Gallery Exhibit: Works by Arvie Smith
Portland Center Stage will be hosting a collection of narrative storytelling work and portrait work by Portland-based painter, educator, and mural artist Arvie Smith, in support of our production of Gem of the Ocean. The show, titled Works by Arvie Smith, will highlight different eras of his work, including portraits and some narrative paintings that express "deep sympathy for the dispossessed and marginalized members of society in an unrelenting search for beauty, meaning, and equality."
This gallery exhibit will be on display in the PGE Gallery at PCS and will include his famed "We Still Rise" painting, on loan from Prosper Portland. The exhibit opens on January 28, 2022, and will be on view daily through April 4, 2022.
This special collection of work by Arvie Smith at Portland Center Stage will be on view concurrently with a career retrospective of his work from the past 25 years, titled Arvie Smith: Scarecrow, opening at the Hallie Ford Museum of Art at Willamette University. The retrospective at the Hallie Ford Museum will be available for viewing and gallery visits from January 22 – March 26, 2022. If you're able to travel to see the show at Willamette University, the opening will be held on Saturday, Feb 5, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Arvie Smith transforms the history of oppressed and stereotyped segments of the American experience into lyrical two-dimensional master works. His paintings are commonly of psychological images revealing deep sympathy for the dispossessed and marginalized members of society in an unrelenting search for beauty, meaning, and equality. Smith’s work reflects powerful injustices and the will to resist and survive. His memories of growing up in the South add to his awareness of the legacy that the slavery of African American’s has left with all Americans today. His intention is to solidify the memory of atrocities and oppression so they will never be forgotten nor duplicated. Smith creates this work because he must.
Current & Upcoming
Piano Bar with Courtney Freed and David Saffert
Join us for this monthly event with local songstress Courtney Freed and Portland-based pianist David Saffert as they host a good old-fashioned PIANO BAR.
NASSIM
From Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour (creator of the Off-Broadway smash hit White Rabbit, Red Rabbit) comes an audacious new theatrical experiment, presented in collaboration with Boom Arts. Each night, a new, unrehearsed local performer joins the playwright on stage, while the script waits, unseen, in a sealed box... Touchingly autobiographical yet powerfully universal, NASSIM is a striking theatrical demonstration of how language can both divide and unite us.
Coriolanus
Shakespeare’s tragedy about the war hero Coriolanus and the fight between the elite and the deprived masses will be fueled by a dynamic female and non-binary ensemble with a muscular, movement-focused staging.
First Annual 503 Day
Portland's first annual 503 Day. Discounts on tickets, drink specials, and more!
Pre-Show Music with Chera Chera
As part of BIPOC Affinity Night for Nassim, join us for a pre-show music performance featuring Chera Chera, blending Iranian music and Farsi lyrics for the matinee crowds.
Improvisation Classes for Beginners
Whether you're looking to get more confident in social situations, think quicker on your feet, or get in touch with your imaginative side, these "one-off" improv classes will set you on the path to success!
Portland Center Stage is committed to identifying & interrupting instances of racism & all forms of oppression, through the principles of inclusion, diversity, equity, & accessibility (IDEA).
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