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For a mid-size city with a bite-size art market, Portland maintains a consistently high ratio of cool and exciting art per capita. How do we manage to stay so awesome? The secret is artists! The leaders of our scene are the folks who make the art, and they’re all in cahoots with one another—artist-run galleries, studio collectives, residencies, and community engagement are just a few of the ways Portland artists show up for each other and our city, using their powers of creativity to offer visions of solidarity, survival, and of course, beauty. We’ve collected some spring highlights from this lively scene so you can join the party too.
Lunchtime Gets Creative in This Apartment Gallery
Hide and Seek gallery is aptly named, considering its low-profile location in a North Portland warehouse-loft apartment. The space may be relatively new on the scene, having opened just over a year ago, but it’s already made its mark with four terrific shows and a signature Friday lunch series that invites the public to snack with featured artists in a cozy and casual atmosphere every week. Recent shows have highlighted artists working in community with one another, such as the SE Portland painting crew from January’s group show Enjoy and Get It On, and a trio of sculptors—Molly Bernstein, Libby Rosa, and Portland-based Nick Norman—whose work is on view through March 30 in a sweet show titled Leave the Porch Light. (Hide and Seek Gallery, 2638 N Interstate, Unit B, through March 30, hideandseekgallery.com)
Playful Visions of Strength and Survival
If you’re willing to venture forth into Portland’s suburbs in search of art, you will be rewarded with a stellar lineup of works in painting, textiles, and sculpture at Artspace, a nonprofit gallery operated by the Arts Council of Lake Oswego. The current exhibition, titled Her Formation, features nine artists (all of whom identify as women) whose work ranges from subtle representation to pure abstraction, sometimes incorporating evocative materials like hand-me-down bandanas, delicate mulberry paper, and weathered nautical rope. Described by curator Morgan Ritter as “visions of survival and even imaginative possibility in times of upheaval,” this show promises a dose of energizing beauty to balance the encroaching darkness. (Artspace, Arts Council of Lake Oswego, 380 A Avenue Ste A, Lake Oswego, through Fri April 11, artscouncillo.org)
A Tiny Haven for Experimental Art
Who doesn’t love a gallery that takes you on an adventure before you even arrive! PPSTMM (pronounced “pastime”) is a scrappy space tucked into an unassuming mixed-used building just off NE MLK, run by longtime Portland artist and arts champion Mack McFarland. You have to buzz the street-level call box in order to gain access to this low-profile spot, but once you’re in, PPSTMM feels like an avant-garde clubhouse—equal parts laid back fun and brainy experimentalism. Portland artist Jodie Cavalier's upcoming show at PPSTMM, titled Strange Overtones, epitomizes this balance, with delicately minimalist mobile sculptures made from unexpected mundane materials. (PPSTMM, 323 NE Wygant, #203, through Sat April 20, check Instagram @ppstmm_203 for open hours and appointments)
Powerful Words at PICA
Local performing arts mecca Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA) has a track record of presenting politically timely activist art in its airy warehouse space, and Patricia Vasquez-Gomez’s upcoming exhibition is no exception. Opening in a moment when the safety and civil rights of immigrants in the US is especially precarious, ja’ / buuts’ / t’aan (Water / Smoke / Word) spotlights the importance of language itself in the survival of indigenous Mayan migrants. This immersive video and sound installation is meant to be viewed start to end, for a full 45 minutes of multimedia contemplation on the connections between familial, societal, and linguistic structures. (PICA Annex, 15 NE Hancock, Thurs March 13 – Sat May 31, timed entry at the start of every hour, reception on Sat March 22 noon-4 pm, more info at pica.org)
Outer Voice’s Creative Alliance
Although its location in North Portland’s cute Kenton neighborhood is far from “official” arts districts, nonprofit art space Oregon Contemporary (nicknamed Ox) has no trouble attracting audiences, thanks in part to the fact that the gallery plays host to multiple artist-run exhibition and project spaces all under one roof. A recent addition is Outer Voice PDX, a self-styled alliance of artists working in time-based media (AKA video, sound, performance, and the like). Outer Voice assembles a new crew of creatives each year, culminating in a final presentation that showcases the fruits of their collaborations. See what the 2024-25 artists have been up to in their exhibition, co-curated by members of the alliance and powerhouse art director Libby Werbel, which will be presented as part of the brand new film festival Portland Panorama. (Oregon Contemporary, 8371 N Interstate, Fri March 28-Sun April 27, reception Sat April 5, 5-8 pm, outervoicepdx.com)
Youth Art and Experimental Installations at the Mall
By now, word has gotten around about the miraculous second act of the Lloyd Center mall, once presumed dead and now a hotbed of DIY arts activity. One of the key players in the new art-ified mall scene is Pearl District gallery ILY2, which runs a youth arts program called I♠Youth2 and an emerging artist residency dubbed ILY2Too out of two storefronts on the mall’s ground floor [full disclosure, this author was an artist in residence at ILY2Too from Nov 2024-Jan 2025. -eds]. Swing by to peruse current resident Eleanor Randl’s exhibition space / nail art studio / ASMR experience through the end of April. And although only kids can take art classes at I♠Youth2, adults can show their support for young artists by shopping at the upcoming Youth Arts Market on May 17, 11 am-4 pm, which will feature handmade items from kids ages 6-17. (I♠Youth2 is on the first floor next to Hot Topic and ILY2Too is on the first floor near the old Marshall’s at Lloyd Center Mall, 2201 Lloyd Center, ily2online.com, more events and hours @ily2.too and
@ilyouth2 on Instagram)
Small-Scale Art from Across the Pacific
Since opening in a small space on Burnside over a decade ago, Adams and Ollman has kept up a brisk pace, presenting excellent exhibitions, one after the other, like it’s no big deal. The secret may have something to do with the way director Amy Adams lets each artist transform the gallery to fit their creative voice. After a captivating show of tiny sculptures last winter that prompted viewers to crouch down to child-height, Japanese artist Kenji Ide returns to Portland this spring to curate a group show by Noriko Kawana, Hikari Ono, and Nao Kikuchi, dubbed On a Very Quiet Morning. Like Ide, all three share a sensitivity to materials and texture, creating small works that are subtle and elegant, but never seem to take themselves too seriously. (Adams and Ollman, 418 NW 8th, May 17–June 14, adamsandollman.com)
