Bright Lights

A conversation between business, natural resources, and farming.

As the legendary statewide planning act turns 40, look at what's working and what isn't, and what needs to change. This conversation brings together experts in business, natural resources and farming. Join Doug Krahmer, farmer and chairman of the Oregon Agricultural board, Sara Vickerman from Defenders of Wildlife, and Bernie Bottomly Portland Business Alliance and aficionado of economic development.

A conversation with the Portland Art Museum’s Brian Ferriso. The museum’s director talks art, bikes, gardens, and expansion.

A conversation with Eliose Damrosch and Mary Priester.

A new streetcar, light-rail line, and two bridges are generating nearly $5 million for new public art in Portland. Who’s making it? Who’s selecting it? And what’s it going to look like?

Two of the people who have most shaped Portland’s public art programs are Eloise Damrosch, executive director of the Regional Arts & Culture Council, and Mary Priester, manager of the TriMet Public Art Program. Since the 1980s, Damrosch has guided the processes for art placed everywhere from the Oregon Convention Center to Multnomah County Corrections. Since the 1990s, Priester has played a pivotal role in bringing art to MAX stations across the region. In conversation with longtime arts journalist Randy Gragg, Damrosch and Priester will reflect on where Portland public art has been and where it is going as a spate of major new infrastructure projects and a growing confidence in the two agencies unleash some of the largest, most visible projects ever.

A Conversation with Christopher Stowell and Christopher Coleman. Two of Portland’s most influential artistic directors, one now leaving, reflect on the challenges, accomplishments, and impact of their nine-year tenures at Oregon Ballet and Portland Center Stage.