2016 was a difficult year institutionally for the Portland art scene but it seems like a new guard is rising... one which acknowledges the importance of new media as craft oriented and worthy of resources, awards etc. To that end perhaps no development is as noteworthy as the restructuring of Portland Community Media into Open Signal as a resource for artists, filmmakers and other new media developers. With equipment, fully stocked studios and a simple process for being able to use that gear Open Signal is just what the rapidly less affordable Portland needs to keep its creative edge. They've partially renovated the building (its a multi-staged process) to better serve this more open mission so come to their first Open House this weekend. Whats more they join PICA in an area on the East Side as part of a growing new arts district in close-in Northern East-side Portland between MLK and Williams Ave. Come tour the facility and meet the excellent staff. There will be free food and drink, courtesy of Sizzle Pie, Lagunitas, Ninkasi Brewing Company and Two Towns Ciderhouse.

Open House | February 25 4-10PM
Open Signal
2766 NE Martin Luther King Jr Blvd






Tad Savinar , Survival (2006) *note that's a pre-Portlandia bird on it

There have been numerous talks on the subject but the latest, Responsibility and Relevance: The Role of the Artist in an Ever-Changing Contemporary World should be worth a trip up into the West Hills (and you can catch Tad Savinar's exhibition at the Hoffman too).

Somewhat more academic and multi- disciplinary than some of the panels on the subject "Responsibility and Relevance" features panelists; Samiya Bashir (poet and assistant professor of creative writing, Reed College), Eleonora Beck, James W. Rogers (Professor of Music and director of musicology, Lewis & Clark College), Jon Raymond (novelist and screenwriter), Tad Savinar (visual artist, urban planner, playwright, and director), Luan Schooler (director of new play development and dramaturgy, Artists Repertory Theatre)and the Moderator is Randy Gragg. True it would have been interesting to add in a younger rabble rousing artist like Tabitha Nikolai, Victor Maldonado or Ryan Pierce into this mix but I am all for exploring this subject as many times and ways as possible. It isn't a one and done situation.

Responsibility and Relevance: The Role of the Artist in an Ever-Changing Contemporary World | February 26, 3PM, Miller 105
Ronna and Eric Hoffman Gallery of Contemporary Art
Lewis & Clark College
0615 S.W. Palatine Hill Road