Oregon ArtsWatch

ArtsWatch Archive


Welcome to the 3-dot…

By Barry Johnson
April 25, 2015
News & Notes

I have always loved the old “three dot” column, a staple of the daily newspaper in olden times, which allowed the writer to jump from news item to news item quickly. We’re wondering if we can adapt it to modern digital times, so we’re going to do a little experimenting, starting today!

We know what Bag & Baggage does to the classics, how it twists them in creative, delicious and occasionally disturbing ways, which is why we like the looks of artistic director Scott Palmer’s 2015-16 season. This year’s targets: Richard III, The Best of Everything, Moby Dick and Emma, along with the Kristmas Karol…Speaking of B&B, the company’s managing director, Anne Mueller, has moved to Portland Ballet to become its co-artistic director. Mueller spent all of her career in dance (a principal at OBT then its interim artistic director, managing director of the Trey McIntyre Project, etc.) before joining Bag & Baggage two years ago. She joins founders Artistic Director Nancy Davis and Managing Director Jim Lane in the leadership positions at the rising company…Bill Rauch, Oregon Shakespeare Festival artistic director, has been named a visiting fellow for the Ford Foundation’s Art of Change initiative. Rauch will explore such issues as the effects of enabling more young directors of color to work with the classics, diversifying audiences for regional theater and fostering innovations in gender-blind casting, all things he has begun to do at OSF.

Frank Boyden, 2003, "Uncle Skulky is accosted by a few of his demons" Drypoint, spitbite, hand colored, 16.75" x 14.25"

Frank Boyden, 2003, “Uncle Skulky is accosted by a few of his demons”
Drypoint, spitbite, hand colored, 16.75″ x 14.25″

A retrospective of Frank Boyden’s prints, Frank Boyden: Oregon Icon, opens on May 4 in Fairbanks Gallery on the Oregon State University campus in Corvallis. Best known for bringing his deft lines drawn from nature to ceramic work, Boyden easily developed a parallel practice in prints 30 years ago, which this show documents…One of the indispensable elements of The Art Gym at Marylhurst University is its extensive production of catalogues for its shows—I use them constantly in researching artists of all sorts. Right now you can support the publication of this vital resource via a Kickstarter campaign, and directly pay artists for their expenses associated with Art Gym shows. You’ll be keeping a crucial historical record of the arts in the state going in the process…The Portland Youth Philharmonic has appointed Dave Matthys as the conductor of its Portland Youth Wind Ensemble, effective June 1, 2015. Current Wind Ensemble Conductor Larry Johnson, who has led PYWE for 10 years, will focus solely on conducting the Portland Youth Conservatory Orchestra. Matthys has directed the band at Lake Oswego High School for the past 11 years and won the National Federation of High Schools Outstanding Music Educator Award for 2014-2015…Portland Opera scored a grant from Opera America for its “Opera a la Cart” project which, according to the press release, is “inspired by the mobility and ingenuity of the city’s food cart culture, which is internationally celebrated and a source of local pride. Portland Opera will create a traveling performance cart inspired by the food truck aesthetic.”

Don’t forget to take a look at Matt Stangel’s latest installment of Nice Work!—he takes a look at Doug McCune’s transformation of the infographic into art…This summer’s Astoria Music Festival schedule is up. Highlights include Mozart’s Magic Flute, Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda, and Israel Nebeker from one of Oregon’s finest indie rock bands, Blind Pilot…Vicente Guzman-Orozco interviews Culture Clash’s Richard Montoya, whose play “American Night: The Ballad of Juan José,” opens next week at Milagro, on race, theater, history, and Portland hipsters.

Oregon ArtsWatch Archives