Southeast (SE)

Each year, Milagro observes Día de Muertos with the premiere of a new production, altar displays, and community events with the Día de Muertos Festival. The Centerpiece event of the 31st Annual Día de los Muertos Celebration is Marigolds y Memorias, an original devised production inspired by the traveling carpa tradition, in which humor, music, and storytelling come together in a vibrant theatrical journey. Guided by an elder, a younger generation learns o build an altart, the heart of Día de Muertos, discovering the meaning behind each of its elements, from candles and marigolds to photographs, ofrendas, and cherished recuerdos. Through song, dance, and short theatrical vignettes, the altar gradually takes shape as an act of remembrance and cultural inheritance, inviting audiences to consider how traditions are taught, how memory is kept alive, and what is carried forward when we share rituals across generations.

Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a long-honored tradition with roots in Indigenous Mexican culture. Día de Muertos is observed annually in Mexican and other Latin American cultures on November 1st and 2nd as a remembrance of those who have passed. Individuals and families who honor this day set up ofrendas (altars) with offerings to their departed loved ones. Typical offerings include marigolds, calaveras, photos of the dead, and traditional food like “pan de muerto.”

One Grand Gallery is delighted to welcome back Portland-based Ashley Anson for her second solo exhibition with the gallery. Home Sweet Home expounds on Anson’s fondness for found textiles and materials and processes historically associated with feminine domestic labor. Drawing on traditionally gendered art forms such as quilting and embroidery, she combines textiles with painting and small sculpture to create narratives about the unseen worlds within people’s homes. Home is central to her work, a place that can hold peace, chaos, and danger all at once.

Anson transforms personal family folklore into layered narratives, exploring how stories imagined in childhood are remembered, exaggerated, and reinterpreted across generations. Her work also examines gender roles in art, asking what gives a painting masculine or feminine attributes and whether an artist’s gender can be sensed in the work. By combining the historically male-dominated practice of painting with embroidery and textiles, she challenges conventional distinctions between artistic mediums.

Join the opening reception on Friday, Oct. 30 from 6- 9 p.m. In the spirit of the Halloween season, the opening will transition into a party as the evening approaches. Costumes are strongly encouraged.

In her first solo show, Cathy Aster explores the public and private layers women wear at different life stages. Using image transfer and cut-collage techniques, she creates formal and metaphorical transparencies across a series of 14 images. She bathes the scenes in the autumnal glow provided by vintage magazines, then excavates the images for tenderness, risk and danger. She hooks the viewer with nostalgic images, then transforms the image by revealing unseen psychic realms. The women in Aster’s work look away even as they look directly at you; they look directly at you even as they look away.

Cathy Aster is a cut paper collage artist based in Portland, Oregon. After years of experience working in rare book conservation and digital library settings, she spends her time making art and creating community for collage artists. She has shown work at Alberta Street Gallery, Art at the Cave and Taylor Street Kitchen. She is part of the organizing group of the Pacific Northwest Collage Collective.

Grief Holiday represents both an artistic experiment and a community commitment: a way to be present with grief and connection through the power of art. By presenting art in a nontraditional venue dedicated to community care, cultural access is expanded beyond typical gallery audiences. This project affirms art’s power to serve urgent human needs while honoring Portland’s diverse communities. Grief Holiday invites participants to step away from daily life and enter an immersive environment designed to support reflection and community in the face of grief. Guests will move through artist-created spaces, soundscapes, ritual installations, visual works, and participatory storytelling, each encouraging different ways of engaging with loss.

Developed by artists Miche McCausey, Kendra Roberts, Alice Christine Walker, and Emily Fusaro the project transforms grief from an isolated burden into a collective experience. The intent is to provide a supportive setting where participants can acknowledge grief openly, share stories, and engage with tools for connection. Unlike traditional exhibitions, Grief Holiday places the audience at the center of the work, blending art, ritual, and community care into an active journey of presence.

The Grief Holiday team was assembled to combine artistic vision with practical expertise. Emily Fusaro is a design strategist, musician, and songwriter; Miche McCausey is a master carpenter, muralist, and certified death doula; Kendra Roberts is an artist, curator and producer with experience managing large-scale public art; and Alice Christine Walker is a photographer and multimedia installation artist. In partnership and individually, we have organized land art exhibitions, curated community-driven shows, and produced immersive experiences in Portland. This blend of independent and collective work ensures we bring both diverse expertise and proven capacity to Grief Holiday.

Due to the sensitive nature of this experience, all participants are encouraged to be mindful and respectful when entering the space.

The venue is ADA-accessible, and the event will include ASL interpretation, bilingual materials, and trauma-informed facilitators. Spaces will accommodate varied sensory needs, with both quiet reflection and participatory areas. Groups of 25 guests will enter on the hour and move through the experience for approximately 1 hour. Participants will encounter multiple immersive spaces designed to honor and process loss. The program offers a rare opportunity to engage with grief collectively in an art-centered setting.

About the show: It’s that time of year for holiday festivities and glorious gift shopping. Sidestreet Arts has invited all the represented artists to join the members in filling the walls with fabulous local wares, featuring a lovingly curated collection of affordable small things. You are invited to check out the new goods. The usual monthly timeframe is being extended to a two-month show this year, and everything is available while supplies last for immediate purchase and take-away.

Nov. 6, 5- 7 p.m., and Dec. 4, 5-7 p.m., with artists at the opening.

More than just movies, this marvel of a theater was built in the heyday of Hollywood glamour, right on the cusp of the modern talking picture era. It has hosted many grand affairs, including Vaudeville acts, live music, book tours, and more. Join and learn the rich history of the Bagdad Theater that continues to dazzle moviegoers even to this day.

This tour may require standing for long periods and using stairs.

Passport holders: This tour is eligible for the Bagdad Theater location stamp and the Attend a History Sponsored Event experience stamp.

Tours are every other Saturday.

The Sacred Sites Show features new work by sculptor Amy Erickson and other local artists celebrating the world’s most divine locations and phenomena.

The opening reception on Friday, November 6, from 7 to 9 p.m. will include:

• Ice Cream and Coffee by Sinister Coffee and Creamery
• Live Piano Music by Jacqueline Hayes
• Flower Essence Oracle Readings by Primrose Apothecary
• Tarot Readings by Ghost Terrestrea

The Children’s Gallery will also be showcasing artwork by students in Art4Life after-school programs at Richmond and Abernethy Elementary.

Fern & Wolf is a small brick-and-mortar store in Foster-Powell, specializing in curated home decor and vintage furniture and focusing on local artists and makers. With a goal to be a one-of-a-kind art gallery where you can see art in a more lived-in setting, like you were at home. Fern & Wolf has a monthly artist residence with an opening night the first Saturday of the month.

Zan Lee DuRoy—a Texas transplant and abstract painter who began her full-time painting career at age 53—is known for an incredibly tactile "bas-relief" style. She builds dense, sculptural layers out of plaster, baking soda, and joint compound directly onto recycled Amazon boxes. Her work carries a striking physical gravity heavily inspired by mid-century icons like Jay DeFeo.

Fern & Wolf is a small brick-and-mortar in Foster-Powell, specializing in curated home decor and vintage furniture and focusing on local artists and makers. With a goal to be a one-of-a-kind art gallery where you can see art in a lived-in setting, like you were at home. Fern...