Buy Local- Art at First Thursday
Posted By LaurenToday is the last First Thursday before the holidays. It’s not as good of a place as Saturday Market or Last Thursday to pick up gifts, but I thought I’d mention it anyway. First Thursday was the original Portland monthly art event. The art galleries in the Pearl stay open later and have show openings, usually with a food and drink reception, on the first Thursday of every month. Last Thursday began as a response to First Thursday as some people felt alienated by the fancy downtown galleries and many artists were frustrated that they couldn’t get their work shown in the more affluent area of town. Many of the Pearl galleries are still fairly serious and exclusive, but a lot of small, lower-budget, more accessible galleries (Rake, Backspace, Sugar, etc.) have opened in the First Thursday area in order to give less established, but talented, artists a chance.
That doesn’t mean that the art is all that affordable. The art in the nice galleries run in the thousands, while the art in the more artist-controlled galleries is only in the hundreds. Still not exactly an impulse buy. Yet, if you have the money and extra wall space to blow on (mostly) Portland artists, First Thursday is a good place to look.
I always find navigating First Thursday to be really confusing. Unlike Last Thursday, the galleries aren’t all on one pretty street. Most of the available First Thursday guides only include the fancy galleries of the Pearl and don’t include any of the unofficial low-key galleries who also participate. My best advice is to go to the area and wander around a bit. Just make sure you hit some of the new, unofficial First Thursday galleries or you’re missing out.
Buy Local- Last Thursday
Last Thursday Poorly Attended but Well Shopped by Me
Buy Local- Portland Saturday Market
Damn Hippies Building Green Again
Jennifer Wells Design
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