Oregon Art Beat
Yeehaw for all: How photographer Ivan McClellan’s vision brought a Black rodeo boom to Portland
The founder of the Eight Seconds Rodeo and renowned photographer of Black cowboy and cowgirl culture reflects on Portland's first Juneteenth Rodeo three years ago ahead of its 2025 show.
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Beaverton baker blends Vietnamese and American cultures to create artistic cakes
Vietnamese American baker and cake decorator Helen Hồng Nguyễn uses her skills to create intricate desserts that highlight her Asian heritage.
Oregon City sculptor welds life and dreams into scrap metal
Travis Pond is a metalsmith who sees something special in salvaged metal, giving everything from flatware to tractor parts a new life as intricate sculptures.
Ashes to rainbows: The art of Alice Lok Cahana is featured at the Oregon Jewish Museum
Alice Lok Cahana survived the Nazi Holocaust, moved to the US and became a successful painter. Her multi-dimensional work explores the trauma of her time at the camps and offers a glimpse of hope and survival, turning “ashes into rainbows.” Her son, Rabbi Ronnie Cahana, is a poet and his daughter Kitra Chana, is an acclaimed photographer. The new show at the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education presents work by these three generations of artists, looking at the concept of immortality through art. Survival and Intimations of Immortality runs through May 25th at the OJMCHE in Portland.
Discovering tiny magical pop-up castles in Cornelius, Oregon
Uli Kirchler carves whimsical telescoping castles out of gnarly pieces of burl wood. He says he collaborates with nature, coaxing magic from wood.
New art exhibits commemorate 50 years of Vietnamese culture in Oregon
April 30, 2025 will mark the 50th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, and for Van Le and Allen Luong, it’s the perfect time to acknowledge an important moment for the Vietnamese community, and also looking forward to a brighter future.
Portland-based photographer Esther Godoy wants you to know ‘Butch is Not a Dirty Word’
Esther Godoy’s project “Butch is Not a Dirty Word” is the “world’s largest media resource dedicated to Butch identity, visibility and voice.”
Ralph Pugay’s paintings make us laugh in a good way
Ralph Pugay says his paintings reveal “something catastrophic happening, but I see them as allegories for general questions about consciousness and life."
Reflecting on a year of art in Oregon
As the year comes to a close, all of us on Art Beat take a moment to look back on time spent with artists we met in 2024.
Finding hygge in Hood River with artist Nancy Houfek Brown
Hygge, a Danish concept that captures warmth and coziness, reflects the natural beauty of seasonal change in Hood River. During this holiday season, a monthlong series of art showings are being offered in Hood River, serving up hygge atmospheres.
The pen and the pony: How this Oregon cartoonist shaped US politics and introduced Arabian horses to America
Each summer in Silverton, Oregon, the local community packs Main Street for a festival to celebrate their favorite son: renowned political cartoonist Homer Davenport.
