Community❯Volunteering

November 4, 2026

Special Concerts

The Philip Glass Ensemble returns to Portland for Powaqqatsi, an artful cinematic experience that speaks to the impact of modernization and industrialization on traditional ways of living. Seen through the lens of communities across the globe, the narrative is amplified by compositions from Philip Glass that feature native, classical, and electronic instruments. Enjoyed alone or as the second in The Qatsi Trilogy, you won’t want to miss this thought-provoking performance from The Philip Glass Ensemble and conductor Michael Riesman.

po.waq.qa.tsi (from the Hopi language, powaq sorcerer + qatsi life) n., an entity, a way of life, that consumes the life forces of other beings in order to further its own life.

• Michael Riesman Conductor
• Members of Portland State University Chamber Choir Ethan Sperry, Conductor
• The Philip Glass Ensemble
• Oregon Symphony

This concert is part of the Special Concerts series, and is eligible for the Choose Your Own Series (Portland only). Concert length is approximately 1 hour 40 minutes. No intermission.

Concert begins promptly at the time listed.

Let’s spend a Sunday doing some good and getting to know each other along the way! Join our 30s & 40s Singles Group to support athletes at Special Olympics Oregon’s Beaverton Regional Aquatics competition on Sunday, November 1.

Expect swimming, teamwork, plenty of cheering, and a chance to connect with other community-minded singles. The event coordinator is excited to have our group help!

We have two exciting ways to participate based on how involved you want to be.

🙌 Path 1: Come volunteer directly with us

No sports knowledge, athletic ability, or previous volunteer experience needed. The Special Olympics Oregon team will train you onsite and assign your role at check-in.

You might help with:

• Athlete escorts: Guide swimmers from staging to their lanes and then to awards.
• Timing: Time races and call the finish order.
• Results: Deliver and record race results.
• Awards: Prepare medals and ribbons and help with presentations.
• Developmental skills: Help with staging, escorting, and timing for the morning skills competition.

Have relevant experience? Let the team know at check-in!

You can choose between a full-day shift of about 8–9 hours or a half-day shift of about 4–4.5 hours, depending on availability.

All volunteers receive a Special Olympics Oregon T-shirt, and full-day volunteers receive lunch.

📝 How to join as a volunteer

1. RSVP here so we know you’re joining our Meetup group.
2. Register directly with Special Olympics Oregon and choose your shift (link here or in comments). Your Meetup RSVP alone does not reserve a volunteer spot.
3. Watch for a Meetup message from me! I’ll check in to confirm your shift, help with questions, and coordinate our group.

Please register promptly if you’d like to volunteer, since shifts have limited spaces. Follow the arrival and check-in instructions for your selected shift.

💛 A small commitment that makes a big difference

The event team relies on registered volunteers to keep the competition running smoothly. Please choose a shift you can commit to attending in full and plan ahead for the day.

Of course, unexpected things happen! If you can no longer volunteer, please notify the Special Olympics coordinator promptly, update your volunteer registration, and update your Meetup RSVP too. Keeping everyone informed as timely as possible gives the team time to adjust.

📣 Path 2: Prefer to cheer? Join the audience!

You can also support the athletes from the sidelines. If committing to volunteering in a shift isn’t the right fit, or the shifts have filled, come enjoy the competition and help us give the swimmers an enthusiastic audience!

Please let me know whether you’re volunteering or coming to cheer, so I can coordinate our group. Only people registered directly with Special Olympics Oregon will be counted as volunteers.

Which ever path you choose, we’re happy to have you!

Come lend a hand, bring your cheering voice, and spend a Sunday supporting our greater Portland community. 💛

Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World (2026) Directed by Sasha Waters Freyer. 1hr 31min. Not Rated.

If poetry had a pop icon, Mary Oliver would be it. Best-selling poet and Pulitzer Prize-winner, lover of dogs and long walks in the woods, queer and out but intensely private—Oliver’s poems inspire liberals and conservatives, atheists and believers, naturalists and urbanites. She was America’s unlikely, contemporary mystic, stalking the ponds and forests of Cape Cod for nearly fifty years in order to open herself—and us, her readers—to the known and unknowable world. Sasha Waters’ beguiling portrait features poems read by Helena Bonham Carter, Steve Buscemi, Stephen Colbert, Lucy Dacus, Jesse Welles, and Oprah Winfrey.

This film is featured as part of Portland Book Festival’s Cover to Cover.

We do not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, and films exhibited don’t necessarily reflect the views of PAM CUT or the Portland Art Museum. In addition to the synopses, trailers, and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on sites like Common Sense Media, IMDb, and DoesTheDogDie.com.

James Spooner joins PAM CUT for a screening of his film Afro-Punk, followed by an author talk for his new book It Starts With Anger. Books will be available for sale on site.

It Starts With Anger is a coming-of-age graphic memoir exploring race, identity, and rebellion through James Spooner’s teenage years in 1990s New York into his young adulthood in the early 2000s. Confronted with systemic racism, microaggressions, and Nazi extremism within punk spaces, Spooner traces how reactionary anger evolved into a creative force and a path to self-determination, along the way following the founding of the Afro-Punk movement, his eventual decision to leave the company, and an ongoing raw examination of the tensions between underground culture and mainstream success.

While not a traditional graphic memoir, It Starts With Anger combines black-and-white, zine-inspired visual elements including photos, illustrations, and cartoon panels with traditional narrative in a unique package that recounts the story behind Afro-Punk. James Spooner has not talked publicly about his reasons for quitting Afro-Punk previously, and the book is a damning indictment of its corporatization. But more importantly, it also offers a look at issues of Black identity, representation, and the lack thereof in a movement that had often prided itself on allyship, while being completely myopic to all the ways it fell short in that regard as a scene that was ironically both liberating and alienating for the Black people drawn to it.

ON SCREEN: Afro-Punk

2003. Directed by James Spooner. Runtime: 1 hour 6 minutes.

This film, which many may assume is a historical punk documentary, is actually an honest and needed treatment of race and identity. Punk and Hardcore music are simply the microcosm in which it is told. First-time director, James Spooner, in telling this story, has opened new dialogues on these crucial subjects both intra- and interracially. Many times funny, sometimes sobering, a wake-up call to America. An examination of the duality of racial identity that DuBois called “double consciousness.” What could have been “The Bad Brains Story” is a story about kids, alienated by two cultures and two communities. Many of these punk and hardcore kids have never questioned their role in the punk scene or the black community until their interviews, and it’s obvious as they struggle on camera to reconcile a fragmented self.

This program is co-presented by Literary Arts as part of the Cover-to-Cover program.

A documentary detailing the storied history of drug-addled teen punks-turned-icons.

Featuring interviews with Fat Mike, Eric Melvin, Aaron ‘El Hefe’ Abeyta, and Erik Sandin.

Doors open at 6:30 PM. Film at 7:00 PM.

• Director: James Buddy Day
• Year: 2026
• Country: United States
• Runtime: 120 minutes

Join Eco Club and the Moreau Center for Service and Justice to give a little TLC to the local neighborhood after Halloween festivities. After holidays like Halloween, we tend to see a spike in litter on and around campus and we have the opportunity to change that on November 1st from 1 to 3pm! We will walk along Willamette Blvd and around through N Fiske Ave, N Yale St, and N Van Houten Ave. At the start, meet us for check in on the walkway between the Chiles Center and Joe Etzel Baseball Field on N Portsmouth Ave. There, we'll have all supplies provided including gloves, garbage bags, vests, and grabbers. We'll also have snacks and donuts available to kick off the event. This event is open to the UP community as well as other neighborhood locals and anyone who wants to volunteer. We will have restrooms available on campus, and there is plenty of parking available. Please register in advance so we make sure to have enough cleanup supplies. Please bring your own trash grabber if you have one. All ages are welcome. We recommend working in pairs or small groups, dressing for the weather, and bringing a waterbottle. Advanced Registration: Is highly suggested but not required. Please sign up (green button below) ahead of time to guarantee your spot. Meeting Location: Volunteers will be meeting at the concrete walkway between the Chiles Center and Joe Etzel Baseball Field on N Portsmouth Ave. It is next to the small parking lot connected to the Chiles Center. Look for the SOLVE sig

Warren Miller’s “Days Off” will play at the Kiggins Theater from 7-9 p.m. Nov. 1. Host Katie Burrell will show what the pros do on their days off. Go skijoring in Banff, join Craig McMorris and friends in Whistler, and explore Alaska’s spines with Sam Kuch and Craig Murray. Watch Jess Kimura push snowboarding forward and inspire the next generation in Hokkaido, Japan. Head to Chamonix for an intense high-alpine pivot with Christina “Lusti” Lustenberger. Hit Deer Valley with Ted Ligety, Kaylin Richardson, Pep Fujas and Chuck Mumford. Get tickets ($32) at kigginstheatre.com/movie/warren-millers-day-off.

Black Arts PDX is a display of ephemera and an extended documentary trailer that foregrounds the history of the Black visual arts community in Northeast Portland. Curated by Dr. Kiara Hill, this rotating installation sheds light on the practices of key figures who were instrumental in shaping the perception of Black arts and culture in Portland. Whether utilitarian or decorative, these materials highlight ways Black artists sought to beautify the city and utilize their technical skills to address the needs of Black people. Black Arts PDX stems from a collaboration between Dr. Hill and Cultural Bearers Archive, Inc., on an archival project dedicated to preserving the unique lived experiences of Black artists and cultural workers in Portland.

CREATE SPACE is an interactive environment within the Black Art & Experiences (BAE) galleries that invites visitors to slow down, reflect, and respond. Designed as a rest area, reading room, art studio, and community gathering space, it supports connection, creativity, and dialogue. Through artist-led programs, hands-on activities, and quiet areas for reading or reflection, visitors can engage with the Black Art and Experiences gallery in a personal, generative way. This first year, CREATE SPACE is activated alongside Conductions: Black Imaginings II, which centers Black performance art and its archives. Both spaces emphasize process — research, writing, improvisation, and experimentation — as essential to the creative journey.