Big things start small. Portlander Paige Powell moved to New York in the 1980 and worked for Interview Magazine. That time was a great creative period in the City. Powell found herself right in the middle of Andy Worhol's Factory and dated Jean-Michel Basquiat. She captured that in stills and on video.
Thomas Lauderdale, a Grant grad, returned to Portland after studying piano at Harvard. He would borrow the grand piano in a Pearl District restaurant as the neighborhood was transformed. He put together a band for a benefit, which became the Pink Martini, one of Portland's finest musical exports.
Lauderdale is also a photographer. When Powell showed him her boxes of photos, he urged her to catalog them. Ultimately the director of the Portland Art Museum worked with Powell to curate them into a show, The Ride.
The Ride, a video installation and hundreds of photographs plus a room by Kenny Scharf, opens tonight with a reception and a performance by Pink Martini.
The Ride opens with Pink Martini at the Portland Art Museum www.pam.org 1219 SW Park $40 5:30PM-9:30
