From “Wayne’s World” to “UHF,” public access television often seems to serve more as a satirical punching bag than a respected media form. But that’s about to change.

Portland Community Media is renovating its building and rebranding itself as Open Signal, a media arts center where you can learn not only TV, but storytelling, podcasting, coding, mixed reality, and other forms of digital media. They’re celebrating the transformation with an open house on Feb. 25.

“The fact that the city has this asset, where anybody can come off the street, for practically free of charge, and learn how to tell a story,” says Justen Harn, “it is amazing.”

Harn was part of the team that transformed the Hollywood Theatre from a dilapidated, second-run movie house into an innovative cinema and community hub. He we hired as the executive director at PCM a year ago with the instructions to create a more global vision for the organization, focused on programs, equity, and the future. With a budget of roughly $2.5 million drawn mostly from fees paid by cable service providers, PCM oversees five cables stations that serve an audience of 2.5 million.

Harn gave us a tour, along with the director of strategy and development, Rebecca Burrell, who signed on to work with Harn from her post as the head of the Right Brain Initiative at the Regional Arts and Culture Council. Here are highlights from our conversation.

This week on "State of Wonder," the Blazer talks about his side-gig as a rapper, Portland's indie remix pioneer brings home the win, Portland Community Media gets an update and more.

Eugene Opera Hits the Pause Button - 1:25

This week the Eugene Opera faced the music with a public meeting about its finances. Taking into account staff and office costs, the Eugene Opera needs $230,000 to stay alive through the end of the fiscal year this summer and has suspended the rest of its season.

Trail Blazer Damian Lillard on Rapping and Starting a Record Label - 6:57

You may know Damian Lillard for his buzzer beating shots on the basketball court: He was the NBA Rookie of the Year in his first season with the Trail Blazers in 2012, and he just extended a 5 year contract to stay on in Rip City. But you may not know that Lillard is also a musician. Last year, he released his debut album, “The Letter O,” under the moniker Dame DOLLA and launched his own record label called Front Page Music.

Portland's Remix Pioneer, RAC, Wins Grammy - 12:27

Portlander Andre Allen Anjos just brought home the city’s only Grammy this year for his remix of Bob Moses’ “Tearing Me Up.” Working under the name RAC, Anjos first found success with his remix of The Shins’ “Sleeping Lessons,” which was featured on Pitchfork then released as a B-side by the band themselves. He quickly became the go-to guy for indie groups, working with everyone from Death Cab for Cutie to The Yeah Yeah Yeahs — to say nothing of the mega stars like U2, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga.

Anjos invited us into his studio to take apart how he remixed Odesza's "Say My Name," which was nominated for a Grammy last year.

Making Public Access TV Cool For a New Generation - 22:27

From "Wayne's World" to "UHF," public access television doesn't exactly have a sterling reputation. But that's about to change at Portland's station. Formerly known as Portland Community Media, the organization is renovating the building and rebranding itself as Open Signal, a media arts center where you can learn not only TV, but also storytelling, podcasting, coding, mixed reality, and other forms of digital media.

A Vintage Airstream Trailer Transforms into a Podcast Studio - 30:30

Curled up in the corner of Open Signal’s parking lot is a beautifully restored, vintage Airstream trailer that doubles as a mobile podcast studio. StreamPDX is an outgrowth of the late, lamented DIY makerspace, the XOXO Outpost. In this unconventional space, aspiring journalists and audiophiles have the opportunity to record and produce their own podcast.

The Dark, Lovely Sounds of the 1939 Ensemble - 37:23

Portland-based 1939 Ensemble is not just a jazz group. Their atypical beats slowly build momentum, creating an ominous wave of sound that is both unsettling and delightful, sounding like a bunch of jazz musicians were tasked to write a post-rock soundtrack for an edgy cop show. With vibraphone.


New Documentary Explores Narrowly Averted Nuclear Disasters, With a Personal Twist - 44:07

In 1964, the air force pilot Thomas Waldo McCormick got a mission to fly a B-52 carrying two 9-megaton thermonuclear bombs from Massachusetts to Georgia. It hit bad weather about halfway through its flight, and crashed in snowy woods outside of Washington, D.C, nearly averting nuclear disaster. McCormick's grandson, Portland filmmaker Matt McCormick, made a film about the crash entitled “Buzz One Four.”

Ten years ago, two silvery orbs began floating 3,000 feet between Marquam Hill and South Waterfront over the roofs and backyards of one of Portland’s oldest neighborhoods. Millions of rides later, Portland’s aerial tram can now be seen as one of the city’s most transformational projects ever, leading to the dramatic waterfront expansion of OHSU and the creation of a new neighborhood, and paving the way to the successful $500-million Knight Challenge that is positioning the university as a global center for cancer research.

The tram’s elegant towers and cars came courtesy of the city’s first international design competition since the early ‘80s and have since grown into a glittering landmark, making it easy to forget that when it was being conceived, it was the center of a brutal political fight.

Read the full story: http://www.opb.org/radio/article/from-controversy-to-icon-portland-aerial-tram

The man who re-imagined John Shaft, Night Hawk, and Power Man talks to us about the new Luke Cage standalone series he's writing, starting in May, what he thought of the Netflix series, and why Black Mariah has to be the smartest person in the room.

Grab your rain coat and take a ride on the aerial tram, head out to the International Film Festival, support your art-loving neighborhood watering hole, or stay in and listen to Shy Girl's bedroom music — there's something for everyone this week.

Marvel to Release New Luke Cage Series by Portland Writer David Walker - 1:23

The Netflix series has thrust the unbreakable superhero Luke Cage into the national spotlight, although he's been around since the early ‘70s as Power Man. Portland writer David Walker grew up on Cage, one of the only black comic book characters at the time (despite the fact, Walker says, no black people talked anything like the comic characters). So it was a dream-come-true for Walker to resurrect the character in the Marvel series “Power Man and Iron Fist,” with art by Sanford Greene. Then news broke this week that Marvel will wrap up PMIF in April, and Walker will pen a stand-alone Luke Cage series to begin in May.

opbmusic Session with Shy Girls - 10:11

There’s music for dancing, there’s music for dinner parties or quiet, solo listening, and then there is bedroom music. Shy Girls is bedroom music — pull the blinds, light the candles, and bask in the voice of Portlander Dan Vidmar bedroom music. Shy Girls’ debut album, called “Salt,” revels in the silky smooth R&B that’s made Shy Girls a favorite in chill rooms all over, but it also reveals some of his non-R&B influences like Joni Mitchell.

Eloise Damrosch Announces Retirement from RACC - 19:18

Eloise Damrosch has led the Regional Arts and Culture Council since 2004, and served as public art director for seventeen years prior. She announced this week that she will be retiring at the end of June. During her tenure, RACC has grown to a $10 million operation and taken on different jobs across Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties, including the distribution of key operating support from the Portland city budget and the regional arts tax, as well as taking care of the city’s sculptures and public art collection and creating programs like Work for Art. RACC says it will make a national search for her replacement.

Soul Singer Liz Vice - 20:51

Portland-born singer Liz Vice says did not choose to pursue music. Rather, music chose her. Combining American gospel and ‘60s soul, Vice’s music is simply magnetic. Her first album, “There’s A Light,” came out on Ramseur Records, the label known for bringing the Avett Brothers to national attention, and peaked at number six on Billboard’s Top Gospel chart.

Portland's Aerial Tram: From Controversy to Icon - 28:21

It’s hard to believe Portland’s aerial tram just turned 10. What started as a controversy has grown into an icon, not to mention a major driver of residential and commercial development in the South Waterfront. Our columnist-in-residence, Randy Gragg, took us for a ride on the modernist silver bubble to look back on its transformation and peer out into its future.

Likewise Bar Asks Art Loving Drinkers for Support - 37:48

Likewise is not your grandaddy's neighborhood bar, although he might’ve gotten a kick out of it. It’s a watering hole created by a couple of artists to house all sorts of quirky cocktails and hi-jinks. If you can dream it up, it could happen at Likewise. But its owners are now saying they have to close at the end of the month unless they can recruit 150 members by Feb. 20 to keep the bar and art space going. Membership gets you discounts and monthly field trips. No word yet on bedazzled Members Only jackets...

Portland International Film Festival - 45:15

The Portland International Film Festival is always a fun way to shake the winter blahs. It showcases a huge range of world and domestic cinema. The festival turns 40 this year, and the NW Film Center’s director, Bill Foster, has been there since the beginning.

Portlanders love to love their airport. There’s the Stumptown coffee, the Powell’s bookstore, the local restaurants, and perhaps the most photographed carpet in the world. So what else could PDX put in front of passengers? While other airports add yoga rooms and rooftops pools in the quest to tempt travelers, PDX has welcomed an outpost of the iconic Hollywood Theater to be America’s only airport cinema.

On a typical January morning at the Portland International Airport, a not so typical passenger unloaded at the departure drop-off area.

A team used a crane to transfer a 28-foot-long sign from a flatbed trailer to a set of wheels. Anyone who’s driven down Portland’s Sandy Boulevard would recognize it: it’s styled after the Hollywood Theatre marquee.

“I get goose bumps watching it roll in,” said Hollywood’s executive director, Doug Whyte, in front of the Delta ticketing booth as the team pushed the sign past the Portland Roasting Company kiosk. “Usually things come in through the causeway, but it’s too big, so we actually have to bring it in through the front door. And it has to go through TSA, so it should be an interesting day to say the least.”

Since taking over in 2011, Whyte has overseen the transformation of the nonprofit theater into one of the leading art house cinemas in the country. Then he read an article about an Imax theater at the Hong Kong airport and saw an opportunity to reach a bigger audience: some 18 million pairs of eyes a year.

“We approached the airport, and funny enough they had actually been thinking it would be cool to have a movie theater,” he said. “It was kismet. We worked it out so it could go under their public art program.”

Read the full story: http://www.opb.org/radio/article/hollywood-theatre-opens-at-pdx-airport/

This week on State of Wonder, immerse yourself in a sonic wonderland of Arvo Pärt's music, catch a short film at the airport and hear from local artists about their experience as refugees.

Iraqi Artist Farooq Hassan On Painting and War - 1:06

President Donald Trump’s new travel ban has implications for scores of artists, whether they’re doing a residency, in contention for an Oscar, or running from a war. For nearly 40 years, the painter Farooq Hassan showed work in museums all over the Middle East, including the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad, and designed many Iraqi stamps. After the U.S. invasion in 2003, everything changed. Hassan's daughter Dalia Hussein worked for the U.S. military and the "Washington Post" for six years before she became such a target for anti-American forces that they sought safe harbor in the U.S. Incorporating vibrant colors and collage, Hassan’s work now focuses on Iraqi women afflicted with the wounds of war. Although they are now citizens, Hassan and Hussein are uncertain what the future may hold for them here in the US.

Director and Actor Elizabeth Huffman on Displacement - 7:13

Living as a displaced person is perhaps less about the country stamped on your visa, and more about learning to live in the face of loss. Portland-based Syrian-American director and actor Elizabeth Huffman expresses this loss in all avenues of her work. She is currently directing “At the Periphery” by Turkish playwright Sedef Ecermas, which will have a staged reading on Feb. 4 as part of Boom Arts' Global Voices Lab, a festival of timely plays from around the world (Feb. 4–11).

The Portland Dream Couple: PDX Carpet, Meet the Hollywood Theatre - 15:13

Portlanders love to love their airport. There’s Powell’s, Stumptown Coffee, the local restaurants, and perhaps the most beloved carpet in the world. So what else could PDX put in front of passengers? While other airports add yoga rooms and ice skating rinks in the ever-expanding race to tempt more travelers, PDX has welcomed an outpost of the iconic Hollywood Theater to be America’s only airport cinema. Located on the C Concourse, it will show shorts made by local filmmakers, animators, and documentarians. We get a first look.

Portland Black Film Festival Challenges the Canon - 20:35

What a difference a year makes. In early 2016, film audiences, artists and critics pointed out festering problems with the overwhelming whiteness of the Hollywood movie industry. One year later, you can walk into metro-area theaters and see films like "Fences," "Moonlight," and "Hidden Figures" rewriting the script for how far black artists and directors can go. If the films in wide release leave you hungry for more, the Portland Black Film Festival gets in gear Feb. 9–20 with everything from Prince’s electric concert film “Sign O’ The Times” to Raoul Peck’s James Baldwin doc "I Am Not Your Negro" to Pam Grier in the iconic “Coffy." And to top it off, Grier will be in attendance for a Q&A on Feb. 11. Serious.

Portland Holds First Arvo Pärt Festival in U.S.

Portland-based vocal ensemble Cappella Romana creates otherworldly mystic sounds with layers of harmony, plumbing that space where Eastern and Western sacred music meet. While most of their repertory involves the old world, one contemporary composer embodies their approach to choral music — Arvo Pärt. To celebrate its 25th anniversary, Cappella Romana has joined with the Third Angle New Music Ensemble and other musicians to organize the first North American festival dedicated to Pärt. From Feb. 5–12, they will offer eight live chamber performances, documentary film screenings and lectures interpreting the most performed living composer in the world.

Director Elizabeth Huffman talks to us about the play she's directing this weekend by Turkish playwrite Sedef Ecer, and her a one-woman show juxtaposing a wealthy Syrian refugee with Marie Antoinette. She performed the show in Germany last year, and visited refugees camped in Bremen, awaiting permanent resettlement.

While America spent last winter wondering why the National Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was taking so long to reflect the face of America, some amazing features were in the works, featuring African-American directors, writers, and actors — films like "Fences," starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis, "Moonlight," featuring Naomi Harris, and "Hidden Figures," with the ever-talented Octavia Spencer, have all gotten Oscar nods. If those films made you hungry for more, get ready to head over to the Hollywood Theater for the Portland Black Film Festival. Creator and co-curator David F. Walker talks to us about some of the films on screen Feb. 9-22nd.