Oregon Arts Watch

ArtsWatch is a non-profit organization dedicated to journalism in the arts and culture sector. It focuses on examining the arts and how they connect with the broader cultural landscape in Oregon and the Northwest region.

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The bouyant absurdity of ‘Melancholy Play’

1 week ago | orartswatch.org | Linda Ferguson |Oregon ArtsWatch

Who knew sadness could be so spirit-lifting? One of the most blissful things about Blinking Eye Theatre’s buoyantly absurd production of Melancholy Play is that the performers seemed to be enjoying themselves as much as the audience did.
Fertile Ground: Homegrown plays, west of the hills

1 week ago | orartswatch.org | Brett Campbell |Oregon ArtsWatch

Despite the considerable populations of Beaverton, Hillsboro and other Washington County towns, it’s been rare to find plays written by Oregonians staged west of the Tualatin Mountains. That’s changing, thanks in part to the rebooted Fertile Ground Festival of New Works’ recent emphasis on neighborhood hubs.
‘You Can’t Be Serious’: Andrea Parson’s solo show inspired by her sister’s death comes to Astoria

1 week ago | orartswatch.org | Lori Tobias |Oregon ArtsWatch

In 2020, choreographer and performer Andrea Parson learned her 31-year-old sister, Christina, had been diagnosed with stage four metastatic breast cancer. COVID had just begun upending life as we knew it, but for Parson, it turned out to be something of a blessing. The NW Dance Project she had been with for 12 years closed, giving the lifelong dancer “six amazing, beautiful months” with her younger sister.
Catherine E. Coulson: ‘The Log Lady’ and so much more

1 week ago | orartswatch.org | Jim Flint |Oregon ArtsWatch

The Ashland Independent Film Festival is set to honor one of Ashland’s most beloved artists with the Oregon premiere of I Know Catherine, The Log Lady, a deeply personal documentary celebrating the life and legacy of Catherine E. Coulson. The film will screen four times at the festival, which runs April 24-27. It will debut at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 24, and an audience Q&A will follow, led by director-producer Richard Green. Additional showings are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Friday, April 25; 10:20 .m.
A farewell to James Edmondson, longtime star at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival

1 week ago | orartswatch.org | Jim Flint |Oregon ArtsWatch

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, suffering the loss of a second distinguished alumnus in the span of little more than a week, flew its flag at half-mast in honor of the two men. James Edmondson, an actor, director, and educator with more than 38 seasons at OSF, was born in Montrose, Colorado, on June 29, 1938, and died at home in Ashland on April 2, 2025, only eight days after the death of Tony-nominated and fellow OSF veteran Denis Arndt.
A sense of awesomeness: Organist Paul Jacobs in Eugene

2 weeks ago | orartswatch.org | Angela Allen |Oregon ArtsWatch

EUGENE, Ore. – Paul Jacobs is a very serious musician. Who else would memorize all of J.S. Bach’s organ works and play them non-stop for 18 hours, sustaining himself with water, a measly cup of pudding, and his adoration of Bach? He staged that feat 24 years ago in 2000 when he commemorated the 250th anniversary of Bach’s death, and he made history. Jacobs, now 48, is the only organist to have won a Grammy Award.
Oregon Ballet Theatre’s ‘Marilyn’, the consideration of icons, and the influence of old Hollywood

2 weeks ago | orartswatch.org | Amy Leona Havin |Oregon ArtsWatch

Oregon Ballet Theatre’s contemporary world premiere Marilyn, created and choreographed by Artistic Director Dani Rowe, promises an untold look at the life of Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe through the lens of the actress. A co-production with BalletMet and Tulsa Ballet, it opened April 4 at downtown Portland’s Newmark Theater, continues through April 13, and features an original music score by OBT composer and former San Francisco Ballet dancer Shannon Rugani.
Spark Plug: Taking risks, building trust

2 weeks ago | orartswatch.org | Brett Campbell |Oregon ArtsWatch

Like so many other remote-working coffee shop laptop jockeys, Amanda Clark had been frequenting her favorite coffee shop, Beaverton’s Ki Coffee, for years. One day a few years ago, she remembers, “I looked at their back room with fresh eyes and wondered — what if we transformed that back room into a performance space?” She proposed the idea to the owner, a serious local arts supporter. “Hell yes!!” came the instant reply.
Portland essayist William Deresiewicz talks good news, bad news, and the effect of solitude

3 weeks ago | orartswatch.org | Amy Leona Havin |Oregon ArtsWatch

“There’s bad news, there’s good news, and there’s bad news about the good news,” author, essayist, and educator William Deresiewicz told me over coffee on Portland’s Northeast Alberta Street. Deresiewicz is a winner of the Dallas Institute’s Hiett Prize in the Humanities and author of more than 300 essays and books, including Excellent Sheep, The Death of the Artist, The End of Solitude, and a forthcoming memoir about his Jewish identity.
LEGO, vampires, cruise ships & Quonset huts: Q&A with Skylab Architecture’s Jeff Kovel

3 weeks ago | orartswatch.org | Brian Libby |Oregon ArtsWatch

Portland’s Skylab Architecture has perhaps the most distinctive fingerprint of any local firm, its diverse projects united by eye-catching angles, futuristic style and an embrace of landscape. Founded by architect Jeff Kovel in 1999, Skylab initially designed hot-spot restaurants and clubs, including 2004’s retro-chic Doug Fir in the Central Eastside, then 2009’s Departure Lounge, a contemporary penthouse added to downtown’s historic Meier & Frank building.