Here’s some of what’s going on around the Beaver state. Remember to add your art and antique events to our calendar.
Portland
1. The Masked Street Artist Behind Portland’s ‘Queso Queso’ Tags Speaks Out, Portland
In a rare interview, the Guatemalan-American artist behind the lucha-libre-masked “Queso Queso” tags stenciled across North Portland utility boxes and walls talks street art, immigrant identity, and the microwaved-quesadilla nickname that started it all. He’s also pushing the persona into the gallery world with a new painting, “Viva la Raza.” Portland Monthly
2. Portland’s Central Eastside Puts Out an Open Call for a Street Art Party, Portland – Sept 26, 2026
East Creative Collective is calling for artists and craftspeople to join its next Street Art Party, an open-air, multi-block exhibition with live music and open studios on Portland’s Central Eastside. Applications for the October 2 First Friday event are due September 26. Regional Arts & Culture Council
3. Discarded Plastic Utensils and Toys Become Sweeping Animal Sculptures, Portland – thru Sept 30, 2026
At OMSI, sculptor Sayaka Ganz assembles thousands of reclaimed plastic forks, toys, and baskets into large-scale sculptures of animals and waves, a technique she calls “3D impressionism” — junk-drawer clutter up close, pure motion from a distance. “Reclaimed Creations” brings 18 of her pieces to the science museum’s galleries. KPTV Fox 12 Oregon
4. A Portland Printmaker Gets a 20-Year Career Retrospective, Portland – thru Sept 26, 2026
Augen Gallery marks two decades of showing Portland printmaker Morgan Walker’s work with “The Naming of the Animals,” a retrospective spanning his career. The show opens August 27 in the gallery’s Pearl District space and runs through late September. Augen Gallery
5. A Painter Makes Her Portland Debut with New Oil Works, Portland – thru Oct 10, 2026
Painter Lis Pardoe’s first Portland gallery show, “Here To Remind You,” fills Froelick Gallery with new oil paintings that hover between interior and exterior worlds — figures, domestic scenes, and nostalgic imagery. It opens September 2 in the gallery’s Pearl District space. Froelick Gallery
6. An Immersive Installation Compares AI Training to Raising a Child, Portland – thru Oct 24, 2026 (Converge 45)
Artist Trisha Baga’s “MORE” turns PICA’s galleries into a disorienting, oversized video-and-sculpture world that draws an unlikely parallel between training an AI system and early parenthood. Guest-curated by Lumi Tan as part of the Converge 45 triennial, the piece has an opening reception August 28. PICA
7. A Portland Artist Hand-Binds an Illustrated Book About Wasps, Portland
Book artist Diane Jacobs has completed “Wasp Love,” a hand-bound artist book layering folded paper with miniature sculptures of wasps and their nests, built from materials gleaned during a residency with Metro’s GLEAN program. It’s an attempt to turn a common reflex of fear into genuine fascination with one of the region’s most misunderstood insects. Oregon ArtsWatch
Willamette Valley
8. A Renowned Native Artist’s Prints and Pastels Get a Career Retrospective, Eugene – thru Aug 29, 2026
“Self Portrait and Dream” gathers pastels, monotypes, lithographs, and drypoint prints by Rick Bartow, the Wiyot artist whose work sits in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. With the Bartow estate now being dispersed into museum collections, this closing-week run at Karin Clarke Gallery is a rare chance to see this many pieces together in one room — don’t wait, it comes down at the end of the month. Eugene Scene
9. A Silverton Co-op Gallery Seeks a New Two-Dimensional Artist Member, Silverton – Sept 25, 2026
Lunaria Gallery, a 25-member artist cooperative in historic downtown Silverton now in its 31st year, is accepting applications for an open two-dimensional-artist membership slot. It’s a modest but genuine opening for a working Willamette Valley artist to join an established gallery collective. Regional Arts & Culture Council
10. Ashland’s Gallery Association Stages a Communal Member Showcase, Ashland – thru Sept 20, 2026
The Ashland Gallery Association pools work from its member galleries into one showcase this year, staged inside the Collier Gallery at the Collaborative Theatre Project rather than a traditional gallery space. It’s a good excuse to see the Rogue Valley’s visual-art scene share a room with its theater scene, running August 27 through September 20. Ashland Gallery Association
Oregon Coast
11. Nearly 30 Coast Artists Share Wall Space at Florence’s Visitor Center Gallery, Florence – thru Aug 31, 2026
The Florence Area Chamber of Commerce’s Visitor Center Gallery has spent August spotlighting the Florence Regional Arts Alliance, with more than two dozen coast artists showing ceramics, photography, painting, mixed media, and glass mosaic side by side. It’s a free, low-key way to meet the working art community on the central coast before the rotation changes over. Oregon Coast Beach Connection
12. A National Juried Show Imagines Real and Mythical Creatures, Cannon Beach – thru Aug 31, 2026
More than 40 artists from across the country submitted work to “SEE Creatures,” a national juried exhibition at House of Orange Gallery of Fine Arts blending real and imagined animals. The opening drew live music and an interactive visitor vote for a Collectors’ Favorite cash prize — worth a stop on any Cannon Beach gallery walk before it closes out the month. House of Orange Gallery of Fine Arts
13. A 75th-Annual Nautical-Themed Juried Show Names Its Winners, Gearhart – thru Aug 30, 2026
Trail’s End Art Association just wrapped judging on its 75th annual Judged Show, a nautical-themed juried exhibition spanning oil, watercolor, photography, and 3D media. Christine Chambreau’s “Evening Fog” took Best of Show and Deborah Teeter’s “Coastal Hellebores” won the Gearhart Mayor’s Award — the winning works stay up just a little longer for anyone who wants to see them in person. Discover Our Coast
Eastern & Central Oregon
14. Eastern Oregon’s Largest Juried Fine-Art Festival Returns with a Plein-Air Face-Off, Joseph – thru Sept 20, 2026
The 43rd annual Wallowa Valley Arts Festival brings a weeklong plein-air painting competition and a 90-minute “Quick Draw” paint-off to the Josephy Center, with more than $7,500 in awards on the line. The weekend caps with a Friday-night opening reception and awards ceremony, September 18-20. Elkhorn Media Group
15. 140 Juried Artists Fill a Riverside Park for an Outdoor Fine-Art Fair, Bend – thru Aug 30, 2026
Art in the High Desert returns to Bend’s Riverbend Park with roughly 140 jury-selected fine artists and craftspeople, a Friday-night preview party, and new free off-site parking with a shuttle running all weekend. It’s a rare chance to browse and buy directly from a large juried roster of regional and national artists in one scenic setting, August 28-30. Cascade Business News
16. A National Impressionist Painting Society Brings 175 Juried Works to Bend, Bend – thru Oct 3, 2026
Mockingbird Gallery hosts the American Impressionist Society’s 27th Annual National Juried Exhibition this fall, filling the gallery with roughly 175 paintings from AIS members nationwide and more than $100,000 in awards on the line, including a $13,000 Best of Show prize. The show opens with Bend’s First Friday Art Walk on September 4. Mockingbird Gallery
Remember to check websites before heading out as details may have changed.
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