seeing things

To Nutcracker or NOT-Cracker?

Two takes on the classic ballet, and other events in town.

12/04/2025 By Matthew Trueherz

at the gallery

At 50, Blue Sky Gallery Still Believes in Photography

Portland’s international photo gallery has been one of the art form’s biggest players since day one.

12/04/2025 By Matthew Trueherz

Arts Preview

6 Art Gallery and Museum Shows to See in Portland This Summer

An archival feminist exhibit, Eugene’s “lesbian mecca,” 50 years of trans photography, and more.

05/13/2025 By Matthew Trueherz

year in review

Portland Artists and Curators on their Favorite Shows from 2024

The art world moves fast. These are the shows that left their mark in the past year.

12/23/2024 By Matthew Trueherz

Visual Art

The Coolest Gallery Shows in Portland Right Now

Food by way of Warhol and Hockney, a dizzying look at German history, autumnal brushes with the occult, and more

09/27/2022 By Conner Reed

The Essentials

13 Things to See and Do in Portland: February 2020

Guitar-strumming drag queens, explosive volcano art, and festivals galore.

01/21/2020 By Conner Reed

The Essentials

13 Things to See and Do in Portland: January 2019

Radical Canadian dancers, a London R&B queen, Andy Borowitz, and a quadrumvirate of Portland poets are on the calendar this month.

12/21/2018 By Rebecca Jacobson and Fiona McCann

VISUAL ART

Don't Fear the Art: A New 'Passport' Beckons First-Timers to Portland Galleries

No, you don't have to be rich. Or an expert. Go ahead. Step inside.

03/16/2017 By Lauren Kershner

ART

Sage Sohier's Portraits of 1980s Same-Sex Couples At Blue Sky Gallery Catch the Eye of the 'New York Times'

Sage Sohier's series, on display at Blue Sky Gallery, takes us into the homes of same-sex couples during the most defining decades of the gay rights movement. Thru Nov 2

10/21/2014 By Matthew Schonfeld

CULTUREPHILE

How Blue Sky Gallery Became a Northwest Photography Mecca

39 years of luck, pluck, and Tuesday meetings turned Blue Sky into one of the nation’s leading exhibitors of photography. Catch highlights of its history at the Portland Art Museum, Oct 18-Jan 11.

09/26/2014 By Randy Gragg

EDITOR'S PICKS

Top Things to Do This Weekend: July 3–6

The Waterfront Blues Fest kicks off a Summer of Soul, Lauryn Hill never grows old, First Thursday brings the sun, and comedy's prodigal son Ian Karmel returns.

07/02/2014 Edited by Aaron Scott By Portland Monthly Staff and Schuyler Keenan

WEEKEND PICKS

Top Things To Do This Weekend: Apr 24-27

Don't miss OBT dancer Alison Roper's gorgeous final performance, the Red Dress Party, legendary SNL comic Norm MacDonald, or tickets to Broken Bells, the Head and the Heart, and the Oregon Zoo Concerts.

04/24/2014 By Portland Monthly Staff and Danielle Klenak

WEEKEND PICKS

Top Things to Do this Weekend: Jan 2–5

Not worn out from the holidays? Then catch the last week of the art museum's Samurai and Contemporary NW Art exhibitions and the first week of two new film festivals.

12/30/2013 By Aaron Scott

WEEKEND PICKS

Top Things To Do This Weekend: Dec 5-8

Holiday shows continue to launch, First Thursday ignores the chill, and three veteran bands show rock isn't just for the kids.

12/05/2013 By Portland Monthly Staff Edited by Nathan Tucker

WEEKEND PICKS

Top Things to Do This Weekend: Oct 3–6

First Thursday, Wordstock, Samurai's at the art museum, Steve Martin, and the Pet Shop Boys makes the weekend too much to handle.

10/03/2013 Edited by Aaron Scott and Nathan Tucker By Portland Monthly Staff

Slideshow

Slide Show: Fall Arts Guide 2013

08/20/2013

WEEKEND PICKS

Top Things to Do This Weekend: Aug 8–11

Hit the bridges on your bike, feast on Oregon's finest, meet a Malaysian superstar, and collide with something beautiful this weekend.

08/07/2013 Edited by Aaron Scott By Portland Monthly Staff

VISUAL ARTS

March First Thursday Picks

Magic realism at Blue Sky; psychedelic precision at Leach; haunting, empty frames at Froelick; and all-you-can-eat pancakes tempt you to hit the galleries. Oh, and the sun.

03/07/2013 By Aaron Scott

VISUAL ART

February First Thursday Picks

Carrie Mae Weems comes home to PAM, motorcycles roar at Hartman, and a mysterious photographer-nanny captures the soul of Chicago.

01/31/2013 By Aaron Scott

VISUAL ARTS

January First Thursday Picks

Father/son super duo Robert and Christopher Rauschenberg at Leach, Hillerbrand+Magsamen make their mundane home life mythological at Blue Sky, and a gaggle of local stars unveil prints at PDX Contemporary.

01/02/2013 By Aaron Scott and Jonathan Frochtzwajg