After the financial impact of COVID-19 closed the Lan Su Chinese Garden’s greenhouse and laid off most of its horticulture staff, Justin Blackwell’s first reaction was panic. “My first…
Portland Art Museum works toward equity by amplifying Black voices
Five years ago, the Portland Art Museum (PAM) decided that it was its responsibility to do something about the ongoing silencing and oppression of Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC)…
A selection of books from local authors at the Portland Book Festival. Analisa Landeros/PSU Vanguard
Read across Rose City at the Portland Book Festival
The annual Portland Book Festival settled back into the comfort of Portland—and the Portland Art Museum—just in time for its Nov. 8–13 gathering. This year’s itinerary was loaded with the…
Spencer is an ethereal deconstruction of the biopic
After his Jacqueline Kennedy biopic Jackie debuted to thunderous critical applause in 2016, it was inevitable that Pablo Larraín would eventually pursue a follow-up project. The Chilean director is no…
Publisher Kevin Sampsell reflects on 30 years in Portland
The version of Portland, Oregon that Kevin Sampsell came to in 1992 was a lot smaller than the city we know today. “It was a pretty small town in…
Exploring the surreal and strange Haus of Luna
After her tenants left in April 2020 during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sol Cejas’ rental property in Vancouver, Washington, sat empty. It wouldn’t stay that way…
Entering the hellscape of Mario Party Superstars
Charting from the ancient days of penny arcade cabinets to the modern era, decades of game designers have carefully deliberated and pined over the concept of punishment in video games….
The national hard seltzer market is booming
When Adam Milne released his debut batch of craft hard seltzer, he didn’t completely know what to expect. The Portland-based brewer and owner of Old Town Brewing had been working…
The Beauty of the Ordinary
At first glance, the French lithograph print was deceptively simple: a pink-on-pink room with a massive chandelier dominating the foreground, framed by a wall of floral wallpaper behind it. The…
5th Avenue Cinema presents the return of Twilight
Unless you were asleep for the better part of the early 2000’s, you probably remember the Twilight series. Maybe you remember it as the sole topic to occupy the high…
Portland’s local artists roll into the Portland Art Museum
The first thing to strike a casual viewer looking at the works slated for exhibition at the Portland Art Museum Rental Sales Gallery’s Fall Show is the variety: hundreds of…