ways ways local schools have anticipated the pandemic.

11/20/2020 By Julia Silverman

News & City Life

Editor's Note

From the Editor: Some Like It Hot

Enjoying winter … while we can.

12/22/2020 By Marty Patail

Long Story Short

From Army Captain to CEO and City Council: Beach Pace Talks About Her Path Into Community Work

The former Army captain and current Hillsboro City Council member shares what it's like being an elected official, running nonprofits, and leading during a pandemic.

12/22/2020 Edited by Christen McCurdy

Dispatch

Who Speaks for the Black Lives Matter Movement in Portland? It’s Complicated.

Portland’s Black community is relatively small—and yet, it certainly does not speak with a single voice.

12/19/2020 By Jagger Blaec

True Crime

The Zodiac Crimes and ‘Zynchronicity’

In the codes and on the calendar, here is just some of the Zynchronicity around Richard Gaikowski, a suspect in the Zodiac killings.

12/16/2020 By Jordan Michelman

Feature

What If You Solved the Zodiac Killer Mystery and No One Believed You?

Tom Voigt thinks he knows who was behind the crime of the century.

12/16/2020 By Jordan Michelman

Design

How Oregon Is Fighting Wildfires with Technology

From night vision cameras to satellites to the humble iPhone, a look behind the scenes

12/14/2020 By Marty Patail

News

Amid an Uncertain Year, a New Vanguard Emerges in Portland Journalism

A look at the independent journalists who have live-streamed the revolution.

12/06/2020 By Fiona McCann

Light a Fire

This Nonprofit Helps Those Experiencing Houselessness Build Skills with Art

“I feel that the more that we can express and share our creativity, the healthier we’re going to be as a planet.”

12/02/2020 By Gabriel Granillo

Light a Fire

The Miller Foundation’s Martha Richards Doesn’t Have All the Answers

And that’s a good thing.

12/02/2020 By Margaret Seiler

Light a Fire

At Portland Audubon, There’s Wildlife Rescue, Nature Education, and Environmental Advocacy for All

At our “Caring for the Planet” award winner, it’s always baby bird season.

12/02/2020 By Julia Silverman

Light a Fire

This 50-Year-Old Housing Org Offers Hope to Portland’s Most Vulnerable Residents

Transition Projects combats homelessness with deeply affordable housing units built for long-term societal change.

12/02/2020 By Morgan Westling

Light a Fire

Basic Rights Oregon Has Advocated for LGBTQ Oregonians for a Quarter Century

Queer and trans Oregonians owe the nonprofit some significant policy victories.

12/02/2020 By Conner Reed

Light a Fire

Growing Gardens Grows More Than Just Plants

How one nonprofit has become a beacon of hope, health, and self-sufficiency.

12/02/2020 By Riley Blake

Light a Fire

Four Decades of Protest: Self Enhancement Inc Keeps Showing Up

The North Portland nonprofit works with schools, families, and partner organizations to provide support for students and their families, in academia and beyond.

12/02/2020 By Fiona McCann

Light a Fire

When COVID-19 Put Oregon’s Families in Deep Need, This Venture Nonprofit Changed Overnight to Help

Within days of COVID-19’s official arrival in Oregon in late winter, the Contingent sensed an urgent need for help among its foster families.

12/02/2020 By Marty Patail

Light a Fire

Margaret-Ann Jones at 71 Is Still Giving her Time and Opening Doors for Portlanders

“This is what feeds me. It lifts my spirits healing others,” she says. “One of my philosophies is the more you give away or the more you do, the more comes back to you.”

12/02/2020 By Ainslee Dicken

Light a Fire

The Black Resilience Fund Brings Immediate Financial Relief to Black Portlanders—and Strives for a More Equitable Future

The fund has grown from a GoFundMe with a goal of $5,000 to a nonprofit that’s raised nearly $1.7 million for Black Portlanders.

12/02/2020 By Katherine Chew Hamilton

Light a Fire

Brennan Wood Approaches Grief with Lived Experience, Compassion, and a Dedicated Staff

“This process of grieving the death of somebody is natural and normal and healthy, and it doesn’t have to be something you try to keep separate from who you are.”

12/02/2020 By Gabriel Granillo

Light a Fire

At Camp Ukandu, Jordan Herrle Restores Hope—and Childhood—for Kids Battling Cancer

The youngest member of the camp’s leadership team advocates year-round for kids with cancer.

12/02/2020 By Katherine Chew Hamilton

Light a Fire

This Portland-Based Organization Is Helping Kids Get the Healthy Meals They Need

Since 2017, Our Giving Table has been cooking and delivering nutritious, mom-made meals for food-insecure kids.

12/02/2020 By Karen Brooks

Design

Dot Gay Is Here to Queer This (Cyber)Space

The new top-level domain launched in September, courtesy of Portland company Top Level Design.

11/25/2020 By Conner Reed

CIVIC LIFE

Multnomah County's Vaunted Library System Is Redefining Itself for the Pandemic Era

The changes have not come without pushback.

10/28/2020 By Fiona McCann

Essay

Watching My Home State Burn

For those of us who love Oregon, this is a time of grief.

09/15/2020 By Eden Dawn

Style & Shopping

Feature

How a Washougal Man, Known as 'The Blind Woodsman,' Became a TikTok Star

John Furniss uses his spatial memory and a special measuring tool to create beautiful, one-of-a-kind bowls and canisters for his adoring social media fans.

12/26/2020 By Eden Dawn

Home Goods

These Patterned Local Linens Make Organic Home Goods Fun

“We’re all stuck inside. We’re all doing homeschool,” Kula Mercer says. “But you lay out a beautiful tablecloth and some fresh flowers and suddenly [home] feels like a really special space.”

12/15/2020 By Elise Herron