Urban Art Antiques, Antiques Mysteries and Great Paintings

Here’s what’s going on around the Beaver State. Check out these events!

Portland dance icon Linda K. Johnson transforms four decades of choreography into an immersive archive at Place Gallery, filling the space with reimagined soft sculptures, vintage performance costumes, and hand-drawn maps from her “Mycelium Dreams” project. The show anchors this year’s Converge 45 triennial, with more performances in September and October and a September 19 conversation alongside BodyVox co-founder Jamey Hampton. Portland Monthly

New York artist Rose Salane’s Converge 45 solo show at Reed College’s Cooley Gallery grew out of a strange real-world stunt: she carried a pair of Princess Diana’s shoes around the city, then had a Lloyd Center magician make them disappear on camera. The resulting installation riffs on the condolence albums cities filled out after Diana’s death, using Portland’s own civic memory as raw material. Cooley Gallery

Nucleus Portland’s “Stillness” brings together four artists working in different registers of calm — Josh Stover’s vintage-inspired still-life paintings, Perro y Arena’s ceramic figures exploring the bond between humans and desert fauna, Wyatt Hersey’s ecology-minded illustration, and sculptor-painter Yudai Nishi’s work from his Aichi studio. The show opens with a reception September 4. Nucleus Portland

PDX Contemporary Art shows Victoria Haven’s “THE HEROINES,” a new suite of monotype prints built from charged lines and energized negative space, made during a recent session at Portland’s Mullowney Printing. The September 12 opening doubles as a rare public conversation, with acclaimed author Claire Dederer (“Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma”) joining Haven for an artist talk ahead of the reception. Portland Art Dealers Association

Gallery 114 opens David Cohen’s “Relics: Recent Paintings” with a First Thursday reception September 3, followed two days later by an artist-led walkthrough on September 5 for visitors who want Cohen’s own account of the work. Portland Art Dealers Association

Laura Vincent Design & Gallery opens Kirk Weller’s “Earth Remembered” with a First Thursday reception September 3, plus a “Dialogue with the Artist” event September 19 for anyone who wants to hear Weller discuss the work directly. Portland Art Dealers Association

Art in the Pearl celebrates three decades as Portland’s biggest outdoor fine art and craft fair, bringing 140 juried artists from the U.S. and Canada to the shaded North Park Blocks for Labor Day weekend. Started in 1997 by fifteen volunteer artists, it’s stayed artist-run ever since, with craft demonstrations and a hands-on pavilion for kids. Oregon ArtsWatch

The Regional Arts & Culture Council is circulating a fresh call for artists prioritizing Washington County creators, open to artists of every ability level for a group exhibition of small-scale work. Submissions close September 28. Regional Arts & Culture Council

Painters Claire Burbridge and Tallmadge Doyle open a joint show of large-scale, light-driven abstractions at Karin Clarke Gallery — Burbridge’s pieces shift appearance with the changing daylight, while Doyle pivots from printmaking to layered watercolor-acrylic-oil-ink paintings inspired by the Oregon Coast near Cascade Head. An artist reception falls on September 4 during Eugene’s First Friday ArtWalk. Eugene Scene

The Salem Art Association is inviting artists ages 8-18 to submit original work inspired by manga, comics, cartoons, and pop art for a juried show in the Bush Barn Art Center’s Annex Gallery. It’s free to enter, with notifications going out October 9 and an opening reception November 6. Salem Art Association

Lincoln City’s Public Arts Committee has narrowed the field to three finalists for a major sculpture commission at the new Welcome Center plaza at the D River — Gregg Schlanger’s kite-inspired “Water Canopy,” Kevin Necessary’s glass-paneled “Terra Ellipses,” and Nathan William Lambdin’s sunset-activated “Your Seven Miles Smile.” Residents can review the proposals and weigh in through the city’s Connect Lincoln City portal before a winner is chosen. Oregon Coast TODAY

Coos Art Museum is showing “Multiplicity: Printmaking From Crow’s Shadow Institute of the Arts,” anchored by Pendleton-based artist, writer, and linguist Phillip Cash Cash, tracing how a single printed image can multiply into shifting statements on Indigenous identity and place. It’s a rare South Coast appearance for the renowned Crow’s Shadow print workshop, on view in the museum’s landmark 1936 Art Deco building. Coos Art Museum

Baker City painter Tom Novak brings decades of introspective work in “The Things I Create Between Naps” to the Orlaske Gallery, while McMinnville’s Aaron Akers debuts “My Journey,” his first major showing since he began painting in 2021, in the Main Gallery next door. Both artists donated pieces for a raffle running through the show, with an opening reception September 4. La Grande Observer

Crossroads Carnegie Art Center’s biggest show of the year returns, drawing nearly 100 juried entries from artists across Eastern Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. Walla Walla gallery co-owner Lauri Borer judges the show and gives an artist talk the morning after the September 4 opening reception, with awards including a $1,000 prize for work interpreting this year’s theme, “Through a Unique Lens.” Baker City Herald

Gallery 408 in downtown Camas — just across the river from Portland — is inviting artists of every level, from professionals to first-timers, to submit an 8-by-8-inch piece for its annual community showcase. Submissions close September 15, with the finished show opening October 2. The Columbian

Here’s some of what’s going on around the Beaver state. Remember to add your art and antique events to our calendar.

In a rare interview, the Guatemalan-American artist behind the lucha-libre-masked “Queso Queso” tags stenciled across North Portland utility boxes and walls talks street art, immigrant identity, and the microwaved-quesadilla nickname that started it all. He’s also pushing the persona into the gallery world with a new painting, “Viva la Raza.” Portland Monthly

East Creative Collective is calling for artists and craftspeople to join its next Street Art Party, an open-air, multi-block exhibition with live music and open studios on Portland’s Central Eastside. Applications for the October 2 First Friday event are due September 26. Regional Arts & Culture Council

At OMSI, sculptor Sayaka Ganz assembles thousands of reclaimed plastic forks, toys, and baskets into large-scale sculptures of animals and waves, a technique she calls “3D impressionism” — junk-drawer clutter up close, pure motion from a distance. “Reclaimed Creations” brings 18 of her pieces to the science museum’s galleries. KPTV Fox 12 Oregon

Augen Gallery marks two decades of showing Portland printmaker Morgan Walker’s work with “The Naming of the Animals,” a retrospective spanning his career. The show opens August 27 in the gallery’s Pearl District space and runs through late September. Augen Gallery

Painter Lis Pardoe’s first Portland gallery show, “Here To Remind You,” fills Froelick Gallery with new oil paintings that hover between interior and exterior worlds — figures, domestic scenes, and nostalgic imagery. It opens September 2 in the gallery’s Pearl District space. Froelick Gallery

Artist Trisha Baga’s “MORE” turns PICA’s galleries into a disorienting, oversized video-and-sculpture world that draws an unlikely parallel between training an AI system and early parenthood. Guest-curated by Lumi Tan as part of the Converge 45 triennial, the piece has an opening reception August 28. PICA

Book artist Diane Jacobs has completed “Wasp Love,” a hand-bound artist book layering folded paper with miniature sculptures of wasps and their nests, built from materials gleaned during a residency with Metro’s GLEAN program. It’s an attempt to turn a common reflex of fear into genuine fascination with one of the region’s most misunderstood insects. Oregon ArtsWatch

“Self Portrait and Dream” gathers pastels, monotypes, lithographs, and drypoint prints by Rick Bartow, the Wiyot artist whose work sits in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. With the Bartow estate now being dispersed into museum collections, this closing-week run at Karin Clarke Gallery is a rare chance to see this many pieces together in one room — don’t wait, it comes down at the end of the month. Eugene Scene

Lunaria Gallery, a 25-member artist cooperative in historic downtown Silverton now in its 31st year, is accepting applications for an open two-dimensional-artist membership slot. It’s a modest but genuine opening for a working Willamette Valley artist to join an established gallery collective. Regional Arts & Culture Council

The Ashland Gallery Association pools work from its member galleries into one showcase this year, staged inside the Collier Gallery at the Collaborative Theatre Project rather than a traditional gallery space. It’s a good excuse to see the Rogue Valley’s visual-art scene share a room with its theater scene, running August 27 through September 20. Ashland Gallery Association

The Florence Area Chamber of Commerce’s Visitor Center Gallery has spent August spotlighting the Florence Regional Arts Alliance, with more than two dozen coast artists showing ceramics, photography, painting, mixed media, and glass mosaic side by side. It’s a free, low-key way to meet the working art community on the central coast before the rotation changes over. Oregon Coast Beach Connection

More than 40 artists from across the country submitted work to “SEE Creatures,” a national juried exhibition at House of Orange Gallery of Fine Arts blending real and imagined animals. The opening drew live music and an interactive visitor vote for a Collectors’ Favorite cash prize — worth a stop on any Cannon Beach gallery walk before it closes out the month. House of Orange Gallery of Fine Arts

Trail’s End Art Association just wrapped judging on its 75th annual Judged Show, a nautical-themed juried exhibition spanning oil, watercolor, photography, and 3D media. Christine Chambreau’s “Evening Fog” took Best of Show and Deborah Teeter’s “Coastal Hellebores” won the Gearhart Mayor’s Award — the winning works stay up just a little longer for anyone who wants to see them in person. Discover Our Coast

The 43rd annual Wallowa Valley Arts Festival brings a weeklong plein-air painting competition and a 90-minute “Quick Draw” paint-off to the Josephy Center, with more than $7,500 in awards on the line. The weekend caps with a Friday-night opening reception and awards ceremony, September 18-20. Elkhorn Media Group

Art in the High Desert returns to Bend’s Riverbend Park with roughly 140 jury-selected fine artists and craftspeople, a Friday-night preview party, and new free off-site parking with a shuttle running all weekend. It’s a rare chance to browse and buy directly from a large juried roster of regional and national artists in one scenic setting, August 28-30. Cascade Business News

Mockingbird Gallery hosts the American Impressionist Society’s 27th Annual National Juried Exhibition this fall, filling the gallery with roughly 175 paintings from AIS members nationwide and more than $100,000 in awards on the line, including a $13,000 Best of Show prize. The show opens with Bend’s First Friday Art Walk on September 4. Mockingbird Gallery

Remember to check websites before heading out as details may have changed.

The post outlines multiple art exhibitions in Portland galleries, including Russo Lee Gallery, Augen Gallery, Froelick Gallery, Blue Sky Gallery, and more, each hosting receptions at various times. A suggested walking route encourages visitors to explore these galleries efficiently.

1. Russo Lee Gallery
Exhibition:
Reception: 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Address: 805 NW 21st Avenue, Portland, OR 97209
Website: russoleegallery.com

2. Augen Gallery
Exhibition:
Reception: 5:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Address: 716 NW Davis Street, Portland, OR 97209
Website: augengallery.com

3. Froelick Gallery
Exhibition:
Reception: 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Address: 714 NW Davis Street, Portland, OR 97209
Website: froelickgallery.com

4. Blue Sky Gallery
Exhibitions:
Reception: 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Address: 122 NW 8th Avenue, Portland, OR 97209
Website: blueskygallery.org

5. Blackfish Gallery
Exhibitions:
Reception: 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Address: 938 NW Everett Street, Portland, OR 97209
Website: blackfish.com

6. Gallery 114
Exhibitions:
Reception: 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Address: 1100 NW Glisan Street, Portland, OR 97209
Website: gallery114.com

7. Elizabeth Leach Gallery
Exhibition:
Reception: 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Address: 417 NW 9th Avenue, Portland, OR 97209
Website: elizabethleach.com

8. Waterstone Gallery
Exhibitions:
Reception: 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Address: 124 NW 9th Avenue, Portland, OR 97209
Website: waterstonegallery.com

To make the most of your evening, here’s a recommended walking route starting from the northernmost gallery and moving southward. You’d have to be really fast to see them all, so looking at the websites ahead of time and leaving the ones that stay open later to last is also a potential strategy.

Making time for it won’t be easy, but admission is free at the Portland Art Museum.

Please note: First Thursday galleries are numbered in blue.

This route covers approximately 1.5 miles and allows you to experience a diverse range of exhibitions. Be sure to check each gallery’s website for any updates or changes to event details.

Enjoy your art-filled evening in Portland! Know of something else going on? Leave a comment!

In the autumn of 1920, Thomas Alva Edison made a curious statement that would eventually inspire the legend of “Edison’s Ghost Phone,” a supposed machine designed to communicate with the dead.

“If our personality survives, it is strictly scientific to assume it retains memory and other attributes. If we could capture even one of those vibrations, we might—yes—record the voice of a soul.”

The remark, fleeting though it may have seemed, ignited a firestorm of public imagination. The press wasted no time. The headlines the next day shouted in bold:
“EDISON PLANS MACHINE TO TALK WITH THE DEAD!”

And yet, no such device ever materialized. No prototype was shown, no blueprints shared. Edison later walked back his comments, suggesting he had been speaking hypothetically. But the story didn’t end there.

To understand the hold this idea had on the public, it’s important to consider Edison’s legacy. In 1877, he invented the phonograph, a machine that could record sound and play it back. The first words ever captured were his own voice reciting, “Mary had a little lamb.” For the first time in history, the human voice could be preserved—frozen in time.

What had once been ephemeral—a sound, a song, a laugh—was now permanent. The phonograph not only revolutionized communication, it altered the way people understood memory, time, and even death. Suddenly, a person’s voice could live on after they were gone.

Edison’s comment in 1920 built upon that very idea: if sound could be preserved, could the soul?

Edison was not alone in his interest in the unknown. Nikola Tesla, Guglielmo Marconi, and other prominent inventors had also speculated—some seriously, others less so—about the possibility of using radio waves or vibrations to detect “spiritual energy.”

Yet Edison, ever the pragmatist, was careful in how he framed his ideas. He didn’t appeal to the supernatural. Instead, he suggested that if spirits existed, they might leave a measurable trace—perhaps an electrical impulse, perhaps a vibration too subtle for the human ear, but not for a sensitive device.

This was not mysticism; this was science, or at least the promise of it.

And therein lies the enduring fascination with what’s now called Edison’s Ghost Phone.

Though Edison never unveiled a machine to speak with the dead, rumors have persisted for over a century.

In 1941—ten years after Edison’s death—Modern Mechanix published an article titled “Edison’s Ghost Machine,” claiming that the inventor had in fact worked on such a device, but had destroyed it before it could be made public.

No drawings, components, or physical evidence of the so-called ghost phone have ever been found. Still, that hasn’t stopped collectors, historians, and paranormal investigators from searching. Some believe the prototype was disassembled and hidden. Others think the records themselves—the wax cylinders—may contain fragments of forgotten experiments.

In his later years, Edison seemed to distance himself from the idea. But he never fully dismissed it either. In his diaries, he wrote:

“I have been at work for some time building an apparatus to see if it is possible for personalities which have left this earth to communicate with us.”

It’s a tantalizing sentence—just vague enough to fuel speculation, just specific enough to suggest he may have truly tried.

Edison died in 1931, taking whatever truth there was with him. No machine was ever found. But neither was it definitively disproven.

Whether or not Edison ever succeeded in capturing the voice of a soul, he gave the world something just as powerful—the ability to listen back through time.

So perhaps, somewhere, in a dusty attic or mislabeled archive, an old phonograph cylinder still waits. A recording. A trace. A whisper.

A voice from beyond.

“Mysticism” is a confusing label for a group of 20th-century artists featured in a new exhibition at the Seattle Art Museum. Beyond Mysticism: The Modern Northwest explores a wide range of work created in the Pacific Northwest, revealing how artists drew inspiration from Social Realism, Precisionism, Surrealism, and Abstract Expressionism rather than a single regional style.

As we argued in a previous article, there may never have been a single Northwest “school.” This exhibition reinforces that idea, showing artists whose styles are as varied as their influences.

The idea of a Pacific Northwest School is comparable to the Dallas Nine, whose members shared recognizable artistic threads while maintaining distinct voices. Here, however, the notion of “mysticism” seems to arise primarily from the work of Morris Graves rather than from a consistent regional aesthetic.

The exhibition opens with early twentieth-century urban scenes by Kamekichi Tokita, Kenjiro Nomura, and others. Encountering Arthur Dove’s Power Plant immediately raises a question: what does any of this have to do with mysticism? The answer lies in the exhibition’s title—it moves beyond mysticism rather than attempting to define it.

The stage is set for our continued urban exploration with Reginald Marsh’s Tuesday Night at the Savoy Ballroom. Photographs from the Jazz Age in Seattle then walk us into one of our favorite works in the show, Mark Tobey’s E Pluribus Unum (below), which shows the sea of people at Pike Place Market. Often described as the founder of the Northwest School, Tobey’s influence extended far beyond the region. Ironically, the artists became closely associated with “Northwest mysticism” after a 1953 Life magazine article grouped Tobey with Guy Anderson, Kenneth Callahan, and Morris Graves.

From there we move into landscapes and figurative work depicting the heroic and tragic sides of the logging industry. Callahan’s works (below), Evening at Mist Mountains and Mountain Landscape, hold their own alongside paintings by Alexandre Hogue and a stunning tree study by Georgia O’Keeffe.

Here we also encounter the most mystical of the painters. Through Morris Graves’ Bird Sensing the Essential Insanities (cover), we encounter a bird’s-eye view of the encroachment of humans and the environmental destruction that came from industry. Graves’ works verge on abstraction and present nature less as literal observation than as spiritual presence.

Equally compelling is James Washington Jr.’s Wounded Eagle No. 10, a work that suggests another kind of devastation. Washington considered his sculpture a spiritual practice, making it one of the exhibition’s most direct expressions of mysticism.

Salvador Dalí first visited New York in 1934 and spent much of the 1940s there. It would be surprising if Northwest artists had ignored Surrealism. By then, the movement had influenced not only painting but also literature, film, fashion, advertising, psychology, and politics through its fascination with dreams and the unconscious mind.

Two paintings by Malcolm M. Roberts (above) mesh the surrealism of the mind with the physicality of the regional landscape. View of Aurora Bridge shows a nighttime view of the 1932 structure connecting the neighborhoods of Queen Anne and Fremont in Seattle, along with two strangely illuminated sailboats. The other, The Beach, shows a surreal composition set within a typical Oregon coastal scene. The influence of Giorgio de Chirico, Max Ernst, and Dalí is especially evident in these paintings.

The exhibition concludes with Abstract Expressionism, where Franz Kline’s influence becomes apparent. The large ink strokes are reminiscent of Japanese calligraphy. Hilda Grossman Morris would have perhaps been the perfect artist to look at in relation to the Kline work, but it also provides an interesting setting for painter and collage artist Paul Horiuchi. His work fuses traditional Japanese collage with Abstract Expressionism.

As we follow these artists and their work through this exhibition, it’s worth remembering that while a variety of artistic movements and styles shaped the era, each artist drew inspiration from different sources and worked in a distinctly individual way. Their influences came from Europe, New York, Asia, and their own lived experiences as much as from the Pacific Northwest itself. That diversity makes it difficult to define these artists by anything more than geography.

Yet geography is no small thing. Artists are inevitably shaped by the people, places, and climate that surround them, sometimes in ways as subtle as a restrained palette or a quiet, contemplative mood. It is hard not to wonder whether the region’s misty skies, dense forests, rugged coastline, and quiet atmosphere left their mark. Just as it is impossible to look at an Alexander Hogue or Georgia O’Keefe painting without sensing the influence of the landscape, the prevailing mood found in many of these works seems, in some way, to reflect the character of the Pacific Northwest itself.

Moreover, mysticism has different meanings across cultures and religions, but it often refers to experiences that resist ordinary language. For artists, visual expression can become a way of communicating those moments. Viewed from that perspective, it seems unfair to label one artist more “mystical” than another. The exhibition ultimately succeeds because it broadens the conversation, revealing that Northwest modernism was never defined by a single philosophy or style but by artists pursuing their own paths toward expressing the inexpressible.

Antiques Mysteries Podcast: Explore the strange history of the color organ, an instrument designed to turn music into light.’Imagine attending a concert where every musical note is accompanied by a burst of color. Instead of simply hearing a symphony, you would watch it unfold as waves of red, blue, gold, and violet danced across the stage. More than a century ago, this was not science fiction—it was the ambitious goal of the color organ.

The idea emerged during the late nineteenth century, a period of extraordinary invention that also gave the world photography, recorded sound, and motion pictures. Artists and inventors believed that technology could create entirely new forms of artistic expression by uniting sight and sound.

One of the earliest and most influential pioneers was British artist and inventor Alexander Wallace Rimington. In the 1890s, he introduced his Color Organ, a keyboard-controlled instrument that projected colored light instead of producing sound. Rimington believed that color could be composed much like music, with harmonies, contrasts, and visual rhythms that could move audiences emotionally.

Interest in the concept grew during the early twentieth century. Russian composer Alexander Scriabin envisioned a “light keyboard” as part of his 1910 orchestral masterpiece Prometheus: The Poem of Fire, believing that color and music were spiritually connected. Inventors including Adrian Bernard Klein and Alexander László continued refining color-performance instruments, each hoping to create an entirely new artistic language.

Perhaps the movement reached its artistic peak with Thomas Wilfred’s Clavilux in the 1920s. Unlike earlier color organs that accompanied music, Wilfred believed moving light could stand on its own as an independent art form. His luminous abstract performances, which he called Lumia, transformed beams of colored light into slowly evolving compositions that existed somewhere between painting, theater, and music.

Although color organs never became common concert instruments, the dream endured. In the 1930s, George Lawrence Hall developed the Musichrome, while decades later the psychedelic light shows of the 1960s and the spectacular concerts of organist Virgil Fox revived the idea that music could be experienced visually as well as aurally.

Today, surviving color organs are rare museum pieces, reminders of an era when inventors believed the future of art lay in blending the senses. While modern concerts now routinely use sophisticated lighting, projection mapping, and digital visuals, those spectacular productions owe a quiet debt to the forgotten pioneers who first imagined an instrument that could play with light instead of sound.

The Color Organ: Music Made Visible | Great Paintings Podcast

It looked like nothing special.

An old beige answering machine sat on a table at an estate sale with a $5 price tag. Most people walked right past it.

One person took it home.

Inside was a tiny microcassette. They plugged the machine in, pressed Play and heard a man’s voice.

“Hi, it’s Dad. We’ll see you Sunday.”

The messages that followed weren’t mysterious or dramatic. They were ordinary conversations about birthdays, dinner plans and grocery lists.

But that’s what made them unforgettable.

The people leaving those messages had no idea a stranger would hear their voices decades later. For some families, those forgotten recordings may be the last time a loved one’s voice was ever captured.

It raises a fascinating question: How many answering machines are still sitting in attics, closets and thrift stores with hidden time capsules waiting to be discovered?

This week on the podcast, we look back at the answering machine, the device that quietly recorded everyday life and, in some cases, preserved memories no one knew they would one day treasure.

Answering machines evolved over more than a century as technology for recording and replaying sound improved.

For centuries, builders and homeowners across Britain—and later North America—deliberately concealed worn shoes inside the walls, chimneys, fireplaces, and doorways of their homes.

These weren’t forgotten belongings or construction accidents. The shoes were carefully placed before the walls were sealed, where they often remained hidden for hundreds of years.

Today, thousands of these discoveries have been recorded, leading historians to believe the practice was a form of household protection. According to folklore, a well-worn shoe carried the essence of its owner and could ward off evil spirits or other supernatural forces that might enter through doors, windows, or chimneys.

Although no written explanation of the custom has ever been found, concealed shoes continue to turn up during renovations, offering a fascinating glimpse into the beliefs and traditions of earlier generations.

Discover the remarkable story behind one of history’s most unusual archaeological mysteries in this episode of Antiques Mysteries.

The post outlines multiple art exhibitions in Portland galleries, including Russo Lee Gallery, Augen Gallery, Froelick Gallery, Blue Sky Gallery, and more, each hosting receptions at various times. A suggested walking route encourages visitors to explore these galleries efficiently.

1. Russo Lee Gallery
Exhibition: Guest Curator, John Hoke III
Reception: 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Address: 805 NW 21st Avenue, Portland, OR 97209
Website: russoleegallery.com

2. Augen Gallery
Exhibition: Arless Day plus Summer Group Exhibition
Reception: 5:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Address: 716 NW Davis Street, Portland, OR 97209
Website: augengallery.com

3. Froelick Gallery
Exhibition: Kris Hargis
Reception: 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Address: 714 NW Davis Street, Portland, OR 97209
Website: froelickgallery.com

4. Blue Sky Gallery
Exhibitions: Mark Maio: Against the Grain, Dawn Surrat: Real But Not True
Reception: 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Address: 122 NW 8th Avenue, Portland, OR 97209
Website: blueskygallery.org

5. Blackfish Gallery
Exhibitions: Amy Turnbull and Hannah Theiss
Reception: 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Address: 938 NW Everett Street, Portland, OR 97209
Website: blackfish.com

6. Gallery 114
Exhibitions: Elena Thomas, Nancy Helmsworth & Angela Riggs
Reception: 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Address: 1100 NW Glisan Street, Portland, OR 97209
Website: gallery114.com

7. Elizabeth Leach Gallery
Exhibition: Let’s Play: Group Exhibition
Reception: 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Address: 417 NW 9th Avenue, Portland, OR 97209
Website: elizabethleach.com

8. Waterstone Gallery
Exhibitions: R.Lampert & A. Dosskey: Complicated Relationships
Reception: 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Address: 124 NW 9th Avenue, Portland, OR 97209
Website: waterstonegallery.com

To make the most of your evening, here’s a recommended walking route starting from the northernmost gallery and moving southward. You’d have to be really fast to see them all, so looking at the websites ahead of time and leaving the ones that stay open later to last is also a potential strategy.

Making time for it won’t be easy, but admission is free at the Portland Art Museum.

Please note: First Thursday galleries are numbered in blue.

This route covers approximately 1.5 miles and allows you to experience a diverse range of exhibitions. Be sure to check each gallery’s website for any updates or changes to event details.

Enjoy your art-filled evening in Portland! Know of something else going on? Leave a comment!

Here’s a short introductory article that sets up the episode while giving readers enough historical context without repeating the entire script.

In the years following the American Civil War, the United States was a nation defined by loss. Hundreds of thousands of families mourned loved ones who would never return, often with little more than a letter and a single photograph to remember them by.

At the same time, photography was still a remarkable new technology. Unlike paintings or sketches, photographs were widely believed to capture reality exactly as it was. If the camera showed something, people assumed it must have been there.

It was into this world that Boston photographer William H. Mumler introduced one of the most controversial ideas of the nineteenth century.

During ordinary portrait sessions, faint, ghostly figures began appearing alongside his subjects. Many grieving clients believed these mysterious forms were departed family members reaching out from beyond the grave. Mumler insisted that the camera could sometimes reveal spiritual presences invisible to the human eye.

Others strongly disagreed. Critics argued the images were simply the result of photographic manipulation, accidental double exposures, or deliberate fraud. The debate became so intense that Mumler was eventually brought to trial in 1869, where photographers, skeptics, and even the famous showman P. T. Barnum testified about whether his spirit photographs were genuine or cleverly manufactured illusions.

Although Mumler was acquitted, his reputation never fully recovered. Yet his photographs remain among the most fascinating artifacts of nineteenth-century America—not because they prove the existence of ghosts, but because they reveal something deeply human.

They show what can happen when revolutionary technology meets overwhelming grief.

This episode explores the remarkable story of William H. Mumler, the rise of spirit photography, and why so many people placed their faith in images that seemed to promise one impossible thing: another chance to see someone they had lost.

This version is suitable as a podcast description, blog post, or episode introduction. If you’d like, I can also make it feel more like a magazine feature or a cinematic historical essay.