Dealer's Choice
After this show's over, Mark Woolley is hanging the "closed" sign on the door of his Pearl District gallery for the last time and moving shop fulltime to his Wonder Ballroom location. To celebrate the end of an era, he's going out with Dealer's Choice, a huge show of work that Woolley has either shown in the past, collected at one point, or never had a chance to show until now. If you buy something, you can take it home that day, so the show will be changing up all month long. Good luck, Mark, and catch you next time in Northeast. Mark Woolley Gallery, 120 NW 9th Suite 210, 224-5475, Opens Thurs Dec 7, 6-10 pm, continues through Dec 30
Pictures of Women
Along with new work from the fantastic Chris Verene, Quality Pictures kicks off their inaugural pair of exhibitions with this group show of photographs of women. Artists include contemporary heavyweights like Nikki S. Lee, Katy Grannan, Larry Sultan, and Cindy Sherman. Quality Pictures, 916 NW Hoyt, 227-5060, Opens Thurs Dec 7, 6 pm, continues through Jan 27
Salton Sea
Stephen Tamiese, who was inspired by the "simple and fatigued landscapes" of photographers such as Lewis Baltz and Robert Adams, stumbled into a great subject for his series Salton Sea. Once a vibrant vacation spot in Southern California, the sea has been virtually abandoned and left in disarray, yet a few continue to call it home. Pushdot Studio, 830 NW 14th, 224-5925, opens Thurs Dec 7, 6-9 pm; through Dec 31
Lucas debuts her new series of Portland artist portraits: whimsical, staged photographs of locals such as M.K. Guth, Storm Tharp, Chandra Bocci, and Bruce Conkle. The few we've seen look fun and well-crafted, so here's betting this show's going to be a popular favorite. Mark Woolley at the Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell, 284-3636, through Dec 29
Prints for PICA
Hey, look what it is—Prints for PICA, the single best art sale in the city. More than 100 of Portland's best artists (OK, let's be honest. There are a few shitty ones. But a lot of the best, too!) set up shop and create prints all day long, which you can buy for a mere $100-250. And since we're talking about artists like Sean Healy, Kristan Kennedy, Storm Tharp, and Christine Bourdette, we're talking major steals. Hit pica.org for the full lineup, or head to Studio 333 Saturday night and start shopping. Studio 333, 333 NE Hancock, Sat Dec 9, 5-9 pm
Stephen Slappe
Video artist Stephen Slappe's multichannel video installation,Chain Reaction, combines sci-fi reference points with pop culture archetypes to "capture the anxiety induced by the invention of oppositional spectacles." What this last part means, we have no idea. Tilt, 625 NW Everett Suite 106, 908-616-5477, Opens Thurs Dec 7, 6-9 pm, continues through Dec 29
Volunteer Group Show
Volunteers—they make the world go round, don't they? They certainly make Newspace's rental darkrooms, studio space, and galleries go round. Now they step from behind the scenes and introduce themselves in this group photo show. Thanks for your thankless work, dudes and dudettes. Newspace, 1632 SE 10th, 963-1935, through Dec 31
