Although it’s an event concocted to be an introduction to The Portland Outsider, a new local quarterly “for the bike commuter who raises chickens, the bird watcher who cans tomatoes, the gardener who’s training for a 5k,” tomorrow’s Made in Portland Awards, scheduled to be an annual thing, have me intrigued. Frankly I think anything that drums up enthusiasm and curiosity for locally produced products is worth checking out, especially when it does so across sectors (food, bikes, housewares, etc). Organizers claim that almost 300 artisans entered the contest, judged by “a panel of judges with expertise in each of our five categories: food, drink, style and design, home, and outdoors” (they’ve cleverly hid the identities of the judges in the pages of their hard copy I see what you did there).
Other than being at least mildly pressured to buy a magazine subscription, attendees will be able to peep the winners and their wares (which, presumably are also for sale), drink local beer, hear local music, etc. Which, yes, kind of sounds like every other Friday night in this city, sales opportunities included. However the fact that it is taking place in the home of ADX/Portland Made suggests the potential is higher than normal to find someone making something you didn’t know anyone made stateside, much less in Portland. (Check out the Features section of the Portland Made site for an idea of the array of areas being represented in a movement to build a collective brand around Portland manufacturing.) It’s free and open to the public, so if you’d like to check it out, head to ADX tomorrow from 6-9 pm.
- Portland Made
- Pigeon Toe Ceramics is one of the few winners who’ve been name dropped.