Join Volumes Design Library for the opening celebration of the exhibit FROM HERE. This show brings together fragments of printed material created by people who have called Portland home. The exhibition showcases ideas and visual culture across graphic design, advertising, architecture and more.

This event is a part of the Portland Design Month, ADX Fest and is produced in collaboration with Portland Design History. The exhibition will be on display for the month of October during VOLUMES Design Library public hours, Tuesday-Friday 1-5 pm.

VOLUMES is a reference library with an extensive collection of books, magazines, posters, and ephemera spanning disciplines, decades, and genres.

All materials are available for in-library use. We encourage visitors to explore, photograph, scan, and engage with the collection.

Location: Volumes Design Library

From the Westside wit Love was founded with a mission to uplift and empower local artists across the West Coast, with a deep commitment to the Portland, Oregon community where it all began.

You may know them from their community-rooted art exhibitions, DJ nights, or from their many coat, food, and school supply drives. FTWSWL stands firmly in its mission to create a space where connection thrives, where community is rooted, artists are supported, and people come together through art and culture to inspire and uplift one another. From The Westside wit Love was founded by a team of local Portland Chicanos. A demographic that was itching to showcase their culture and art with their environment.

On October 9th we will be conducting a night market and fundraising event for a Local Organization, Voz. Voz is a Worker-Led organization that has been empowering diverse day laborers and immigrant workers.

We are honored to learn more and share the work that Voz continues to do for the community members that are impacted through these unprecedented times and ICE raids.

Visit Voz through their Social Media or their website, portlandvoz.org, to learn more about their mission. The funds that will be raised through the Vendor Fee will go directly towards Voz’s Holiday party for the Day Laborers & Immigrants Community Members.

We want to ensure these folks experience the love and appreciation that we feel for them! During the holidays, the sense of loneliness and struggle is commonly felt for a large percentage of our community. This is a small effort that can make great impact. We ask you to be present and willing to learn more about how you can be directly involved and also support and uplift small vendors within our community!

Location: ADX

The Long After

A (Slightly Unusual) Album Release Event

Join us for an evening celebrating the release of Chris Rentzel's album,The Long After—through music, visual art, film, and conversation.

Hosted by Ollie Collins, the evening is planned as a shared two-hour experience, with fun activities and a range of happenings throughout.

Highlights:

• Listening stations

• Select songs with Chris on keyboards, Julian Casas on cello

• Video shorts program

• Visual Art

• Mixing and mingling

• Vinyl and CDs available for purchase!
  

The Long After

Contemporary Singer-Songwriter Chris Rentzel brings his style of tonal honesty to his full-length album, The Long After. Collaborating with members of the Oregon Symphony, Chris composes piano and strings to blend with heartfelt, anecdotal and sometimes playful lyrics. Drawing from a lifetime of experience living in Dallas, Denver and the PNW, The Long After takes his experience and juxtaposes it with what happens next. To be clear, the album does not necessarily ponder what comes in death, but more importantly—what happens in life.

Location: ADX

Tenth Anniversary Party with 2 films and vendors!

Stapled Spine, Portland's only Horror Fanzine is celebrating our 10th year as HorrOregon's 3rd best zine! The Stapled Spine is a PHYSICAL paper n staples zine. Horror bands, authors, movies, TV, and comics!

Events on the 9th & 10th of October all over glamorous St Johns diving in to the spooky and surreal for your viewing displeasure.

Stay tuned for more, and give them a follow in the meanwhile!

Location: St. John’s Twin Cinema

Custom Pet Portraits with Ryan Berkley of Berkley Illustration

Cost: $50 for one pet / $100 for two pets in one drawing
Sign up to secure your spot in advance! Walk-ins will be accepted if time permits. 

Crafty Wonderland staff artist and renowned animal portraitist, Ryan Berkley will be doing quick 15-20 minute 4x6 animal drawings at the Crafty Wonderland downtown retail shop. 

Ryan Berkley is a self-taught illustrator best known for his detailed drawings of sophisticated animals in addition to his pop culture and comic-book-influenced art. He has also drawn every Crafty Wonderland market show poster since it began in 2006. Fun fact: when he draws, he tends to hold his breath and squint. 

He very rarely does custom portraits, so this is your chance to have him draw your beloved pet!

Location: Crafty Wonderland SW

Did We Sell Out? is a community gathering exploring the tensions many Latino organizers, artists, creatives, entrepreneurs, and cultural workers navigate as our communities grow.

Through a moderated panel discussion, facilitated workshops, and opportunities to connect with local organizations, participants will engage questions around institutional relationships, creative labor, accountability, visibility, sustainability, and the pressures that can reshape our values and relationship to community.

Rather than offering easy answers, this event creates space for honest conversation, critical reflection, and collective learning around the contradictions many of us are already navigating in our work.

Whether you're an organizer, artist, entrepreneur, student, or community member, you're invited to join us as we explore what it means to build community with integrity.

Location: PNCA

What makes a mini essay truly compelling? How do you distill an important memory or life experience into just 400 words while keeping the narrative arc, stakes, and emotional resonance intact?

Join Write Around Portland and Oregon Humanities for a free 90-minute writing circle on writing short-form personal narrative. Oregon Humanities’ Posts section is dedicated to short narrative essays built around personal stories and anecdotes. Guided by Write Around Portland facilitator and Oregon Humanities editor Alexandra Silvester, we’ll explore this economical form and how a tight word limit can help to sharpen focus and heighten emotional impact.

We’ll analyze examples of past successful Posts, use creative writing prompts, and draft original work. Following the circle, participants will have the opportunity to submit a draft for consideration in the Winter issue of Oregon Humanities magazine, centered on the theme "Passage."

This session is free to attend, but advanced registration is required. 

Location: East County Library

Join Native Arts + Culture Foundation for a site tour and special viewing of Gerald Clarke Jr.’s showcase for Converge 45, “Between the Lines.”

Through sculpture, printmaking, mural work, and video, Clarke confronts the performative language of land acknowledgments and the distance between symbolic recognition and meaningful action. The exhibition asks visitors to consider what genuine recognition of Indigenous sovereignty requires.

Grounded in Clarke’s perspective as a Cahuilla artist, Between the Lines brings history, language, land, and material experience into direct conversation. His work uses humor, truth, and familiar visual forms to challenge assumptions and invite deeper engagement with Native presence and self-determination.

Creative work is meant to be held in community.

Come hang out at Kinship for Community Coworking Day! Bring a project you're working on, sewing or otherwise, and spend the day in creative flow with good company.

Kinship is a sewing makerspace oriented towards anyone working in or around the fashion industry. That includes graphic designers, marketers, photographers, writers, stylists, brand consultants, and more. They provide machines, support, and creative space to help you make your creative vision come to life!

Check out Kinship and get ready for an awesome day of co-working! Plus, Femme Rising will be finishing the day in the studio with a yoga class, so be sure to come by for a work sesh, then a little R&R!

Location: Kinship Fashion Coworking

Bread & Butter, an art and design social hour and gentle, bread-based art performance hosted by KB+BA. Come for bread and stay for a relaxed zine making activity and an opportunity to connect with the design community within the beautiful ADX loading bay!

Eat bread! Talk about art! Talk about anything but art! Draw a self-portrait? Make a zine!?

But yes, there is actually delicious, fresh-baked bread (including gluten-free options~!) and butter (and non-dairy too!) for you to indulge in as you commune and create in a social setting. More bread, please!

Location: ADX

Multnomah Arts Center is opening its doors for an evening celebrating creativity, community, and our shared belief that the arts should be accessible to everyone!

On Friday, October 16th from 6:00–8:00 PM, explore MAC through 15 unique hands-on experiences, demonstrations, performances, and opportunities to meet the artists, educators, guilds, and community partners who make this place so special. Visitors can experience everything from ceramics, printmaking and metalsmithing to dance, music, woodworking and more.

Founded in 1973, Multnomah Arts Center has been part of Portland’s creative community for more than 50 years and is one of the largest comprehensive community arts centers in the nation. MAC serves more than 6,000 students of all ages and abilities each year through affordable visual, performing, and literary arts education, while its community engagement programs extend well beyond the building. Each summer, Arts in the Parks alone brings free arts experiences to thousands of Portland residents across more than 20 parks, from St. Johns to East County.

The Community Open House brings that mission to life through Arts for All, inviting people to participate, create, discover something new, and connect with some of the artists and organizations that make Portland such a vibrant creative community.

Location: Multnomah Arts Center

In this class, work with Bridgetown Forge to create an 8-inch blade cleaver out of a bar of high-carbon steel, stamp it with your initials, harden and temper it to have a tough back and a hard, durable edge, attach a hickory handle to it, and hone it to razor sharpness.

This cleaver will feature a progressive bevel, which allows it to handle both tough jobs like cutting through bones, and yet makes it possible to easily slice ripe tomatoes and chop and dice vegetables. Its weight and size are perfect for almost any task in the kitchen. In fact, a good, properly designed and forged cleaver is a wonderful tool to have in your kitchen — I’m still using the one I’ve inherited from my grandmother!

This class incorporates both hand forging and the use of a power hammer, the latter being an exciting and crucial skill for any modern blacksmith. It is also a necessary procedure in this class, as the cleaver we will be making is quite substantial.

This is a two day workshop: Saturday and Sunday, 9:30 AM- 4:30 PM

The class fees are $580, which includes all materials and safety supplies. The knife, and anything else you might make, are yours to take home with you.

Location: Bridgetown Forge

The 2026 PNW Miniature Show will feature a carefully curated collection of world-class artisans, creators, and dealers, showcasing everything from breathtaking 1:12 scale architectural masterpieces to exquisitely hand-painted micro-miniatures. Visitors will have the rare opportunity to meet some of the most celebrated names in the miniature world, whose artistry has captivated audiences across the country and inspired a new generation of collectors and makers.

“Miniatures are no longer just about childhood dollhouses; they are a sophisticated form of fine art,” says Parrish Bleau, organizer of the PNW Miniature Shows. “Everything that exists in the full-scale world—from mid-century modern furniture to gourmet charcuterie boards—is being meticulously recreated by artists at this show.”

Location: Sheraton by Marriot

Open Studio Event!

Come check out the studio, see current member'’ work, and enjoy some light refreshments. 

Paisley Studios has a membership program for womxn artists that provides a relaxing, focused, and affordable studio home for womxn artists. Since its founding in 2019, upwards of 60 artists have worked in this shared workspace. Weekly Studio Practice classes are taught here, which offer consistent community and guided instruction in oil, watercolor, acrylic, printmaking, and drawing media and processes. We also host classes, guest teachers and artists, sliding scale drawing salons, and skill-building workshops.

Location: Paisley Studios

Join Franklin Foto for a series of amazing pop-ups throughout the day on October 17th!

Here’s what to look forward to on October 17th:

• Photo walk in historic st. John’s

  • Join the Franklin Foto crew for a photo walk in the beautiful St. Johns neighborhoods through mid-October foliage! Loaner cameras available, or just bring your phone!

• Polaroid transfer workshop

  • In this class we will be removing the photo emulsion from Polaroid film and transferring it to paper. This transfer process allows us to work hands on with our photograph and play with how the image can exist as a physical object.

• Cyanotype or Lumen printing

  • Using the sunshine (or UV rays), you’ll use plant matter or found objects to create unique prints on cyanotype paper.

Franklin Foto was established in Portland, Oregon, to address the growing need for accessible, community-driven spaces within the city's thriving film photography culture. While Portland has long been home to a dedicated community of analog enthusiasts, opportunities for collaboration and access to working darkrooms have remained limited. Franklin Foto seeks to fill this gap by offering a fully equipped, inclusive space where photographers of all skill levels can develop their craft, share knowledge, and connect over their love for film.

Franklin Foto is a membership-based studio and has availability if you’re itching to take some photos!

Watercolor doesn’t have to be boring! It can be ragged and rough, crystalline and speckled, soft and sinewy.

In this playful, hands-on workshop, we’ll experiment with unexpected ways to create texture and pattern with watercolor. You’ll learn how ordinary—and a few not-so-ordinary—materials can change the way watercolor moves, settles, resists, and reacts on the page.

We’ll explore techniques using masking fluid, salt, rubbing alcohol, blotting and stamping, wax resist, and even Halloween webbing! Along the way, you’ll create a collection of textured watercolor experiments you can use for future paintings, illustrations, and creative projects.

No watercolor painting experience needed. Complete beginners welcome!

Location: ADX

In this class, work with Bridgetown Forge to create an 8-inch blade cleaver out of a bar of high-carbon steel, stamp it with your initials, harden and temper it to have a tough back and a hard, durable edge, attach a hickory handle to it, and hone it to razor sharpness.

This cleaver will feature a progressive bevel, which allows it to handle both tough jobs like cutting through bones, and yet makes it possible to easily slice ripe tomatoes and chop and dice vegetables. Its weight and size are perfect for almost any task in the kitchen. In fact, a good, properly designed and forged cleaver is a wonderful tool to have in your kitchen — I’m still using the one I’ve inherited from my grandmother!

This class incorporates both hand forging and the use of a power hammer, the latter being an exciting and crucial skill for any modern blacksmith. It is also a necessary procedure in this class, as the cleaver we will be making is quite substantial.

This is a two day workshop: Saturday and Sunday, 9:30 AM- 4:30 PM

The class fees are $580, which includes all materials and safety supplies. The knife, and anything else you might make, are yours to take home with you.

Location: Bridgetown Forge

The 2026 PNW Miniature Show will feature a carefully curated collection of world-class artisans, creators, and dealers, showcasing everything from breathtaking 1:12 scale architectural masterpieces to exquisitely hand-painted micro-miniatures. Visitors will have the rare opportunity to meet some of the most celebrated names in the miniature world, whose artistry has captivated audiences across the country and inspired a new generation of collectors and makers.

“Miniatures are no longer just about childhood dollhouses; they are a sophisticated form of fine art,” says Parrish Bleau, organizer of the PNW Miniature Shows. “Everything that exists in the full-scale world—from mid-century modern furniture to gourmet charcuterie boards—is being meticulously recreated by artists at this show.”

Stay tuned to grab your ticket for this incredible program! Check out the PNW Miniatures webpage and explore their featured artists in the meantime.

Location: Sheraton by Marriot

The Sound Stage Open Studio

Step inside The Sound Stage, Vancouver’s professional voice over, recording, podcast, and self-tape studio, for an afternoon of exploring how stories and performances come to life.

As part of ADX Fest, The Sound Stage is opening its doors to the public for a behind-the-scenes look at the creative spaces where actors, voice artists, audiobook narrators, podcasters, filmmakers, and other independent creatives do their work.

Tour our professional recording spaces, podcast setup, and self-tape studios, see the technology behind the scenes, and learn what goes into creating professional audio and video. Throughout the event, demonstrations will showcase the many ways these spaces are used, from video game voice acting and audiobook narration to commercial voice-over, podcasting, and on-camera performance.

Visitors will also have opportunities to step behind the microphone, try out a self-tape setup, and experience what it's like to record in a professional studio.

Members of The Sound Stage team and local creative community will be on hand throughout the afternoon to demonstrate the spaces, answer questions, and share what it's like to build a creative career in the Pacific Northwest.

And if you're planning to see Our Mr. Matsura at Kiggins Theatre that afternoon, make The Sound Stage part of your day. Some of the audio for Beth Harrington's documentary was recorded right here at The Sound Stage. Stop by our Open Studio to see where that work happened, then head down the street to Kiggins Theatre for the 2 PM screening and experience the finished film on the big screen.

Whether you're a working creative, an aspiring performer, a filmmaker, podcaster, curious neighbor, or simply interested in seeing what happens behind the microphone and camera, come explore The Sound Stage and experience a working creative studio for yourself.

Free and open to the public. Drop in anytime between 10 AM and 2 PM.

Location: The Sound Stage, Suites 307 & 309

A mixed-media, hands-on workshop where imagination takes charge, + connection flourishes.

This safe and welcoming space features multiple sensory-rich play centers for exploration. Each week we experiment with an enticing buffet of mushy, colorful, sticky, loud, gooey, soft, familiar and unfamiliar ingredients. Together we build, squish, splatter, make sounds, write, and dance however we like.

Hello, my name is Denise, thank you for checking out this offering. Like you, I’m a real live human being bombarded by the news of grim narratives and unimaginative solutions. In spite of the forces proclaiming otherwise, I find most people are naturally imaginative, brave, kind, creative, generous, and often, lots of fun to be with. I also find we humans are at our best when we’re sharing inspiration, new perspectives, and enjoying laughter together. Through guided practices and play we will counter the narratives keeping us stuck, sad, angry, and afraid. We are the medicine needed to restore our own wellbeing and the health of our planet.

Denise is a licensed therapist, trained and certified in Internal Family Systems and mindfulness-based modalities for mental health and addiction recovery.

www.mindfulplace.com to learn more.

Location: ADX

Film Screening:

The orphan son of a samurai, Frank Matsura came to the Pacific Northwest in 1901, settling in remote Okanogan County, Washington. His personal charm and talent as a photographer soon made him a figure of some interest in a community of settlers from the East, European immigrants and, most notably, the people of the Native community. 

But then and now he remains enigmatic and his photos contribute to the questions we have about him. More than a century after his death, his legacy endures. Our Mr. Matsura is the story of this fascinating artist and the people who, even today, uphold his memory.

This screening will benefit further distribution efforts for the film. 

Filmmaker Beth Harrington will be in attendance.

Location: The Kiggins Theater

You know and love Portland Radio Project, we know and love Portland Radio Project… Let’s hit up their October Open Mic night at the incredible B-Side Records & Vintage down in Milwaukie!

Created as a safe, inclusive space where everyone belongs, the event welcomes musicians of all experience levels and musical styles, from singer-songwriters and indie rock to punk, folk, experimental, hip-hop, and beyond.

Sign up to play, or come to simply enjoy the vibes. All are welcome, and would you mind playing us something beautiful while you’re there? Thanks in advance!

Location: B-Side Records

Two Wednesdays: October 21 & 28,  6-9 pm, $145.00
Never made an edition before? This is the place to start. Nothing is more bold and basic, or timeless as woodcut.  This is a great class for beginners and seasoned printers alike. Ages 10 and up. Learn the basics of transferring a design, carving linoleum or wood, (or easycut if you’re 10)  and printing with or without a press. You’ll have a week in between to carve. Class limit 8 students. Workshop fee of $120.00  plus $25 supply fee, includes one one 6 x 8 Shina woodblock or linoleum block or  two 4 x 6 EasyCut, oil based ink, two pieces heavy printmaking paper and non archival proofing paper. Additional paper and blocks available at cost.

To register for any of these workshops, please contact Jane by phone or text at
FIve-OH-3-729-9Zero13

Learn the fundamentals of watercolor painting during this evening of learning, making, fun, and beer.

Learn foundational watercolor techniques and take home your own hop-tastic creation in this all levels workshop. Local artist Amy Wike will teach insider tips and tricks of the watercolor medium, introduce essential materials and techniques, and provide Baerlic beer-themed templates for you to fill in (or create your own masterpiece from a blank canvas)! Enjoy Baerlic brews while you work, and come ready to paint!

All supplies provided; you'll take home a 16-color watercolor paint set, one brush, a coloring book-style design printed on watercolor paper, and any of your own creations made during class.

Learn more about local watercolor artist Amy Wike on instagram @amy_wike or her website at https://www.amywikeillustration.com/

Location: Please note this event takes place at the Baerlic Brewing Alberta location (2223 NE Alberta St).

Celebrate shared community art with Rockwood Common at our Mural Reception and Artist Open House! Tour our lending library of Art will be on display from local crafters, builders, and artists in the community classroom. Hop across the street to Rockwood Market Hall and try one of 12 international eateries from their restaurant incubator.

Reception for our new mural, pop-up local gallery, tours of the Rockwood Tool Library and Community Classroom.

Location: Rockwood Common

An evening of play with Makerspace Sellwood!

Sip & Clay is an open studio-style hand-built ceramics evening. Each guest receives 1lb of clay, access to all tools and glazes. Extra clay available for purchase. Staff available for tips and tricks to support your making. All pieces will be fired in our off-site kiln and can be picked up 2-3 weeks after the event.
A variety of beverages is included in the ticket price, including Brew Dr. Kombucha on tap.

Location: Makerspace Sellwood

About Makerspace Sellwood:

This southeast Portland creative sanctuary offers a variety of robust classes and workshops created for makers of all skill levels! Specializing in letterpress, ceramics, fiber arts, florals, painting, stained glass, and collage, you can always learn something new with Alison, Mackenzie, and the wonderful instructors at Makerspace Sellwood.

Join Giant Janet and Tunnel Vision for a record swap, punk and metal DJs, punk art, a people's choice award for best jacket, and a gathering of the heads. A love letter to old Portland, with some old Portland royalty in the room.

Location: Brujos Brewing

Woolly Sweaters is a Portland Indie/Alt band whose music tiptoes around dark and uncomfortable themes that hide behind upbeat tempos and bouncy melodies. Their songwriter’s lyrics draw you in with a subtle ambiguity that allows the listener to take what they need while still conveying powerful messages of loss, heartbreak, estranged parents, and substance abuse. 

While Woolly Sweaters is a new project, its members are well-established musicians in the PNW music scene. Comprised of a vocalist from a lo-fi chillhop duo, a professional jazz & burlesque drummer, a keyboard/lead guitarist with a background in ska and punk, and a bassist from doom metal and blues bands. All four come together to bring something truly unique and somewhat peculiar.

Location: ADX

Launching into our 23rd season, we continue our mission to MOVE DANCE FORWARD with the creation of NEW WORKS with TWO WORLD PREMIERES and the return of a fan favorite from Artistic Director Sarah Slipper.

The beloved Ihsan Rustem will create a new work for the company alongside a premiere from rising choreographer Akira Uchida whose vibrant creative voice traverses between the concert and commercial dance scenes of Los Angeles and New York.

NW Dance Project has fostered the creation and Portland premiere of nearly 400 original contemporary dance works to date. Our dedication to providing dancers and dance makers the resources and creative room needed to realize new, inspired dance works led Dance International Magazine to proclaim that we are “changing the way dance is created” and that NW Dance Project has become “a laboratory, factory and repository for risk-taking new works from the next generation of choreographers from Europe and North America.”

Sliding scale pricing available starting at $5 for OR and WA SNAP card holders.

Location: Newmark Theatre

Join us for an afternoon of sketching, socializing, and celebrating one and only Jack Black at this themed Drink and Draw. Hosted by Mashall Sharma—a talented sign painter and ADX member who believes we always need more opportunities to create in the company of others—this gathering is all about making art alongside fellow community creatives.

Feel free to come dressed as your favorite Jack Black character, and while a fun drawing prompt will be available, you are completely welcome to follow your own artistic muse and draw whatever you like. We will have iconic Jack Black movies playing in the background to keep the inspiration flowing, and we might even be cooking up some fresh, house-made potato waffles. Enjoy tea, non-alcoholic drinks, or an adult beverage, or feel free to bring your own favorite fall beverage for a good time filled with a heavy dash of Jack Black fun from local enthusiasts.

Location: ADX

Music Craft NW turns the lens on a Portland industry hiding in plain sight: the independent makers building instruments and audio equipment heard on stages around the world.

And here’s the wild part: Portland is the only city in the United States where you could assemble an entire professional backline without leaving town.

As part of ADX Fest, Music Craft NW puts that claim on stage. A live backline built entirely from Northwest-made gear, performances that double as demonstrations, and the people who make it all in the room.

Built Here. Heard Everywhere.

Location: Jupiter Hotel

Designing a Painting: in conversation with Paula Bullwinkel

Paula Bullwinkel is a narrative and figurative painter immersed in absurdist stories she invents. She has exhibited widely, including NYC, Brooklyn, Los Angeles, Oakland, Switzerland and Portland. Born in Northern California, she spent her childhood making miniature clay animals and figures in her mom’s ceramic studio, reading classic fairytales, and playing for hours in the woods with imaginary characters. After earning a B.A. in English literature at UC Berkeley, Bullwinkel spent 18 years in New York City and London as an editorial fashion and portrait photographer. She now paints and lives in Portland, Oregon.

Location: Blackfish Gallery

Launching into our 23rd season, we continue our mission to MOVE DANCE FORWARD with the creation of NEW WORKS with TWO WORLD PREMIERES and the return of a fan favorite from Artistic Director Sarah Slipper.

The beloved Ihsan Rustem will create a new work for the company alongside a premiere from rising choreographer Akira Uchida whose vibrant creative voice traverses between the concert and commercial dance scenes of Los Angeles and New York.

NW Dance Project has fostered the creation and Portland premiere of nearly 400 original contemporary dance works to date. Our dedication to providing dancers and dance makers the resources and creative room needed to realize new, inspired dance works led Dance International Magazine to proclaim that we are “changing the way dance is created” and that NW Dance Project has become “a laboratory, factory and repository for risk-taking new works from the next generation of choreographers from Europe and North America.”

Sliding scale pricing available starting at $5 for OR and WA SNAP card holders

Location: Newmark Theatre

Drawing is a humble and accessible activity that requires you to slow down, use your eyes and hands, and be fully present. Our Sunday Salons happen once a month and offer a unique opportunity to come to the studio and draw! This is for all skill levels, bring your own sketchbook and basic materials (pencils/erasers), sliding scale pricing*. Max 15 people.

These sessions will be made up of a few different stations and will be different each month—a draw from life zone, a conceptual prompt zone, a free draw zone, and contemplation zone that will feature one drawing to look at and think about.

Location: Paisley Studios

Paisley Studios membership program provides a relaxing, focused, and affordable studio home for womxn artists. Since it's founding in 2019, upwards of 60 artists have worked in this shared workspace. Weekly Studio Practice classes offer consistent community and guided instruction in oil, watercolor, acrylic, printmaking, and drawing media and processes. We also host classes with guest teachers and artists, sliding scale drawing salons, and skill-building workshops

Parents/Caregivers: Ask me about bringing along a drawing curious kid!

Have you ever been curious about making your own woodblock prints? Join us for this simple introduction to relief printmaking where we will briefly look at examples of relief printmaking works, demonstrate some craving techniques, carve a small woodblock, and print our blocks together. Minimum 2 students; maximum 12 students.

All materials will be supplied. Small materials fee for supplies included in class fee.

Artist Bio

Wolfe is a queer and nonbinary artist working primarily in painting and printmaking mediums. They have lived in Portland, Oregon for over seven years. Born in Pennsylvania and raised in South Carolina, Wolfe has lived in various cities across the States before settling in the lush corner of the Pacific Northwest. Wolfe’s artwork is represented year-round at Alberta Street Gallery, where they are a co-operative member and the currently elected Gallery Coordinator.

Location: ADX

See the award-winning short documentary featuring a beloved Portland icon, then join a post-screening walking tour to view the Thompson Elk and other monuments that shape the story of our city.

Film begins at 4:00pm.

Tour Begins at 5:00pm.

About the Film: The Elk - 30 min Documentary 

As protest consumed Portland, Ore. in 2020, the city removed a beloved elk sculpture for safekeeping. Six years later, the elk is the first of the city's damaged monuments to return, and the only sculpture without controversy. But in a city that never really stopped protesting, people remain divided over why the elk went away—and what it means for the dinged-up but refurbished symbol to finally return. Set in an American city reckoning with its symbols of westward expansion, the unfolding fate of the elk and the other sculptures tells the story of a nation divided over who and what belongs on a pedestal. 

About the Walking Tour:

Tour guide Sarah Gilbert of Around Portland Tours is a featured participant in the film, The Elk. Sarah is a writer and bicycle evangelist, and has worked in the hiking tourism industry for over a decade. Join Sarah and Director Erika Bolstad on a localized tour of downtown Portland monuments, including the Thompson Elk. The tour is free and starts immediately after the screening and Q&A for The Elk, outside the Portland Art Museum.

Location: PAMCUT’s Whitsell Audiotorium at Portland Art Museum

Join the Overcast Animation Collective as we celebrate Halloween! Help us raise funds to be able to bring 'My Friend Blue' to as many audiences as possible. Together, we'll be able to add closed captioning, Spanish and other language dubs, and even an ASL interpreter! 

The party starts at 6pm. We'll have refreshments, a bake sale, face painting, and fall crafts. The costume contest winners will be announced at 8:30! Please keep your costumes family appropriate. We can't wait to see you there!

Location: ADX

Launching a Bigger, Better HERE

I'm one of thousands of Portlanders who loves this city and its independent businesses. HERE is a new organization for all the Portland businesses we run and love. It's for those who hung out a shingle, opened a shop, started a studio, or just decided to stay and make it work here.

Until now, that love has been fragmented. Yes, we declare it in where we shop and eat, in following our bands and in frequenting our markets. But we've never had a place for businesses to stand up together to say: we started here, we're staying here, we're opening doors for the next generation. 

That's why the new HERE is launching at a PCXN gathering: PCXN is over a thousand of us building Portland's creative economy. HERE is what comes next: a free badge, a directory, more gatherings, and a referral network that turns our love for Portland into visibility, connection, and authentic business relationships.

Come be part of the public launch of the new HERE. If you're just getting started, you'll find visibility and real relationships with Portland's most established businesses. If you've already made it here, you can put your Portland roots to work. Either way, you'll be helping build something new: a place where all of us can rally our love for Portland, its independent businesses, and the amazing people who make Portland Portland.  

Location: ADX

Join sign painter Mashall Sharma on Thursday, October 29th from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM at ADX for a relaxed, hands-on Casual Practice workshop designed as a low-stakes introductory gateway into traditional sign painting. Limited to just 8 participants for personalized instruction, this $65 workshop includes all supplies and focuses on practicing Casual style lettering—a foundational, traditional style prized for its fluid, hand-painted charm.

Mashall will guide you through the mechanics of the craft, including fundamental brush techniques, managing paint consistency, and mastering stroke pressure, so please wear paint-worthy clothes and comfy shoes as you get comfortable with the tools and enjoy the rhythm of practice alongside fellow lettering enthusiasts of all skill levels.

Synth Library Portland presents a Halloween open house party!

Visit our studio in the Eastside Exchange building to meet our volunteers, hear about our electronic music educational programs, and enjoy DJ sets and live synthesizer re-scoring of spooky and scary films.

6-10 pm, Saturday, October 31st. All ages, $5. 123 NE 3rd Ave, Suite 12, Portland, OR 97232. Synthlibraryportland.org