New Oregon Arts & Letters (formerly 2GQ)

TSA GALLERY: COMING TO A GARDEN NEAR YOU.

Some of Oregon's most interesting art, music, and performance over the decades has unfolded in the basements, backyards, and unsanctioned public spaces, encouraging homegrown creativity to make itself happen far from the restrictions and expectations of formal venues. In this spirit, the Temporary Semi-Autonomous Gallery series explores the confluence of public, private, and domestic space. 

TSA launches in July with Meg McHutchison's "the garden of broken (beloved) objects" and continues with Gary Wiseman's new work "Monument (Couldn't Have Done It Without You)." The series is curated by fellow artist Tiffany Lee Brown of presenting organization New Oregon Arts & Letters...

UPCOMING STUFF YOU SHOULD CARE ABOUT

From our April 2010 email update. Sign up now to receive one in your very own inbox every month or so.

April-May: the Easter Island Project goes to South America + the South Pacific

July: Artist Dinner Series talk
First Friday opening of the TSA Gallery: Meg McHutchison

August: TSA Gallery showing artist Gary Wiseman

Keep reading for all the details...

DINNER SERIES: EAT, TALK, ART.

Whaddowe love as much as making art? Talkin' about it! Oh, and drinking. And food. All at once.

Thus, Linda Austin and Tahni Holt present the 2010 Artist Dinner Series: six dinners featuring conversations with twelve different artists. At each supper, you'll find under twenty guests, along with food, wine, and dessert. Dietary restrictions are accommodated. 

Reserve a spot early for July 24, when New Oregon Executive Imperatrix Tiffany Lee Brown and Plazm magazine Art Director Joshua Berger (pictured left) are the guests. Expect a knock-down, drag-out sparring match as these two artists—who may or may not also be, uhh, shall we say, intimately involved with each other—discuss the creative process. Watch out for shrapnel!

Get your reservations (and the secret location of your dinner) by emailing hello@tahniholt.com.

February 27: Angelle Hebert + Angela Fair  •  March 20: Linda Austin + Kristan Kennedy
April 24: Tahni Holt + Ethan Rose  •  May 22: Cydney Wilkes + Lisa Radon
June 26: David Eckard + Linda K. Johnson  •  July 24: Tiffany Lee Brown + Joshua Berger

PIMP OUT YR ZOMBIES FOR ANABEL, featuring Soriah

PIMP OUT YOUR DEAD (a benefit for Anabel Ramirez) this Friday in Portland features the one and only Soriah, along with Unknown Pleasures and the delightful Synchronicity Frequency, plus DJ's and zombie pimps & ho's.

100% of the proceeds from the door, auction and raffle will be going to help pay for Anabel's medical bills. She does not have insurance and is currently undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer. Come dressed in your pimped out dead best, if you want, and bring your hos with you (or just acquire some while you're there!)

Anabel was Chair of the Board o' Directrices for our originating nonprofit org, 2 Gyrlz Performative Arts, and we love her.

Friday, November 20, 2009 at 9:00pm, Bossanova 722 East Burnside PDX
Facebook event link right here

GREG HIGGINS, NAOMI POMEROY, & MORE: FOOD CONVERSATION WITH NEW OREGON INTERVIEW SERIES

What do Portlanders love even more than bikes, rain, and books? Food and drink, of course! Join us Monday, October 26th, for live interviews and conversation with chefs and culinary entrepreneurs from Higgins (Greg Higgins), Beast (Naomi Pomeroy), and Stumptown (Matt Lounsbury).

It's all part of the New Oregon Interview Series with host Nora Robertson.

October 26
Urban Grind East
2214 NE Oregon Street
7 to 9 pm. Admission $5.

TIFFANY LEE BROWN ON NPR/OPB THIS WEDNESDAY

New Oregon director Tiffany Lee Brown will be a guest on the Oregon Public Broadcasting show Think Out Loud on Wednesday, October 14, 2009. The show airs live 9:00-10:00 a.m. on National Public Radio stations throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington.

TOL welcomes your online comments and live calls to the show. So get on the horn and ask an intelligent, nice question or share your story! The online discussion is already underway. During the show, call 888-665-5TOL (or 665-5865), or email comments to thinkoutloud ((at)) opb.org .

FOOD IN PORTLAND

What do Portlanders love even more than bikes, rain, and books? Food and drink, of course! Join us Monday, October 26th, for live interviews and conversation with chefs and culinary entrepreneurs from Higgins, Beast, and Stumptown Coffee.

It's all part of the New Oregon Interview Series with host Nora Robertson. Pictured here: September's event featuring Adrienne Flagg of IFCC, Linda Austin of Performance Works NW, and Beth Harper of Portland Actors Conservatory. Photo by Steven Fritz.

• June 24th, 2009: Music
• July 29th: Film
• August 26th: Books
• September 30th: Performance
• October 26th: Food
• November 11th: Visual art
• January 27th, 2010: Fashion
• February 24th: Urban planning

At Urban Grind East, 2214 NE Oregon Street, 7 to 9 pm. Admission $5.Details, MP3's of previous events, and other good stuff at 2GQ.org/neworegon.html.

NEW OREGON FILM NIGHT

AN EVENING OF CONVERSATION WITH THREE PORTLAND FILMMAKERS

HOST NORA ROBERTSON WITH ARTHUR BRADFORD, ALISSA NICOLE CREAMER AND ANDY BLUBAUGH

 The New Oregon Interview Series brought three prominent filmmakers together for an evening of intimate conversation. MTV’s How’s Your News? creator Arthur Bradford, experimental filmmaker Andy Blubaugh and cultural/human interest documentary-maker Alissa Nicole Creamer sat down to discuss their work and how our film culture is evolving on July 29th at Urban Grind East. A director and Sundance alumnus, Blubaugh’s experimental short films have screened at over a hundred film festivals worldwide and he was named as one of Filmmaker magazine’s 2007 25 New Faces of Independent Film. Debuting her first feature, NEVER TO CRY, with Barcelona’s TV3-Catalunya, Alissa Nicole Creamer has made numerous short-format documentary projects for NGOs in the U.S., Africa, Europe, and South America. Author of Dogwalker and an O. Henry Award recipient, Arthur Bradford’s feature film How's Your News? about adults with disabilities conducting man-on-the-street interviews was broadcast on HBO, PBS, and the British Channel 4 before an MTV series based on the documentary aired in 2009.The Oregonian's Barry Johnson remarked in Portland Art Watch "at this point, we don't know whether we're headed back where we left off 18 months ago or whether we're going somewhere completely new. That question is at the center of the New Oregon Interview Series."

NEW OREGON IN THE NEWS

New Oregon Arts & Letters and some of our core contributors have been popping up in local media lately. We're pleased and flattered! The subject of Portland's creative culture seems to be hot again, too. Here are some links, and do feel free to join in the blog comment conversations on these pieces, as many of them involve the arts and creative culture as a whole... which are not universally popular in these parts.

Plus: links to upcoming art/culture discussions + audio snippets from recent interviews. Keep on readin' this post for more.

07/07/2009: Our director, Tiffany Lee Brown (photo left) wrote a piece for the front page of the Opinion section of the Sunday Oregonian. Check out the online version right here.

LIGHT & SHADOWS: Party & Multidisciplinary Art Event June 20th

LIGHT & SHADOWS PARTY KICKS OFF "NEW OREGON" WITH MUSIC, ART, & FILM
June 20 event at Yoga Shala of Portland features over two dozen artists, writers, and performers

Portland, Ore.---On the longest day of the year, Portlanders will celebrate Yoga Shala of Portland's birthday at a benefit event for New Oregon Arts & Letters. Featuring music from the likes of Grey Anne and Meaghan Gannet with Michael Stirling, and films by Vanessa Renwick and Andy Blubaugh, the Light and Shadows party brings together talent in many artistic disciplines.
  

Screenwriter ("Wendy and Lucy") Jon Raymond and author Lidia Yuknavitch are among the evening's readers. New installations, performances, and videos were commissioned for the show from Seattle's Vanessa DeWolf, London transplant Lena Munday, and local artists including Linda Austin, JC Schlecter, and Meg McHutchison. Please keep reading for the incredible full list of participating artists.