Though you can’t officially see the pneumatic tube connecting Portland to New York City, it’s there. And a group of Portland artists want to take that connection a step further. Here Now is a concentrated effort to take four creatives from our local scene and establish a three week extravaganza celebrating craftsmanship, art-making, fashion, collaboration, and the creative process with a pop up shop and event space in NYC.

Two members of the group, Nathan Reimer and Alexa Stark, are already well known and appreciated in the Alberta Arts community for their respective spaces. The Make House, founded by Reimer in early 2011, is a craftsman work space connected to a retail shop that showcases the work of its resident artists and builders. Down the road is Alexa Stark’s self-named retail/ sewing house. Founded in 2012, AlexaStark features the work of nationally recognized designers, artists, musicians and filmmakers, and hosts events and concerts several times a month.

They, along with friends Galen Koch and Kendyll Gage-Ripa are the crew that will actually transfer the pieces of Pdx and establish the temporary shop showcasing Portland talent to the big city. That is, if they can make it to their Kickstarter goal in the next two days. A worthy endeavor, and one that can support multiple people in the community, not just a single artist, it deserves three minutes of your time to watch the introduction video. 

UPDATE: Here Now just hit their Kickstarter goal (you should still watch the video though to know what it's all about). With the community supporting their $23,000 mission, New Yorkers can ostensibly expect a Pdx onslaught in the spring.