October 10,11,16,18 Seattle Butoh

Haruko Nishimura presents her latest production Silvering Path. She describes it: One dance of eros, earth and the slug; one battle of the Weeble Wobble vs. the Ninjas; and one Monstrous Grandmother. Nishimura has been making lush, humorous and intense butoh in Seattle, often in collaboration with musicians the Degenerate Art Ensemble (formerly the Young Composers Collective). Opines Seattle's Stranger: "Nishimura is a hypnotic, versatile, and harrowing performer. Part Butoh maestro and part woodland creature, she can shift from a spider-monster to Marlene Dietrich to a forlorn ghost with a few simple gestures." I would say that is accurate. With Mandy Greer, crochet art; Ian Lucero, film and Colin Ernst, sculptural costume. Live adventurous music by Jeffrey Huston and Joshua Kohl. Dress art by Anna Lange. Video art installation by Leo Mayberry. Show review here. At the FREE SHEEP FOUNDATION 4408 3rd ave (at Battery) in belltown * $15 * http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/42588/

October 9 Dishwashers on Bikes

Once upon a time there were copy machines. That spawned photocopy art and self published zines - paper-based - before the world wide web. One Portlander, Pete Jordan, rode that ride, traveling the country as a dishwasher and writing of it in his zine as Dishwasher Pete. That zine morphed to book: Dishwasher: One Man's Quest to Wash Dishes in All Fifty States. Then Pete headed to the Netherlands to study city planning and fell in love with Amsterdam's bikes. The city's winding streets, canals and bridges constrain streets to small cars and slow speeds, ideal for bikes. So in love with the city bike culture, he asked his wife if they could stay. Now six years later, they have a small bike shop and Pete writes two bike columns in the local paper. He will read from his book in progress, In the City of Bikes: An Up Close Look at Amsterdam, tonight, against a projected backdrop of street scenes from the city.

Nickey Robare shows her film Small Movements on the Sprockettes, Portland's pink precision minibike dance team. She performed with them, so this is an intimate view of their amazingness. Art on the wall by Tiago DeJerk, bike themed. Musician Baby Dollars closes the evening with probably dancing.

Organized by original zinesters Reading Frenzy. At the Cleaners, corner SW Stark and 10th 7PM Sliding scale $3 or greater.

October 4 Visualization Center Opens with Dumb Type (NY)

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a university known for strong visual arts and engineering programs, is opening a performance and research center, EMPAC. The first director is a founding director of Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie (ZKM) in Karlsruhe, Germany. This is a new building and program for a project that has been established for a few years.

They will have residencies and collaboration opportunities ongoing. Facilities include immersive projection, controlled sound environments, supercomputers and a very technical staff.

The program is focused on visualization for art and science.

There are some amazing opening performances, including Dumb Type's Voyage tonight. Every time I have seen this group, I have been floored. They mix idea, emotion, movement, sound, video and lighting in a way that works together, rather than distracting.

So if you are reading this in that part of the country, you might enjoy it!

EMPAC is in Troy, NY, 120 miles North of New York City

October 3 Eastside Openings

Taking inspiration from James Baldwin, "The purpose of art is to lay bare the questions which have been hidden by the answers", Reversed Reality is a show of Chinese, French and Portland artists. Wei Hsueh, at PNCA, brings four Hong Kong artists. Pang Qian Guo, Beatrix Pang draws connections between prople in Hong Kong and Portland using photography and sound. Lau Xue Cheng, Hanison Lau samples traditional Chinese culture such as poetry and landscape painting and repurposes it to contemporary art. Wong Wai Yin, Doris Yin samples everyday objects and remakes. Ma Ho Yin, Florian Ma samples pop culture and high culture. For this show he has a lighting installation. Cheikh Ndiay from Lyon presents paintings and installation, some inspired by streetscapes. Samantha Wall from Portland shows drawings themed on strong women. Don't miss this. At Worksound www.worksoundpdx.com 820 SE Alder



In the 811 Block

Grass Hut shows work from Islands Fold™ artists' residencies paired with Grass Hut artists. Islands Fold is the home of Angela Conley and Luke Ramsey on Pender Island, B.C. Artists visit for a time and make work. It's a beautiful intimate project. Luke has a poetic explanation for it all. Artist resident matchups include Spencer Hibert + Marco Zamora, Johnathan R. Storm + Dawn Riddle, Luke Ramsey + Jill Bliss, Zeesy Powers + Scrappers, Ben Jacques + Le Merde, Irana Douer + Betsy Walton, Bwana Spoons + Theo Ellsworth, Charlotte Walton + Fawn Gehweiler, Oliver Hibert + Owen Plummer, Maseman + Arbito, Shawn Wolfe + Kinoko and Howie Tsui + Apak. In each pairing, one artist drew an island and sea, then mailed it to the other, who added the island home and inhabitants. Luke himself shows his solo-island drawings too. At Grass Hut www.grasshutcorp.com


Sword and Fern has the pen and ink drawings of Seattle artist cybele phillips. Sword and Fern swordandfern.blogspot.com


Redux, queen of reuse, has drawings and paintings by Norman Chambers, "space cadet". Another copywriting award is in order:

"In my work I constantly look to the future past that never was, where obsolete electronic devices and other strange gizmos that don't do anything in particular, coexist with stifled cartoon people, science fiction ephemera, idealized and simplified landscapes with exaggerated, oversimplified clouds and horizons. All of these coexist as a combination for a sort of perverse utopian/dystopian still life approximation. Logan's Run meets Zardoz on the set of Sleeper perhaps?

I take quite a bit of inspiration from the 70's illustrations of Jean Girard (Moebius), the amorphic blobs of Hans Bellmer, the future visions of Syd Mead, the vivid pop-art Psychedelia of Guy Peellaert, and of course my own skewed perspective, filtered through a sort of absurd sub-Archigram collage futurism. I try to tell stories that don't necessarily reveal themselves, yet provide a wealth of visual information from which the viewer may draw his/her own conclusions". At Redux www.reduxpdx.com

All 811 E. Burnside



Rio Wrenn shows work on fabric patterned by rust. This work was last seen at Rake. It's a great metaphor and definitely sustainable. At Lille Boutique 1007 E Burnside



NAAU is in the last days of a great show previously noted. The camera obscura is best seen in daylight, the brighter the better. Ends October 5. At New American Art Union www.newamericanartunion.com 922 SE Ankeny



John Brodie, in probably the best named show of the year, presents painting collages in a show titled "My Carbon Footprint Weighs a Ton". Brodie is bright and poppy, capturing well current memes and zeitgeists of the culture at large. To do so, he samples and reuses the layered archaeology of wheatpasted old school paper billboards and movie posters. This work is best seen in person, big, bright and up close. At Jáce Gáce www.jacegace.com 2045 SE Belmont



galleryHOMELAND is hewing to a regular first Friday opening schedule. This month it is "Instinctive Inquiry", installations and works on paper by Susan Murrell. Murrell fully occupies Homeland's sprawling space with maybe biomorphic abstractions including organic sand paintings! This is a great show to get lost in, in a good way! www.galleryhomeland.org 2505 SE 11th Avenue



Pushdot has "Letting the Horses Loose", Polaroid shots of toy horses, Pushdot reprocessed, by Elizabeth Soule and "Patterns of Change", lightboxes with patterns suggesting Japanese indigo prints, under water life, and things found only under microscopes by Meagan Geer. At Pushdot Studio www.pushdotstudio.com 1021 SE Caruthers



Newspace has photos by Myron Filene & Jeff Shay of built landscapes. www.newspacephoto.org 1632 SE 10th

October 2 Westside Art Openings

Brenden Clenaghen shows "We Became", schematic paintings. Many Clenaghen paintings remind landscape in a mysterious modern fairy tale way. Some of the paintings have cool titles like "Curing Astral Woe" - I'll vote for that! With Laurie Reid's watercolors in a show titled "Landscapes/Lifescapes". At Pulliam Deffenbaugh www.pulliamdeffenbaugh.com 929 NW Flanders early close 8PM



The PDX Window Project shows "Weather" wood burn patterned panels. This is a new direction for the artist known for small polymer sculptures. In the main gallery are book art works from Nazraeli Press. At PDX www.pdxcontemporaryart.com 925 NW Flanders



Portland is a printmaking town. Sarah Horowitz is the printmaker's printmaker. Her exploration of handmade papers has led to new pen and brush original drawings on Japanese handmade papers using inks from natural materials such as persimmon, oak, iron and soot. Her subjects are plants too, in a botanical illustration style.
At Froelick Gallery www.froelickgallery.com 714 NW Davis



Mark R Smith creates sculptures and collage from found fabric. Early work comprised every hue imaginable in clothing left in arenas after sports events or concerts. He sewed them into relief sculptures in the pattern of the seating charts, with the lost clothing sealed in clear plastic corresponding to the area in which it was found. Later clear plastic sculptures stuffed with fabric took on different shapes. Smith has added 2d work of bright fabric to the mix. Christine Bourdette shows drawings complementary to her retrospective at the Marylhurst Art Gym. At Elizabeth Leach www.elizabethleach.com 417 NW 9th



Blue Sky shows two artists' meditations on our society's relationship to mental illness. "Library of Dust" are David Maisel's photographs of 3489 canisters of ashes, the remains of people in Oregon's last mental institution, the Oregon State Hospital. The poignant sad story is a deep metaphor. We certainly haven't gotten it right yet.

Claudio Cricca shows "Faceless", photographs of men in Italy's last remaining mental hospitals. Forsaken by family, they live out lives measured by the mind's endless time. The work recalls Ward No 7 (The Psychiatry, 1984) by Alfonsas Budvytis photographed in crumbling Soviet mental institutions. Budvytis reportedly suffered post traumatic stress syndrome himself from wartime photography experiences.

Maisel speaks at the gallery Wednesday October 1 at 6PM and Cricca Saturday October 4 at 3PM. Free

At Blue Sky Gallery www.blueskygallery.org in the Desoto Building, 122 NW 8th. Opening 6PM-9



The Independent Publishing Resource Center, IPRC, shows small prints by Shannon Buck and Carye Bye. Known for zines and now electronic publishing, the IPRC also has ancient iron presses. Buck and Bye met at those presses, formed a friendship and then each started their own presses! Buck founded Loaded Hips Press while making folk art style whirlygigs and performing tarot readings. Bye operates Red Bat Press, organizes the Bunny on a Bike ride every Easter and operates the Bathtub Museum collection of bathtub themed art. Bye and Buck tell the story of the ideosyncracies of each of the presses they have worked on by example works in lino-cut, woodblock and letterpress.

At The Independent Publishing Resource Center www.iprc.org
917 SW Oak St 6PM-9


As always the varied work at the Everett Station Lofts and the current show a the contemporary Craft Museum are recommended for your viewing pleasure.

October 2,3,4,5,6 Suddenly Ends

The Suddenly show - Suddenly.org, themed on landscape, settlement and social forces closes this week. The last events are interactive.

October 2 Nashville as Urban Metaphor

In Robert Altman's 1975 film Nashville (158 minutes), an ensemble cast of seemingly unrelated individuals cross paths and dialog building toward an unexpected ending. Just like cities. Art historian James Glisson believes the film depicts a certain desperate ennui occasioned by suburban landscape: “Robert Altman’s ‘Nashville’ (1975) is a film whose sprawling narrative structure reflects the equally sprawling fabric of the automobile-dominated, postwar boom town in which it takes place. The odd segues with scenes passing like batons from one character to another often depend on the medium of traffic, whether as traffic jams or impromptu roadside meetings. Down to the film’s floating camerawork that captures actors from awkward viewpoints, it is a film in which nothing settles and its narrative momentum, like so much rubbernecked traffic, has a stop-and-go quality.” — James Glisson, “Photographing Sprawl,” Afterimage, January, 2008. (Maybe he should show Timecode)

After showing the film, everyone is invited to a drunken discourse, I mean to discuss and debate the thesis.

In the Chapel (big room, old building) at Milepost 5 www.milepostfive.com 900 NE 81st (go by MAX) 7PM Free



October 3 Indigenous and Modern Urban Patterns : Two Talks

At 3PM Thomas Sieverts gives an architecture focused talk. (See more about him next in the Back Room)

At 5PM a panel: Thomas Sieverts, University of British Columbia historian Coll Thrush (author of Native Seattle), PSU archaeologist Kenneth M. Ames (co-author of Peoples of the Northwest Coast), anthropologist Melissa Darby, and University of Puget Sound historian Douglas Sackman, discuss indigenous settlement before cities. Did it influence city patterns later?

Both in the UO White Stag building, Events Room (main floor) 70 NW Couch Free



October 4 Back Room Dinner and Discussion at a Parking Lot in Beaverton

The Back Room series of smart dinners have been noted in this blog before. They have been in special and varied locales drawing a salon of special and varied participants.

Tonight it is in an abandoned parking lot in Beaverton.

Thomas Sieverts meets Aaron Betsky. Sieverts was an architect of the revitalization of Germany's rust belt along the Ruhr River. The resulting web of small cities, connected by transit and webbed with greenspace, replaced the ghosts of mines, blast furnaces and contaminated soil. The plan area surrounding the Emscher River was so polluted that the river itself required its own treatment plant before draining into the Ruhr.

Now the area, of similar size to the Willamette Valley, is home to 5 million.

Aaron Betsky is director of the Cincinnati Art Museum and director of the 2008 Venice Biennale of Architecture. He has served as director of the Netherlands Architecture Institute and curator of architecture and design at SFMOMA.

A tasty Thai dinner and drinks with talks and an engaging audience is yours for $50. Info at the Back Room website.



October 5 Can Art and Writing Shape the City?

If the pen is mightier than the sword, is it mightier than the backhoe? Thomas Sieverts, artist Fritz Haeg, writer Lisa Robertson, curator Stephanie Snyder, and writer Matthew Stadler discuss it with you outside on Reed campus. Check the Suddenly.org website for details. 2PM Free



October 6 Discusion - Can policy liberate design, is it the reverse or are they orthogonal?

Thomas Sieverts, urban designer; Brad Cloepfil, architect and Reed Kroloff, director of Cranbrook take on the topic. Thomas Sieverts believes ”shaping of the landscape where we live can no longer be achieved by the traditional resources of town planning, urban design, and architecture. New ways must be explored, which are as yet unclear.” Brad may have some thoughts as a recent project mired for a time in a preservationist swamp, only to be dissed by reviewers on its completion. (needlessly in my opinion) Personally I believe there is a happy medium but policy and design have different time cycles and information flows.

At PNCA Swiggert Commons, Corner NW 13th and Johnson 6:30PM Free

October 1 ShowPDX Furniture Design

ShowPDX is a biennial furniture design event. Expect sustainable material themes, and ultra modern. Some of these one of a kind pieces may be selected by Design Within Reach for worldwide production. The opening evening will be a designers meet and greet with refreshments. At Portland State University Shattuck Hall, 3rd floor. Open Monday, Wednesday and Fridays in October 1-5. Free. Designers talk October 21, 6:30PM at Design Within Reach NW Everett x 12th. Opening Reception, Shattuck Hall, October 1, 6PM-9 $10

September 30 Creative Capacity, Racism and the Staff of Life

No one would argue that art in Portland couldn't use more money. Three interrelated questions are left to you to ponder. To whom, from where and for what.

The Creative Capacity initiative is organizing the art community to develop a consensus and lobby for a tax to create the funds.

That means you.

You can bet that well organized large cultural institutions are in line. The tax concept means gathering and spending funds in the Portland suburbs. Art it schools will no doubt be an apple pie ingredient to any plan. If you want money, you have to speak up!

My interest is how can we grow economically sustainable careers for the next generation of artists. That means making enough money from artmaking to support a family. Personal branding help, mentoring, sharing networks, coaching and mastering getting your art out into the world through the gallery system, web sales and commissions - public, corporate and individual. Out in the world means outside Portland.

Visual art is not the only Portland creative capacity. Independent fashion here operates in an ecosystem of design cotravelers. The Fashion Incubator was a great model for assisting designers in their careers. Similar principles apply to music, product design and performing arts.

A likely component of any plan is an expanded RACC, so understanding how they work is a good start if you are interested. Also recommended, get on the Creative Capacity mailing list.

There is plenty of information on the Creative Capacity site. The first public - you - town hall for the project is tonight. Free pizza for hungry artists. Bring friends! At PNCA, NW Johnson and 13th 5:30PM-8:30. Free



One artist who has created a career is Portlander Damali Ayo. Ayo makes visual art, installation, writes and performs around our intimate relationship with racism. And she has a sustainable clothing line, CROW. Ayo is much more articulate than I can be about her creative projects. She speaks about what she has been up to - “Shut up and change: A life as a social change artist” - tonight in the first of a series by Bitch Magazine. At Portland State University, Smith Memorial Center Ballroom 7PM $30 series of four talks or individual tickets at the door.



After all this if you are stilled bored, see an underground butoh dance performance. Carlos Ivan Cruz Islas of La Comedia Humana, creates ritual performance theater focused on social issues. His piece tonight, Arbol de Maize, Tree of Corn, explores changes adversely affecting Mexican life such as privatization of water and land, once cultivated in common, toxic contamination, deforestation, and genetic tampering with corn, Mexico's staff of life. Joining tonight is Portland Mexican Soriah. Soriah is a noted Tuvan throat singer, recently winning third place a worldwide competition for throat singing in Tuva. This will be an intimate performance at a new space, Headwaters, in the Disjecta complex, 8371 N. Interstate Avenue. Reservations please: mail@hand2mouththeatre.org 8PM $10-15

September 28 Art on Landscape

We have landscape. We need more landscape-based art.

A seminal series was the Seattle-area Horsehead. Zittel makes great work in SoCal. Anna Fidler has done installation performance on Utah and New Mexico landscape. Scott Wayne Indiana hosted a great group show at Mt Scott Park.

For a few years, Tryon Creek Park has invited a few artists to make land-based art. This year it is Brennan Conaway, Portland, Oregon (Invader); Lee Imonen, Dexter, Oregon (The Source Series); Julie Lindell, Seattle, Washington (Nontrivial Pursuit); Jen Pack, Warrenton, Oregon (Forevergreen Tuffet) and Vicki Lynn Wilson, Portland, Oregon (Fung-US).

Sunday is family opening day for this year's artists. The park is located 11321 SW Terwilliger Blvd. More information on the project is at www.tryonfriends.org 1PM-4 Free

September 27 Rocking Demagnetic Biomorphic Style

Artist Patrick Rock, schooled in SF, has been making idea-based grand sculptures, including a giant inflatable hot dog. A person or two can get inside its 25 foot length. For some time he has converted his storefront home into a challenging art gallery, Rocksbox.

Tonight Rocksbox opens work by Bruce Conkle. Conkle samples the NW landscape and culture, including Bigfoot, through an ironic and playful lens. Owing to its storied commercial past, including as an alarm company, Rocksbox's labrynthian spaces are a perfect venue for Conkle's instalations, sculptures and 2d work. www.rocksboxfineart.com 6540 N Interstate 7PM-11 Free


Artist Hillary Pfeifer speaks on her biomorphic work, beautifully installed at Ogle, this afternoon. Worth seeing and you may enjoy the artist's bright sense of playfulness. At Ogle www.ogleinc.com Corner of NW Broadway and Everett 1PM Free


Another thing is a new experimental cabaret at Gallery Homelend, Demagnetic. Performers active in the experimental poetry, theater and dance scenes, David Abel, Linda Austin, Tony Christy, Bethany Ides, Mark Owens will no doubt bring a dada slant. www.galleryhomeland.org 2505 SE 11th x Division 8PM

September 26 Gallery Love Menu

Jeanine Jablonski opens her new gallery FOURTEEN30, named by address. That would be 1430 SE 3rd, passed by Hawthorne Bridge viaducts above and near by Audiocinema. It was Laurel Gitlen's old space, Small A Projects.

Jablonsky knows not only the spirit of art but its innards. She plans to show sparky contemporary work, educating Portland collectors. The first show is by Devon Oder. Photographer Oder creates abstract photographic work which has been exhibited in group shows in LA's more experimental Chunk King Road gallery district.

We are looking forward to FOURTEEN30 unfolding before us great work!

www.FOURTEEN30.com 1430 SE 3rd Opening 6PM-9



Pop up shops, big thing in branding, have taken some time to get to Portland. But they find themselves so perfectly adapted, here, now. Pop up shops are short term retail instantiations, often with unique merch, in otherwise vacant retail-other spaces, sometimes with receptions and music. The perfect storm of beauty. There for a day, a week or a month.

Seaplane, Portland's first independent clothing store and early adopter of modded up reuse opens a pop up shop for Emily Katz this weekend. Katz has two primary vectors. The locally adapted embriodered shirts and jackets in her Bonnie Heart Clyde style; and clean design dresses which are sold here and in LA. Included too will be modded up shoes and jewelery. And her artwork, zines and music. Saturday and Sunday, you can bring a piece of clothing to be embroidered for a very reasonable fee. Friday Love Menu plays at 8.

At 919 NW 23rd www.emilykatz.com and www.seaplanedesign.com Friday 7PM-11, Saturday & Sunday retailish hours.

September 25 Fashion / Design

This is last Thursday on Alberta which is experimenting with closing the street to fossil fuel vehicles and turning it over to organic vehicles - you - until about 10 or so. I'm more interested in contemporary advancement over the vernacular as is well known (though I respect everything with integrity that is creative). Office is a lone outpost of contemporary on Alberta other than select street work - though Office promotes the reuse of metal typewriter machines over metal melting recycling. This Thursday Office opens the work of PNCA senior design students. This would be in advance of their thesis shows. To date, PNCA design has been 2d graphic as UO, AI and PNCA consider 3d industrial design programs. At Office www.officepdx.com 2204 NE Alberta 7PM-9



Though this blog is oriented to visual art, it is also interested in many Portland creative communities breaking new ground at international scale. That includes fashion for those interested in wearing something unique sometimes. I freely admit that's a challenge for me as a minimalist. Portland design-makers Emily Ryan and Liza Rietz make girl clothes in intimate quantity of infinite quality. Ryan tends toward a soft sensitive vibe and Rietz structure and pattern. What a sweet combination for a show tonight. They show their Fall clothing designs to you at a show at the Ace Hotel Cleaners. Advance tix at A Broken Spoke shop 2305 NW Savier. Show Ace Hotel Cleaners, corner SW 10th and Stark 7:30PM $5 advance 7 door

September 18 Stay Wild or Beginner's Luck at IPRC

Artist Justin "Scrappers" Morrison talks creative strategy. Make art and make a living! He also wins the copywriting award of the month: "Some themes he will discuss: staying wild, exploiting your cultural significance, brands are personalities with a message, everyone is an artist, the importance of doing it your damn self, optimistic losers always win, not keeping all your eggs in one basket, getting to the point, fun is sexy, and being resourceful". It's all part of the closing reception for his book - show at IPRC CAMP, which he self published. At IPRC 917 SW Oak #218 www.iprc.org 7PM free

September 14 City Dance

A free thing is a collaboration between modern dancers and 21st century music. Local dance designers Linda Austin, Linda K. Johnson, Tere Mathern and Cydney Wilkes have wrangled dance movers Jess Bollaert, Chane Gilbert, Julie Katch, Paige McKinney, Kaj, Anne Pepper, Rikki Rothenberg, Noelle Stiles, Jennifer Camou, Fawn Williams, Emily Stone, Karen Alexander, Heidi Diaz, Taryn Johnson, Lena Sradnick, Dina Colosimo, Kathleen Keogh, Lily Gael, Elizabeth Longphere, Lizzie Karr, Amit Bohara, Hannah Downs, Esther LaPointe, Faith Levine, Tere Mathern, Jim McGinn, Keely McIntyre, Eric Nordstrom, Mike Barber, Tracy Broyles, Meshi Chavez, Jenn Gierada, Carla Mann and Lucy Yim. The Third Angle Music Ensemble has selected music from Morton Subotnick, Pauline Oliveros and Terry Riley. Randy Gragg provides writing and research.

All of this is a meditation on the collaboration of seminal modern dancer Anna Halpern and her landscape architect husband, Lawrence Halpern. The sites are the fountains and plazas designed by Lawrence Halpern in Portland. The music has been selected from composers who collaborated with the Halperns on their dance "happenings" in the 1960's. The event kicks off at the Keller Fountain, between SW Market and Clay. 3rd and 4th. Then it migrates South along the 3rd street to the other Halpern fountains. Repeats twice 1PM-3 and 4PM-6 and it's free!

September 12 Slavery Film and Indian Musics

Call+Response is a documentary on the outrage of the continuing existence of slavery around the world today. Yes, it is depressing that there may be more slaves in absolute numbers today than in the past. The film combines interviews with Madeleine Albright and Nicholas Kristof, a current soundtrack and pop figures into a volunteer-funded, virally distributed film with an email vacuuming website which would make Howard Dean and David Plouffe proud. It's a model any organizer can learn from. The film opens later in the month in theaters, but you can see it tonight in the community room at Milepost 5. www.milepostfive.com 7PM


In a epic example of misscheduling, there are three classical Indian music concerts this evening.

Kalakendra presents the Mishra Brothers, Sajan and Rajan. The esteemed vocalists have won the Padmabhushan, awards from Sangeet Natak Academy, Kumar Gandharva, Snageet Bhushan and Sangeet Ratna. Everyone knows the special character of siblings singing together. The Mishras will be accompanied by Subhen Chatterjee, deciple of Swapan Chowdhury. Chatterjee has collaborated with many Western musicians. Sanatan Goswami accompanies on harmonium. www.kalakendra.org At the First Congressional Church 1126 SW Park 8PM $25 ($75 for a year of concerts)

Up the street, Shubhendra Rao, disciple of Ravi Shankar, performs on sitar. Rao will be accompanied on tabla by Ty Burhoe, disciple of Ustad Zakir Hassain. Rao also performs as a duo with his wife, the Dutch cellist Saskia Rao-de Haas, though not tonight. The event is organized by some of the people responsible for music at Yoga Shala and takes place at the First Baptist Church, SW 12th and Taylor 8PM $25

At PCC Rock Creek in Beaverton, Raskia has a master class, essentially an informal concert in music speak, by violinist brothers Dr. Mysore Manjunath & Mysore Nagaraj accompanied by Srimushnam Rajarao on Mridangam. Info at www.raskia.org Event PCC-Rock Creek 7:30 Free

September 10 Sudenly Milepost 5

Reed's Coolley Gallery mounts serious and challenging shows. I once saw an installation with live sheep in the gallery. Their current show, Suddenly, is mediation on cites in the form of collage.

Milepost 5 is experiment in non- and for-profit development of artist space. Reed's Coolley has established an instantiation there.

Smart talks, installation, art and sound inagurate the space tonight on the 4th floor deck. Anthropologist-traveler Colin Beattie opines on greater Beaverton, which encompasses Guatemala and the Sonoran Desert in it's mini-melting pot. Mike Merrill™, the man who is a free market corporation presents his latest projects. Michael McManus has a sound installation; Shawn Records, photographs and Gary Wiseman, famous for his collaborational-explorative tea parties and Kitchen Sink installation projects is up to something new.

At Milepost 5 www.milepostfive.com 900 NE 81st (go by MAX) 7PM Free

September 7 Urban Edible Art Gym

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

September 6 Classical Indian Violin

Dr. L. Subramaniam's considerable creative art spans the Carnatic music of India, Western classical music, world fusion music and collaboration with noted western jazz musicians. He is also a medical doctor. He performs, with a team of percussionists, for the ten year anniversary of local Indian music presenter Rasika. At the Northwest Children's Theater Building 1819 NW Everett 7PM $20,25,35 or advance at the website. If you become a member, all the concerts are included.

September 5 Eastside Art Openings and 24 Hour Repair Project

Pancake Clubhouse Historic Township and Activity Destination for the Living Arts cordially invites you to a new Neighborhood Project! 24 hour artist-handyman in residence, Brian Merkel, requests you to bring objects in need of repair to the Clubhouse. Of course, the definition of "repair" is entirely up to the whims of the artist! Really, could it be any other way? It begins with a reception at 6PM. At 9PM Merkel will knock down a wall in the house. You can pick up your "repaired" items at a performance -ceremony Sunday. I guess you just have to come to see the results. There will be an installation by Urban Edibles and tasty refreshments too. The Social Practice Group is hijacking TBA, they will distribute their own supplemental TBA catalog at the event. At 906A NE 24th 6PM-9 Free


Some of the most interesting shows have already opened, but that doesn't mean that they can't open twice. Included are:

The New American Art Union has a camera obscura show by Ethan Jackson. Orbis Viridis Obscurus is more than I expected and worth the time to hang out in the camera obscura (the more daylight, the better) and see what he has done with video. At New American Art Union www.newamericanartunion.com 922 SE Ankeny 6PM-9 Free

Volume is a group show curated by Jeff Jahn at Worksound. See artists Sean Healy, Nathan Shapiro, Joe Thurston, Salvatore Reda, Laura Fritz, Stephen Funk, Ellen George, Arcy Douglass, Jesse Hayward, Josh Smith, Adam Sorensen, Karl Burkheimer, Stephen Slappe, Damien Gilley, Stephanie Robison and Philippe Blanc. At Worksound 820 SE Alder


In the 811 Block Redux has Ryan Berkley's Dream Circus and Grass Hut continues Andrew Brandon.


The brother, Stewart Harvey, of the accidental entrepreneur who converted a wild irreverent Cacaphony Society desert campout into the money making Burningman festival of 50,000 shows photos of Burningman at 23Sandy. There are plenty of photographs of the surreal event about, but the vast blankness of desert space and neutral density filter eating glare, to say nothing of mechanism-hostile alkaline dust, makes capturing good images more of a challenge than it looks. www.23sandy.com 623 NE 23 at Sandy


Newspace Photo shows two photographers dedicated to chemical processes. Maro Vandorou shows platinum prints of a very old cemetery in her native Greece. Kay Denton shows gold toned prints imaged with a very good focal plane - 8x10 inch film - but through vintage lenses, back before lens design became good. At Newspace Photo www.newspacephoto.org 1632 SE 10th

September 4 Westside Art Openings

Sean Healy shows wall sculptures at Elizabeth Leach. Healy has long been known for work incorporating large numbers of similar elements in cast materials. Tonight these elements include colorful miniature teardrop camping trailers and his take on picket fences. Another body of work are skeletal dyptic tracings of wild animals paired with quilts and lace. Healy has been successful at bringing his work to Europe and creating public art commissions. He is also represented at the Volume show at Worksound. www.elizabethleach.com 417 NW 9th


"Blurring the Line: the art of thread" are modern extrapolations made with fabric and thread. Artists Hildur Bjarnadottir, Diem Chau, Linda Hutchins and Jen Pack produce minimalist work with just enough complexity, elegance and mystery. At Pulliam Deffenbaugh www.pulliamdeffenbaugh.com 929 NW Flanders early close 8PM


Portland sculptural artist Hillary Pfeifer creates agglomerations of handmade elements. Sometimes they remind of toys, or bugs or some microscopic creature rendered large. This work is perfect for Ogle which often fills its space with grand sculpture or arte povera-feeling work. www.ogleinc.com 310 NW Broadway early close 8:30PM


Tad Savinar is a smart Portland artist with a smart conceptual bent, often word centered. Some of his work falls into the realm of information aesthetics. Along with sculptures by Goldsmiths-minted Seattle sculptor Victoria Haven. At PDX Contemporary Art www.pdxcontemporaryart.com 925 NW Flanders early close 8PM


P:EAR is an art program for homeless youth. Each kid is different and some are reached by making art. P:EAR pairs the kids monthly with a local artist and they all make coinspired work which is shown in the gallery. They have moved from their old decrepit building with flooding and a failing roof to new digs with a larger gallery space opening tonight. Artists Hayley Barker, Irana Douer, Maureen Gubia and Nicole Erika Smith share the walls with the kids. At P:EAR www.pearmentor.org 338 NW 6th


"All I can do is dream" is a show of dream inspired work by Lisa Beyer, Kristie Louderbough, Meg Peterson and Shanon Schollian at a new gallery, the Fontanelle. www.fontanellegallery.com 205 SW Pine


For an art history moment, see prints by Catalan surrealist Joan Miró at Augen www.augengallery.com 716 NW Davis early close 8:30


You have to admire the scale of Dutch-now in Portland artist Henk Pender's work. They are grand realist works with a rough surreal edge. I haven't seen this show, his edge may be tapering. At Laura Russo Gallery www.laurarusso.com 805 NW 21st


Don't forget the other Desoto block galleries including the Manuf®actured show at the Museum of Contemporary Craft. The show, curated by ID Magazine editor Steven Skov Holt and art historian Mara Holt Skov, encompases work made from repurposed mass manufactured objects. Sort of a crafty take on artists like Choi Jeong Hwa. This is an excellent example of where the Museum of Contemporary Craft wants to take the discussion of craft aesthetics. Yes! At the Museum of Contemporary Craft www.museumofcontemporarycraft.org 724 NW Davis


The Everett Station Lofts are recommended, as always - bounded by NW Everett, Broadway, Flanders and 6th.