Urban Edibles is your local guide to stalking the wild asparagus. All food plants were once wild. Yes, maybe they have improved for the better by millennia of cultivation and breeding. But maybe they have not. Many medicines too are derived from plants and there are many more yet to be rediscovered.
Urban Edibles leads a plant discovery walk, identifying edible and medicinal plants in Northwest yards and Forest Park. Plus you get a nicely designed guide with useful factoids like "Wild Carrot - Use with caution, looks similar to poisonous hemlock. Root can be eaten like a carrot. Historically used as a contraceptive." Their zine, 10 Weeds You Can Eat! is available at Reading Frenzy
Meet at the corner of Wallace Park, NW 25th and Pettygrove. A bonus is navigating some of the secret hill stairs in the neighborhood. 2PM Free
The Art Gym is a gym repurposed to gallery at Marylhurst College in Lake Oswego. That means high ceilings. The school has a good art program, in approach more akin to Evergreen College, meaning self designed and directed, and with many returning students. The school is quite a distance down Route 43/McAdam Blvd., and once on the campus, the gallery is not the easiest to find. It's worth it though, as they have been curating shows of accomplished regional artists and documenting them with catalogs for 28 years. They have a knowledgable curator, who primarily seeks mid- to late-career artists, though sometimes emerging artists may be found in group shows.
This month sculptor Christine Bourdette shows Riddles, Bunnyheads and Asides. Bourdette was in the Art Gym's first show in 1981 as an emerging artist. She was the first winner of the Bonnie Bronson Fellowship. If you are designing your art career, artists like this can be a guide.
At the Marylhurst College Art Gym. 17600 Pacific Highway (Hwy 43-McAdam Blvd.) The gallery is in the top floor of building A. Reception 3PM-5 Free
