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The local chapter of a national arts education nonprofit has charted some of Portland’s finest artistic treasures, painting a detailed picture of how many art exhibition spaces survived the pandemic. Art appreciators and collectors alike will find well-established names on the list as well as new spaces in the ecosystem.
The Oregon Alliance for the National Museum of Women in the Arts opened in 2022 to promote emerging Pacific Northwest artists for the Washington, D.C., museum’s Women to Watch series. Along with a lecture series launched last September, NMWA Oregon has organized an in-depth map of 65 art galleries and museums across Portland, which should appear in all venues by the end of October.
“The Cultural Corridor & Beyond: Portland’s Art Map” stakes claim to downtown Portland as the central hub of the city’s contemporary art scene. NMWA Oregon’s map sees the Park Blocks from Pacific Northwest College of Arts to Portland State University, with the Portland Art Museum near their center, as the Cultural Corridor’s emerald crown jewel. Work began on the list in the spring of 2023 to chronicle the city’s art scene post-pandemic shutdown. Though incomplete, an NMWA Oregon rep confirmed that an earnest attempt was made to catalog every art space in Portland, with new ones added every time the organizing team reached out to members of the art community.
We chose six exciting upcoming shows from NMWA Oregon’s map to close out the year and start 2025 in the mood to explore Portland’s emerging and established galleries.
Pam Puck and Stevie Shao at Nucleus
The dual Alberta Arts District galleries host colorful, imaginative works. The Nucleus House space near the art hub’s core off Northeast 11th Avenue hosts self-taught, Croatia-based artist Pam Puck, whose cartoonish sculptures depict scenes that include a giant skating naked on a road at night, a flying saucer stealing someone’s clothes and a young person’s fate in a William Tell-style archery act. Over on the other edge of the neighborhood at Nucleus’ Northeast 29th Avenue building, Seattle-born-and-raised illustrator Stevie Shao paints colorful dragons and other Chinese folklore symbols that she’s transferred from canvases to multistory murals throughout her career. 1137 NE Alberta St., nucleusportland.com. Opening reception 5–7 pm Friday, Nov.1. Noon–5 pm Saturday, noon–4 pm Sunday, Nov. 2–Dec. 8. Nucleus, 2916 NE Alberta St., Suite B. Opening reception 4–6 pm Saturday, Nov. 2. Noon–6 pm Thursday–Sunday, Nov. 2–Dec. 8.
Rae Brown at Well Well Projects
Shown in conjunction with the gallery-turned-pop-up incubator Walk In, Rae Brown’s From Memory uses images to tell stories like a writer, with detail-rich vignettes of people’s lives and adventures on display. Brown uses figurative people as conduits in her paintings for viewers to insert themselves into the worlds she creates. 8371 N Interstate Ave., #1. Opening reception 5–8 pm Saturday, Nov. 2. Noon–5 pm Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 2–Dec. 1.
Amy Bay at Nationale
Local painter Amy Bay’s large-scale florals reveal an emotional range as deep as a jungle with her arrangement of hues and styles of brushstroke. Her petals can be thick and globby, slightly melted or even stamped onto her canvases, but like the real thing they quickly brighten whatever room in which they’re the centerpiece. Heading into the dreary winter months, Bay’s show The Book of Love promises to deliver a much-needed injection of warmth and vibrant color. 15 SE 22nd Ave., 503-477-9786, nationale.us. Opening reception 1–3 pm Sunday, Oct. 27. Noon–6 pm Thursday–Monday, Oct. 25–Dec. 1.
SOIL at Carnation Contemporary
As payback for hosting members of Portland’s Carnation Contemporary over the summer, Seattle’s SOIL Artist Run Gallery will complete the exchange by staging a takeover of the Kenton neighborhood space. SOIL In-Carnation goes all in on floral associations, elevating the humble bloom from corsages and science experiments to what the show’s statement calls Portland’s “true sacred flower,” forsaking our city’s tawdry romance with roses. Twenty-four artworks “will tell their own incarnate stories of love, loss, family, strength, tenacity and fragility.” 8371 N Interstate Ave., carnationcontemporary.com. Opening reception 5–8 pm Saturday, Nov. 2. Noon–5 pm Saturday–Sunday, Nov. 2–30.
Olivia Faith Harwood at One Grand Gallery
The cool-hued creatures in Olivia Faith Harwood’s paintings are fierce, feminine predators, keeping to the shadows as they stalk their prey or quietly commune with one another. Harwood’s collection Huntress—which could easily transfer to a Magic: The Gathering deck or bitchin’ van—is accompanied by four earth-tone candelabras, heightening the high fantasy element in this show’s final weeks. 1000 E Burnside St., 212-365-4945, onegrandgallery.com. Noon–5 pm Thursday–Sunday, through Nov. 8.