It is you final weekend to catch Italian Style at PAM, Hakkodo at the Japanese Garden as well as Italian Style at PAM, Hakkodo at the Japanese Garden as well as Julie Alpert at the Archer Gallery. These are my picks for this weekend art wise:

Megan Whitmash at Reading Frenzy

Sunday afternoon Jennifer Armbrust (PORT co-founder) and her co-curator Michelle Blade present Feminist Bookstore at Reading Frenzy. Artists; Lisa Anne Auerbach, Michelle Blade, Alika Cooper, Edie Fake, Sara Greenberger Rafferty, Whitney Hubbs, Jessica Hutchins, Jessie Rose Vala and Megan Whitmarsh have re-imagined covers of feminist classics. On Sunday 1-3PM you are encouraged to bring in your own feminist classics and create your own custom dust cover with supplies on hand. All covers created during the event will be scanned and posted on feministlibrary.org

According to the press release, "Drawing attention to the role of feminist thinking in artistic practice, Feminist Bookstore celebrates the contribution of writers, theorists and intellectuals. Each artist created a custom dust jacket for a book that has shaped their life, work, or way of being. These jackets will be displayed on the original books, inviting viewer to engage not just with the art, but with the texts themselves."

Feminist Library | May 1-31
Dust Jacket Event: Sunday May 3, 1 - 4PM
Reading Frenzy
3628 N. Mississippi Ave



Acanthus, lacquered bowl by Naoko Goto

Dont miss the last weekend to catch 4 generations of the Goto family's lacquer work in Hakkodo, The Artisans of Kamakura. It is also a reunion of sorts since Unkyu Goto won the Gold Medal for outstanding Craftsmanship in Portland's 1905 World's Fair. There is a reason the Japanese Garden has put on the strongest craft shows in the city for several years now and this is no exception.

In a rare move a woman, Keiko Goto is now head of the family's workshop while her younger sister Naoko has opened a more moder solo practice. Definitely check it out, besides the Japanese Garden itself is sublime and a top shelf experience. The sheer scope of the exhibition with its exquisite craft presents a living continuity that a lot of artisanal crafts have trouble with (trendy retro might seem "authentic" but the genuine is the real thing that "authentic" makes pretenses of being but is not). This doesn't feel antiquarian so much as an exquisite family reunion. I'll have more on this but since it is such a lovely weekend go to the garden.

Hakkodo, The Artisans of Kamakura | April 10 - May 3
Portland Japanese Garden
611 SW Kingston Avenue"