Into the Mystic: this week, artist Grisha Bruskin and writer Lidia Yuknavitch lead us along their paths for spiritual truth. Bruskin - fresh off the Venice Biennale, makes huge tapestries are the centerpiece of a a new museum in Portland. Yuknavitch has one of the hot reads for summer: a re-imagining of Joan of Arc as a savior for a dystopian future. Also: Robin Bacior's dark, lithe melodies for an Aquarian summer, and we catch up with a philanthropist who's creating museums at Northwest college...
Jun 09, 2017•53 min
To say it was a tough week… doesn’t really seem to cover it. Portland is still reeling from the stabbing that badly shook up the city’s sense of relative safety and tolerance. Book lovers said a painful goodbye to one of the strongest and most prolific regional writers. Today we offer up thoughts for strength and solidarity, as we ponder how community is pulling people together in all manner of tough situations.
Jun 02, 2017•52 min
Grab your passport and sunglasses because we are going on an intercontinental adventure. We will journey to the amazon to discover the secret history of Wonder Woman, hop over to New Orleans to hear the funk-soul of Tank and the Bangas, and fly home to Portland to hear about the clown that inspired "The Simpsons" character Krusty the Clown. Could Holograms Bring the Universe to a Classroom Near You? - 24:55 A virtual trip to the pyramids? An interactive hologram of the solar system? Virtual real...
May 27, 2017•51 min
In anticipation for Wordstock 2017, which announced its return on Nov. 11, we take a step into the time machine and revisit last year's wordsmiths. The big news is that the subject of one of their books, a musician you might know from the soles of his shows, is coming to Oregon. Peter Ames Carlin on Paul Simon Peter Ames Carlin has written about some of the most iconic musicians of the 20th century — Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson — and his new book is no excepti...
May 20, 2017•53 min
We're digging deep this week into all of your burning questions. What does it take to craft gigantic puppets for Broadway? Does art history as we know it need a drastic makeover? And how exactly did a small record label in Vancouver, Wash. come across new music from Prince that has them in a battle with the Purple One's estate? Local Puppet Legend Michael Curry Conjures the Myth of Persephone with the Oregon Symphony - 1:24 This weekend, the Oregon Symphony will wade into the wonderful world of ...
May 12, 2017•52 min
Want to be transported to another place? A place where the sun hides behind the moon, where horror and history collide in a famous old hotel on top of a mountain, where The Underground Railroad is an actual steam engine on an actual underground track, and where the enslaved animals in the Flinstones finally get their due? Take a listen this week and be whisked away to another realm.
May 04, 2017•52 min
It’s Design Week in Portland! The week when all of the makers, the tallest and the smallest, get together to talk about the looks they love, the technology they’re using, and the newest concepts and products they're dreaming up. From streetwear to downtown Portland to sporting goods to candy, everything's on the drawing board. We started out the festival last week with a live Think Out Loud show at the Redd, an old industrial building in Southeast Portland that's serving as DWP's headquarters. T...
Apr 28, 2017•51 min
We meet the contenders for the general nonfiction category: Tracy Daugherty, Andi Zeisler, Kathleen Dean Moore, Bill Lascher, and Sue Armitage.
Apr 21, 2017•53 min
Chuck Close Portraits Heat Up The Pendleton Art Scene It's not every day that a small town arts center gets to pick works from a blue chip artist like it's checking out library books, but that's basically how this show came to be. Sam Hamilton Brings His Films And More To PAM's APEX Gallery The fresh face at Portland Art Museum is Grace Kook-Anderson, the new curator of Northwest art. It’s her job to make sure the museum reflects regional work, but she also has a strong feel for contemporary art...
Apr 14, 2017•52 min
Twenty years ago, Elliott Smith opened a door into a hypnotic new world. The album, “Either/Or”, released on Kill Rock Stars records, marks a turning point in Smith’s transition from Portland rock journeyman to international star. This time had enormous consequences for Smith personally and professionally. But it also gave us heart-stopping music that continues to inspire fans and musicians all over the world. We sat down with Smith’s friends, peers, and a live studio audience to talk about “Eit...
Apr 07, 2017•44 min
As a girl, Laini Taylor wanted to be a writer. She would dream up magical worlds filled with witches and monsters. But once she got into high school and college, she started reading literature — all those serious books about the real world that serious people read. And she stopped writing. “I had no life experience,” she laughs. “And really nothing to say. I felt a lack of ability to contribute to that body of work.” Then years later, she read a little book you might’ve heard of. Harry Potter? A...
Apr 01, 2017•27 min
Spring Break is upon us, and we are embarking on an adventure. We will be slaying beasts in the fantastical world of novelist Laini Taylor (that have surprising real world parallels), exploring the haunted house of YouTube superstar Sunshine Girl, traveling to SXSW to discover infectious new bands, and trekking to the grand opening of the Portland Japanese Garden. The Portland Japanese Garden Unveils World-Class Expansion - 1:23 The Portland Japanese Garden was already considered one of the best...
Apr 01, 2017•50 min
Apr 01, 2017•9 min
Jack Perrin is not your typical science teacher. “I really love hands on stuff,” he told me last month when I visited him in White Salmon, Washington. “If kids can use their hands, learning goes a lot deeper.” Perrin was my science and math teacher all through grade and high school at a small private school in the Western Colorado town of Paonia. He caught my attention right away, when he introduced a course titled 'bubble-ology' to my second grade class. By the time I was in high school, his le...
Mar 26, 2017•7 min
Ever passed a gallery and seen something that looked interesting through the window, but found yourself thinking "I could never afford it" or "I probably wouldn't get it?" Well, you're not alone. "Galleries can be really intimidating places—I'm sometimes intimidated to walk in," says artist and writer Jennifer Rabin, which is saying a lot, given that she's paid to know art. Since 2015, she's been the visual art critic at "Willamette Week," although she will depart at the end of March. After watc...
Mar 25, 2017•11 min
This week we are all about change. From feminist art wikipedia editing parties to a young composer calling for a revitalization of classical music, Portland artists and musicians challenge the canon. March Sadness Update - 00:57 Last week we introduced you to March Sadness: the tournament of heartbreakers, grim reapers, and other incredibly sad songs to get you through the end of winter. We asked you to vote on which tracks you found most gut-wrenching, and we are down to the final two: "And the...
Mar 24, 2017•51 min
Greg Ewer of 45th Parallel and Tristan Bliss talk about digging deep to resolve an online spat and forge a deeper conversation about welcoming new audiences for classical music.
Mar 24, 2017•10 min
Jayanthi Raman has been staging Internationally renown shows in Portland for nearly 30 years. This one had a small hiccup.
Mar 24, 2017•5 min
We talk with Eutectic Gallery's Brett Binford about the onset of NCECA in Portland this week.
Mar 18, 2017•9 min
Rack up the brackets: we are in the midst of a tournament to find the most sorrowful of songs! Elliott Smith or Franz Schubert? Billie Holiday or the Pogues? Dive in and simmer in the sad.
Mar 18, 2017•14 min
Questions? We've got questions: What if you could look inside a building before it is even built? How is it that sad songs actually make you happy? If you could own a haunted armoire, would you stand in line in the rain for eight hours? Would you have liked science class more if it involved bubbles? And what happens when a symphony teams up with a tech company?
Mar 18, 2017•52 min
During a rehearsal in Northwest Dance Project’s light-filled Portland studio for a new adaptation of “Carmen,” set in part in ‘50’s-era beauty salons, the company is trying to observe one of childhood’s cardinal rules: never run with scissors. “That’s a good point: Where are they going to be when you’re running?” resident choreographer Ihsan Rustem says when dancer Kody Jauron asks how to incorporate a menacing pair of shears that are over a foot long into the choreography. “I’m wearing a lot of...
Mar 13, 2017•11 min
This week, a transformational garden yields find treasures, a dance company whips a classic into an ebullient, glamorous new form, and we sway with two bands that double-dog-dare you to peg their eclectic styles.
Mar 11, 2017•50 min
Two artists on impermanence, their process, and the joys of the 8 x 10 view camera.
Mar 04, 2017•9 min
Ever find yourself lost in Shakespeare's flowery prose? A new project helps translate his writing into modern English. We also delve into a devastating scandal in the jazz community and take a trip across America on a bicycle with National Book Award–winning author Colum McCann.
Mar 03, 2017•52 min
The bandleader who drove students to top-level performances is served an indictment for sex abuse charges.
Mar 02, 2017•8 min
Artist Leila Del Duca is wrapping up her amazing series with Joe Keatinge, "Shutter". We talk to her about her new YA graphic novel with Georgian Kit Seaton, "Afar".
Feb 25, 2017•8 min
The crocuses are popping up, and this week's show blossoms with new music, new technology, dazzling comics, and so much more! Artists Will Transform Your World with Virtual Reality - 1:20 Imagine a gallery where you can step into a painting, fly through the ceiling to the heaven’s above, or learn a dance from a virtual flamingo. It’s not a world far off. Virtual and augmented reality stand to transform the art world, and the tech incubator Oregon Story Board is on the front lines. We scoped out ...
Feb 25, 2017•52 min
Imagine a gallery where you can step into a painting, fly through the ceiling to the heaven’s above, or learn a dance from a virtual flamingo. It’s not a world far off. Virtual and augmented reality stand to transform the art world, and the tech incubator Oregon Story Board is on the front lines. As a December snowstorm raged around OSB’s office in downtown Portland, the artist Kristin Lucas was dreaming of flamingos. “I’m interested in making an augmented reality experience for the HoloLens,” s...
Feb 24, 2017•7 min
Feb 23, 2017•18 min
