Peruse local artwork at Alberta Street Gallery in Northeast Portland.

Credit: NashCO

Arts

Galleries, public art, events and avant-garde institutions fill Portland’s vibrant arts scene.

Peruse local artwork at Alberta Street Gallery in Northeast Portland.

Credit: NashCO

Art gallery wanderers, theater lovers and those with a curious eye will find something to marvel at in Portland. Read on to learn more about the city’s arts offerings, then check out our events calendar to plan your next trip to The Rose City.

The monthly First Thursday art walk in the Pearl District

Monthly Art Walks in Portland

Explore Portland's art gallery scene with three regular art walks, held in different creative neighborhoods around town.

$Crowds gather at February\'s Portland International Film Festival.$

Portland Film Festivals

Portland hosts more than 20 film festivals every year. Here's an overview of some of the city's top cinematic events.

Portland actor Vin Shambry performs at a Back Fence PDX event.

Live Storytelling Events in Portland

Hear true stories about love, sex, history, movies and even middle school at six regular live storytelling events in Portland.

The Portland Book Festival

Portland Book Festival (formerly “Wordstock”) returns every November with an impressive (and extensive) lineup of local and national authors.

Portland Saturday Market

Open every Saturday and Sunday from March–December, Portland Saturday Market is the largest arts-and-crafts fair in the U.S.

Coho Productions presents artist-driven plays in their homey 99-seat theater.

Fertile Ground Festival

See Portland's newest theater and dance works every January at Portland's Fertile Ground Festival.

Artist Shannon Carlson works in her Southeast Portland studio.

Portland Open Studios

For two weekends every October, Portland Open Studios invites visitors to explore the houses and offices of artists across the city.

Time-Based Art (TBA) Festival

Portland's Time-Based Art (TBA) Festival, returning Sept. 5–15, 2019, unites visual artists, musicians and performers from around the world every year.

$Jim Pepper\'s saxophone at the National Museum of the American Indian.$

The Jim Pepper Native Arts Festival

Portland saxophonist Jim Pepper's "Witchi Tai To" is the only song based upon a Native American chant to break into the Top 40.

The Portland Spirit floats by Tilikum Crossing during the Winter Light Festival.

Portland Winter Light Festival

Brighten your February with glowing sculptures and thousands of twinkling lights at the annual Winter Lights Festival.

$This local springtime festival showcases the city\'s dynamic creative community.$

Design Week Portland

This annual springtime festival showcases Portland's creative community, with a week full of lectures, design events and open houses.

All Jane founder Stacey Hallal performs at Curious Comedy.

All Jane Comedy Festival

Portland's five-day comedy festival showcases nearly 50 female comedians each October.

$Catch live performances all week long during Portland\'s annual Jazz Festival, which draws musicians from around the city and the world together.$

Portland Jazz Festival

The Portland Jazz Festival returns every February with a stellar series of concerts and events celebrating Black History Month.

POW Film Fest

Every March, POW Film Fest returns to showcase films by female and non-binary directors from the Portland area.

Visual Arts in Portland

View paintings, sculptures and other visual art in a wide range of galleries, public spaces and unexpected venues.

Explore more

$The Portland Art Museum\'s two buildings are separated by a public sculpture garden.$

Portland Art Museum

The Portland Art Museum is central to the city's cultural district, housing a large and wide-ranging collection of artworks.

Disjecta Contemporary Art Center

The North Portland art center's offerings range from visual art installations to collaborations with bands like the Shins.

Artworks by contemporary Oregon Native artists on view in Thlatwa Thlatwa: Indigenous Currents.

Center for Native American Art

The Portland Art Museum's Center for Contemporary Native Art showcases the work of modern-day Native American artists.

Blue Sky Gallery / Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts

Founded as the Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts in 1975, Blue Sky is a venue for local photography. The organization has expanded its offerings over the last 35 years to include national and international artists.
Russo Lee Gallery

Established in 1986, the Russo Lee Gallery exhibits high-quality work by both established and emerging artists. They showcase contemporary Northwest artists working in a variety of media, including painting, sculpture, paper and print.
Guardino Gallery

Since 1997, the Guardino Gallery has offered exhibitions that change every month and a gift shop with a fine selection of contemporary crafts.
Land Gallery

This eclectic gallery and gift shop in North Portland showcases independent artists.
Nationale

Nationale is an art gallery and specialty shop dedicated to the promotion of the arts through exhibitions, performances and a selection of carefully chosen goods.

A scene from Portland Center Stage’s 2019 production of ”In the Heights.“

Portland Theater

Portland has a well-established network of venues and theater companies and an increasingly dynamic and diverse small theater scene.

$Oregon Ballet Theatre\'s Swan Lake.$

Dance in Portland

Portland dance has an inventive spirit that welcomes collaborations and often spills beyond the generally accepted boundaries of “dance.”

$Roald Dahl\'s The BFG at Northwest Children\'s Theater$

Children’s Theater

Portland's children's theater companies introduce kids to live theater and teaches them people in costumes are fun, not scary.

Literary Portland

This book-friendly city is home to an annual book festival and the world's largest independent bookstore.

Turn the page

Portland Center Stage at The Armory

The city's largest theater company, Portland Center Stage puts on full musicals and productions on its main stage, along with stripped-down, avant-garde plays in its intimate basement studio — both inside The Armory, a historic building.
Imago Theatre

Founded in 1979, Imago Theatre features original productions that have toured internationally for decades. Imago’s productions (from classics to excursions into vaudevillian existentialism) have won acclaim around the world and at home in Portland.
Artists Repertory Theatre

Founded in 1982, Artists Repertory Theatre is the longest-running professional theater company in Portland. Artists Rep’s mission is to engage diverse audiences in fresh, thought-provoking and intimate theater.
Third Rail Repertory Theatre

Third Rail Repertory Theatre, a permanent ensemble of highly skilled theatre artists, is dedicated to pushing our audiences and ourselves to the edge of the comfort zone, the zone of the tickle, the chuckle, the gasp, and the ache.
CoHo Theatre

After 21 seasons, this theater boasts over 90 co-productions, including more than 20 world premieres. CoHo’s seasons have represented master playwrights, while also providing a forum for local Portland playwrights.

The Portland Hip-Hop Scene

Take a deep dive into the past, present and future of Portland's hip-hop scene with our expert guide to the best performers, showcases, stores and more.

Live music performances abound this spring in Portland, including Oregon Symphony. Photo by Leah Nash.

Classical Music in Portland

Portland's opera, symphony and other companies offer an ongoing lineup of inspiring performances, from timeless works to modern interpretations.

Local jazz legend Mel Brown drums up a storm with his combo The Mel Brown Quartet.

Portland Jazz

In Portland, it's pretty easy to find small venues hosting intimate combos of world-class talent, or bigger, more boffo live shows.

Bury the Hatchet: Prayer for My P’ah-Be

Portland Art Museum Included With Admission

Bury the Hatchet is artist John Hitchcock’s mixed-media, cross-disciplinary, multisensory installation. Hitchcock combines his interests in printmaking, rock ’n’ roll, and Kiowa and Comanche history into one visual expression that offers a retelling of the narrative of the American frontier. Bury the Hatchet explores issues of assimilation, acculturation, and indoctrination through oral history and music….