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One of Portland’s pioneering Pearl District art galleries will be celebrating a very special First Thursday this week. Blackfish Gallery is marking its 45th anniversary with a party inside and outside its Northwest Everett Street space.
“We’re going to go big or go home because this is a huge deal and these artists are amazing,” says Kendra Roberts, Blackfish’s director of public engagement.
Blackfish has been artist owned and operated since its founding in 1979, and always located in the Pearl. It is the longest-running arts cooperative west of the Mississippi River. Mayor Ted Wheeler is proclaiming May 2 as Blackfish Gallery Day in honor of the anniversary and the gallery’s commitment to the city’s arts scene. Commissioner Dan Ryan is scheduled to speak at the Blackfish event.
The main gallery will feature shows by two of Blackfish’s founding members: Sun, Stars and Cosmic Tree by Kanetaka Ikeda and Instances of Art by Stephan Soihl. Those exhibitions will be on view through June 1, with an artists’ talk on May 18.
Outside, the gallery will commandeer its parking lot and host performances, installations, art demonstrations and Matt the Traveling Typist, who writes custom poems on demand.
Roberts attributes Blackfish’s longevity to the founders’ flexibility, resilience and creativity.
“These artists have been making up their own rules for 45 years and are able to pivot on a dime,” she says.
Blackfish Gallery 45th Anniversary Party and First Thursday Reception, 938 NW Everett St., 503-224-2634, blackfish.com. 5-8 pm Thursday, May 2. Free.
A sampling of other First Thursday events:
The BLACK Gallery: The Emancipation of Isaka Shamsud-Din on view through July 5. Unique, never-before-seen works by the multidisciplinary artist who taught at Portland State University. 916 NW Flanders St., theblackgallerypdx.com. First look 5-7 pm Thursday, May 2. Free.
Pacific Northwest College of Art’s Hallie Ford School of Graduate Studies 2024 MFA Thesis Exhibition. Work by 25 artists on view across three locations: Expensify, 401 SW 5th Ave.; Stelo Arts, 412 NW 8th Ave.; Maddox, 1231 NW Hoyt St.; 503-821-8956, events.willamette.edu/e/5669. Opening 5-9 pm Thursday, May 2. Free.
Russo Lee Gallery: Daniel Robinson, Some Kind of Lonesome, oil paintings of the rural landscapes of Eastern Oregon, and Betty Merken, Split Decisions, highly chromatic works investigating the nature of color and light, on view through June 1. 805 NW 21st Ave., 503-226-2754, russoleegallery.com. 5-7 pm Thursday, May 2. Free.