All events listed occur on the first Friday of the month and are free and open to all visitors unless otherwise specified.
Behind Closed Doors Opening | Sidestreet Arts
You are invited to the Behind Closed Doors Opening event at Sidestreet Arts! Join us for an exclusive First Friday look at our latest exhibition. Meet the artists, get a sneak peek at their creative process, and mingle with fellow art enthusiasts. This in-person event promises to be a unique experience that you won’t want to miss.
We have the figurative studies of 27 artists from Hipbone Studio. For over 35 years, Hipbone Art Studio, located on inner SE Burnside Ave, has served Portland artists by offering multiple weekly figure drawing sessions that are open to everyone at an affordable price. These drawing sessions have created a vibrant and supportive community made up of a wide variety of artistic disciplines.
Come discover the stories behind closed doors at Sidestreet Arts!
5 PM – 7 PM @ 140 SE 28th Ave., Portland, OR
tangible cadence exhibition + readings, an EKPHRAESTIVAL event | Soliloquy fine arts
Soliloquy fine arts + The Writers’ Block present “tangible cadence”, an EKPHRAESTIVAL exhibition of artwork created by pairs of regional artists and poets in honor of National Poetry Month in April. EKPHRAESTIVAL is a series of exhibitions and poetry readings hosted by a group of 4 Portland galleries: Soliloquy + The Lobby on the east side and The Writers’ Block + Blackfish Gallery on the west side. Join us at Soliloquy on April 5 to kick off activities in the SE with an evening of lively poetry readings! Find the full schedule of readings and lists of artists + poets at soliloquyfinearts.com or follow events on IG @ekphraestivalpdx.
5 PM – 8 PM @ 2232 SE Clinton Street, back of building, Portland, OR
Philippe Mazaud: Sets (for a Theater of Night) | PUSHDOT STUDIO Gallery
“The pictures to be shown at Pushdot Gallery were selected from a larger ensemble of nocturnal pieces, shot over a period of ten years in parts of the Western U.S. — areas in Idaho, Utah, Nevada and Washington.
The work is as much about fiction as it is documentary. It suggests a set-like quality that places take on at night, a staged, somewhat artificial appearance that becomes evident in the photograph.”
Philippe Mazaud (born in New York City, American and French) is an artist currently based in Portland, Oregon. His work involves both painting (notably in its unconventional use of dry pigments and pastel blocks) and photography (a blend of analog and digital). It positions itself, in some sense, at the interface of several domains — pictorial and photographic, analog and digital.
6 PM – 8 PM @ 2505 SE 11th Avenue, Suite 104 – in the Ford Building, enter on Division Street
Portland, OR
The Haven First Friday | The Haven PDX
For this first Friday, we will be celebrating the riveting poetry of Igor Bjorn Brezhnev and the masterful paintings of Lesley Burke. Come see Portland’s art and culture hub unlike any other.
6 PM – 12 AM @ 819 SE Taylor St., Portland, OR
Past Lives Show | Splendorporium Gallery
Splendorporium Gallery invites you to the opening of our Past Lives Show on Friday, April 5th 2024, 7-9 PM.
The Past Lives Show features new work by painter Ross McPherson and over 25 other local artists working in a variety of styles and media exploring themes of reincarnation, rebirth, nostalgia and the past.
We will have Akashic readings by Momo Carter and live piano music by Robert Bomstad.
Our Children’s Gallery (inside the main gallery) is also showing new work by students in the Art4Life program.
The show hangs through April 25th.
Pictured: Around Again, Acrylic on Canvas by Ross McPherson
7 PM – 9 PM @ 3421 SE 21st Ave, Portland, OR
Izzy Knowles: April’s Artist Show Opening | Clinton Street Coffeehouse
Izzy Knowles: April’s Artist Show Opening
Join us for a live DJ set from Geoff Zagarola, the owner of Music History.
Izzy, short for Island, is a pacific northwest based painter, as well as a musician, chef, and designer. She explores her lived experience through painting, utilizing poignant imagery and a vibrant, playful color scheme. These pieces touch on their religious upbringing, queer experience in America, and how an artworks interpretation can be art in itself.
5 PM – 7 PM @ 2706 SE 26th Ave., Portland, OR
Blossom Community Art Exhibit | Variable Creatives
Come see “Blossom”, a community art exhibit featuring 35 artists and 65 amazing works of art.
This in-person event showcases the amazing work of local artists in our vibrant community. Come and immerse yourself in a world of color, expression, and inspiration. Support our artists and connect with fellow art enthusiasts. Don’t miss this opportunity to experience the beauty and diversity of art right in your own neighborhood.
All the 8″x8″ artwork will be ready to take home same day. Don’t forget that 25% of ALL sales go to our friends at Friends of Trees.
6 PM – 10 PM @ 222 SE Alder St., Portland, OR
First friday Open studios | east creative collective
Come by to see the art and meet the artists of East Creative! Featuring live music and Karaoke by Community Jams, photography, installations, and art of all.mediums. Free and open to visitors of all ages.
6 PM – 9 PM @ 211 SE Madison St., Portland, OR
THE RATTLE CAN REVIVAL | Adx POrtland
JOIN US AT ADX (417 SE 11TH) ON APRIL 5TH FROM 5-9PM TO OPEN OUR NEW OPEN CALL GALLERY SHOW: THE RATTLE CAN REVIVAL
THE RATTLE CAN REVIVAL OPEN CALL SHOW OFFERS AN HOMAGE TO STREET ART AND THE REPURPOSING OF DISCARDED OBJECTS, INVITING ARTISTS TO BREATHE NEW LIFE INTO A RATTLE CAN THROUGH TRANSFORMATIVE ARTISTRY.
IN THIS OPEN CALL SHOW, ARTISTS WERE PROMPTED TO TRANSFORM A USED SPRAY CAN INTO A PIECE OF 3D ART. COME CHECK OUT THESE INCREDIBLE TRANSFORMATIONS AND SUPPORT LOCAL ARTISTS!
FREE EVENT! BEVERAGES AND ART WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR SALE! MUSIC BEGINS AT 7PM.
MUSIC BY: THE LXCALS, ALTA VOCEZ, AND PE$O BVNDS
5 PM – 9 PM @ 417 SE 11th Ave., Portland, OR
Shapes that Speak | Art at the Cave
The Pacific Northwest Sculptors Group (PNWS) presents “Shapes that Speak” at Art at the Cave during the month of April. The group, which has been active since 2000, represents a wide range of sculptors specializing in a variety of media. From emerging artists to internationally-recognized sculptors, PNWS prioritizes community support through the sharing of information and resources. Please join us on First Friday for the artists’ reception from 5-9pm and on Saturday, April 20 from 1-2pm for the artist talk. Keep your eyes open after the talk, when artists from the group will don wearable art and parade around downtown
Pictured: “Queen Bee” by Mary Grout
4 PM – 8 PM @ 108 E Evergreen Blvd., Vancouver, WA
Nicole Williford: Madonna Madonna | chefas projects
Chefas Projects is thrilled to introduce Madonna, Madonna, the solo debut of Portland-based painter Nicole Williford. Trained in traditional portraiture, Williford’s work spans from tight realism to abstract color fields. Painting is a practice of meditation for the artist as well as a method of processing the overwhelming stimulation present in day-to-day life, her work revolving around personal narratives, nostalgia, and identity.
In Madonna, Madonna, Williford explores the cyclical nature of motherhood through paintings of personal family photographs. These paintings follow subjects from girlhood into matriarchy, with each piece examining the journey’s respective faces and phases. Rendering loose and refined marks as a mode of expression, she mimics the fleeting and emotional memories of childhood and family life.
In the conjuring of these moments, Williford alternates between clarity and obscurity, expanding upon cherished memories while leaving harsher details purposefully unfinished. Meanwhile, the surreal tedium of family life prevails, touching down across beauty and grief—sometimes within a single tapestry—to create a unifying theme. Now a mother, Williford is also a daughter, and so the cycle continues but in a circular and self-reflective motion.
The opening reception for Madonna, Madonna will take place at Chefas Projects on Friday, April 5, 2024, from 5-8 pm. Located in Portland, Oregon, at 134 SE Taylor Street on the first floor of the Taylor Works building, Chefas Projects invites the public to explore this unique exhibition, which will be on view through May 4, 2024.
5 PM – 8:00 PM @ 134 SE Taylor St., Suite 203, Portland, OR
Shriek of Color | The Lobby
Joan Snyder is an artist included in the Shriek of Color exhibition. Snyder, known for her visceral expressions and loose depictions of objects, often imbues her paintings with visceral physicality.
In “Come Spring,” the painting featured in the exhibition, the objects, though clearly flowers, transcend fixed forms as the colors bleed into the viewer’s space, suggesting rather than defining.
You may see more of her work at https://www.joansnyder.net/homepage
and her current exhibition at her NY Gallery https://canadaonlinevr.com/ovr/comeclose
6 PM – 8 PM @ 2871 SE Division St., Portland, OR
First Friday | Manifestation
6 PM – 9 PM @ 2020 SE Bush St., Portland, OR
Club V! | Ford Gallery PDX
Save the date, babes and dolls! We’ve got the @firstfridaypdx edition of Club V set for TONIGHT, Friday, April 5th from 6- and magic of PDX 🎀 50 rad women artists on view with some seriously stellar work. See ya there!
6 PM – 8 PM @ SE 11th St. and Division
Contact Us
We do our best to make the list as complete as possible, if you have an event or correction you would like to see listed please send show details to Info@FirstFridayPDX.org or use our easy online event submission form.