Editor's note: Due to the government shutdown, the previously scheduled program at City Club’s Friday Forum has changed (Now: A Conversation with Global Branding Strategist Chris Riley, details here) and Friday’s 5 p.m. Bright Lights conversation with Jason Schupbach is canceled.

Two must-see Design Week Portland events to add to your October calendar: a double-barrelled blast from Bright Lights, our discussion series spearheaded by editor-at-large Randy Gragg. Sit in on a full day and night of discussions with Jason Schupbach, director of design for the National Endowment for the Arts. The details:

I. City Club of Portland Friday Forum: How Artists and Designers Are Growing Economies, Cultures, and Equity in American Cities Quickly and Cheaply.

When: Noon, Friday, October 11
Where: The Governor Hotel (614 SW 11th Ave.)
How Much: $23 for members and $30 for nonmembers (includes lunch). General seating: $5 members; $15 nonmembers.

Schupbach will speak on the innovative ways in which artists and designers are engaging with their communities, from choreographer Liz Lerman's engaging of 1,000 people from 15 cities to create "Halleluja," a dance about "what are we in praise of" to Maya Lin designing a response to Lewis & Clark's epic journey with Native American tribes in Dufur, OR. He will outline the shifts in federal arts policies over the last four years to support this work, and offer a look at how, in his last job with the state Massachussetts, he engaged designers in economic development.

II. Bright Lights: Discussions on the Future of the City—A Conversation with Jason Schupbach, director of design, National Endowment for the Arts: How are designers and artists innovating as change agents around the U.S.? How is the NEA fostering that innovation? What are the possibilities for Portland? 

When: 5 pm, Friday, Oct 11
Where: PICA (415 SW 10th Ave.)
How much: Free

Jason Schupbach has a resume built to inspire and new connections between design, entrepreneurism, creativity, and social change. Since becoming Director of Design in May 2010, he has managed the NEA's grant making for design and the NEA's design initiatives, including the Our Town creative place making grants, the Design Art Works grants, the Mayor's Institute on City Design, and the Citizens' Institute on Rural Design. Prior to coming to the NEA, Mr. Schupbach held the first-in-the-nation position of Creative Economy Industry Director for the Massachusetts Office of Business Development where his accomplishments included coordinating the growth of new industry cluster groups, such as the Design Industry Group of Massachusetts (DIGMA), and launching a Design Excellence initiative, an effort to improve procurement processes in Massachusetts.