Portland’s Art Scene thrives on transformation and isn’t confined to Museums. In a city where coffee shops act as art galleries and skateparks are spaces for graffiti art, art can be defined as a creative cult, rooted in its belief and constantly in flux.
Drawing inspiration from her mother’s charcoal creations, Daniellea’s collection True Happiness Will Find You in the End delves into the boundless possibilities of abstract forms, exhibited at Stumptown Coffee, Portland, until April 15th. Stumptown Coffee Roasters has always supported Portland’s local art scene, and their collaborations with artists like Daniellea Gatt (pictured on the left) show how much they value creativity.
Gatt’s abstract work perfectly fits Stumptown’s focus on celebrating the city’s unique culture. By featuring her art in the cafe and hosting events, Stumptown gives Gatt a platform to share her vision while helping to strengthen the local arts community. Gatt’s collection explores abstract forms and possibilities, which match Stumptown’s commitment to creative expression. Through this partnership, Gatt and Stumptown are keeping Portland’s art scene vibrant and full of opportunities for local artists. Find more of Gatt’s work @yella1.
But what makes the Portland Art Scene so Unique?
Portland’s Pearl District hums with artistic energy, where sleek architecture meets a diverse gallery scene. From contemporary installations to timeless works, each space offers a unique lens into the city’s evolving creative identity. Showcasing everything from painting and sculpture to photography and mixed media, the district fosters a strong sense of community, making it a vital stop for art lovers and curious wanderers alike. Blackfish Gallery opened as a cooperative art venue in Portland in 1979. The impulse for establishing a new gallery originated from the fact that, at the time, there were insufficient galleries to service the area’s numerous artists. The gallery’s origins can be traced back to 1978 when a group of artists eager to help one another professionally envisioned a one-of-a-kind concept – a gallery owned and managed solely by its artists. The original group leased an empty shop at 325 N.W. Sixth Street and created the gallery a year later, using their work, abilities, and ingenuity. The gallery is now located at 938 NW Everett Street.
Blackfish has represented prominent Oregon and Washington artists such as Paul Missal. In a conversation with artist Dede Lucia, she shared how each Blackfish project is rooted in three guiding goals: to present compelling visual art infused with thoughtful ideas; to support artists whose work challenges commercial norms; and to engage diverse audiences through exhibitions that speak to broad, relevant themes. This mission echoes throughout the Pearl, where art doesn’t just decorate walls – it sparks dialogue, invites reflection, and builds connection.
Dede Lucia (left) & Paul Missal (right) at Blackfish Gallery
As of April 2025, Blackfish Gallery is presenting Connections, a captivating new series by artist Philip Stork. With a restrained palette of monochromatic pastels and pencils, Stork explores the unseen threads that bind us – visually interpreting the cellular networks and subtle forces that shape our world. His large black–and–white compositions offer striking contrasts, while soft tonal shifts create a sense of visual harmony and depth.
Stork’s work evokes both microscopic and expansive realms, inviting viewers to reflect on the environments they inhabit and those beyond their immediate experience. Through a nuanced interplay of line and tone, Connections gently urges us to consider the foundational links in nature, society, and self.
This exhibition marks a bold new chapter in Stork’s artistic journey – one defined by introspection, experimentation, and transformation.
To view more of his work, visit storkartportfolio.com. Inquiries: storkpjs56@gmail.com.
At Blackfish Gallery, artists Hannah Theiss and Noah Alexander Isaac Stein present two deeply introspective exhibitions that explore the intangible realms of memory and spiritual transformation.
In Qualia, Hannah Theiss assembles fragmented materials into haunting compositions that reflect the instability of memory, particularly in the context of trauma. Her use of transparency and absence captures the fragility of remembrance, while sudden bursts of color release deeply buried emotion. Theiss’s work invites viewers to confront the voids within their recollections, forming brief, poetic links to the past self.
Meanwhile, in Luminous Fire from a Broken Machine, Noah Alexander Isaac Stein turns to fire as a symbol of transformation, of destruction giving way to creation. His expressive use of oil and cold wax mediums creates layered, textured surfaces that suggest spiritual intensity and emotional catharsis. Through this process-focused approach, Stein aims to create a space where the viewer can encounter something universally human: hope, transcendence, and healing potential.
Together, these exhibitions offer a powerful reflection on what it means to remember, to feel, and to transform.
Untitled (Villagers), 2007 The Infrastructure of Nationalism, 2009
The Elizabeth Leach Gallery presents Dinh Q. Lê: A Survey 1995–2023, a posthumous tribute to the late Vietnamese–American artist, who passed away in April 2024. This exhibition spans three decades of Lê’s influential career, showcasing photographs, photo–weavings, and sculptures that reflect his enduring exploration of memory, identity, and the legacy of war. Lê, whose work was first exhibited at the gallery in 1998, used photography to navigate the complexities of East–West identity and Buddhist philosophy. Removed from the commercial spotlight of New York, his Portland exhibitions became quiet meditations on history and personal narrative. With A Survey, the gallery honors Lê’s singular voice and the profound impact of his visionary practice.
More than 30 years ago, Portlanders built their own Skatepark under the Burnside Bridge – known as the ‘Burnside Skatepark’. It’s a pretty amazing work of street art. Jacque Rheingans, a Skateboarding Coach for SkateLikeAGirl Portland, and a Geology student at Portland State, describes it as a DIY (do-it-yourself) and mentions that the space has its unique energy and transition. She recalls it as “Made by Skaters, for Skaters.” According to Jacque, Burnside was the very first fully DIY skatepark to ever be built. It gave skaters a space to express their creativity through the design of the park as well as the annual paintings. Every year, the park is repainted with a new theme by a skater who goes by the name Jaymeer, who has been designing the art for Burnside skatepark for the past thirty years, with some recent themes including desert, jungle, ocean, and current space. The Art at Burnside plays a major role in bringing the community together and turning it into a destination for skaters across the globe.
Alex Long, a sophomore at Ida B. Wells High School, loves to skate and mentioned that the City of Portland was going to be demolishing the Skatepark due to safety concerns of the Burnside Bridge collapsing over the Skatepark, due to an earthquake. Alex plans on attending Oregon State University after finishing high school. The Burnside Skatepark was constructed around support columns beneath the east side approach to the bridge. The three replacement choices do not require columns in this region, allowing the skatepark to stay intact and functional after construction. The Retrofit choice, on the other hand, would require tearing down the skatepark and replacing or strengthening all the existing columns.
Portland’s Art Scene reminds us that creativity isn’t just found in expensive pieces in museums. Sometimes it can be found in the most unexpected places – under a bridge, in filth. Places like Burnside Skatepark convey that the most important art is built through rebellion. While the City of Portland debates demolishing the Burnside Skatepark, some might view this infrastructure planning as an oppression against free art and to erase something that exists without permission. But creativity is something that can be lost, always found again, and reemerges.
