Milepost 5 - Portland's newest "art colony", Milepost 5 is a combination of live/work studio spaces plus a separate condo wing. Once a nursing home, Milepost 5 has gotten a new life from the great diversity of artists and crafts people who live and work there. While the demographics of Milepost 5 skews to the 20-something, there is a wide variety of ages and outlooks to be found. A monthly event, "First Friday" serves as a showcase of the mix of interests and talents at this new Portland institution. The First Friday event includes a chance to meet and interact with dozens of Portland's "creative class" at work and play, with art on the hallway walls, art installations, and a chance to talk with artists in depth about their work. A cafe with grill and beer and wine make for a relaxed atmosphere, and there's usually a band playing in the building's converted basement chapel. Considering that so many residents / studio tenants are young and single, the event has a surprisingly family-friendly feeling, with small children playing while bands are performing. Quite charming.
A new gallery space is in the works, and should be ready soon (spring/summer 2011).
Crow Arts Manor - Located on the first floor of the Milepost 5 studios building, Crow's Art Manor is a welcome new addition to the Pottland Arts and Crafts scene. Workshops, readings and music performances, a library and gallery space will likely make this a lively gathering place.
Plans for the library are ambitious, with the goal of "building one of the country’s largest collections of literary journals and books from independent presses".
Find out more here.
Crafty Wonderland - Has emerged as the leading organization relating to small-scale selling of crafts in Portland. Holds two special sales events every year, as well as operating a storefront across from the Multnomah County Library central branch.
This spring, a juried show and sale will be held at the Oregon Convention Center on May 7, 2011.
During last Fall's show and sale, some highlights (from a DIY / re-use point of view) were journal notebooks made from the cover and selected pages of old books, purses made from plastic packaging, or using hardbound books as the sides of the purses, and jewelry made from typewriter and camera parts.
Crafty Wonderland has become so selective (meaning that interest in participating has grown so large) that they are accepting only a minority of vendors for their shows, in order to avoid "overwhelming" customers. Of course, this attitude disenchants potential vendors, and invites competition to the crafty wonderland brand.
Find out more here.
Oregon College of Arts and Crafts - A portland institution that concentrates on the "making" of objects, with creativity as a centerpiece. The College developed from a 19th century organization, the Portland Arts and Crafts Society (no longer in exeistence). Learn about the college's programs and faculty here.
