October Art and Events Guide
October Events
October is here, and sure, it's known as the spooky month, but in the Pearl, we're starting things off with a different kind of thrill! First Thursday lands on October 1, packed with gallery openings, art events, and the launch of PTXM. There's so much happening that we're serving it up in a few bite-sized pieces, so stay tuned for more treats all month long so stay tuned to Around the Pearl, newsletter and socials. Grab your broomstick and let's dive in!
October 1st Studio Sale at North Pole Studio!
North Pole Studio is opening its doors this First Thursday for a flash art sale. Shop pieces from their archives at great prices, try some crafts, and meet the artists behind the work.
North Pole Studio empowers self-determined lives through the arts. Every purchase supports local artists and their creative community.
It's free, family friendly, and open to everyone. Stop by and pick up something original!
When | Thursday, October 1, 2026, 6–8 pm
Where | North Pole Studio, 514 NW 11th Ave #203, Pearl District, Portland
Cost | Free
Kick Off Portland X Textile Month at Skylab
Portland X Textile Month: PTXM 2026: Layers of Resilience launches this First Thursday! Join the city's textile community at Skylab Architecture to celebrate the start of Layers of Resilience, a month of exhibits, workshops, and talks about how textiles carry memory, creativity, and strength through changing times.
Meet festival organizers, connect with artists and makers, and shop a community market of local textile artists and small businesses. You'll also get a preview of everything happening across the city in October.
Whether you're a longtime maker or just curious, all are welcome.
When | Thursday, October 1, 2026, 5:30–8 pm
Where | Skylab Architecture, 1825 NW Vaughn St.
Cost | Free (registration required)
Register | Sign up on Eventbrite
Out of Line by Heather Harlow at The Studio NW this First Thursday!
Heather Harlow is showing new work at The Studio NW this First Thursday.
About the artist: Heather is a painter and film director who paints large-scale paintings shown in galleries around the US. By day, she leads production for a major creative agency. Before that, she studied botany and conservation biology, working with medicinal plants in Hawai'i and Wyoming and filming a documentary on Tibetan medicine in Northern India. Across all of it, her work comes back to the same idea: finding order in wildness and making something beautiful from it.
It's free and open to everyone. Make it part of your First Thursday night in the Pearl!
When | Thursday, October 1, 2026, 5-8PM
Where | The Studio NW | 734 NW 14th Ave, Ste. 101, Pearl District Portland
First Thursday Street Gallery: The Final Stretch for 2026!
October 2026 is the last First Thursday Street Gallery of the season. Come out and enjoy the creativity of local artists and makers before it wraps up.
The Street Gallery is free, open to everyone, and happens rain or shine.
When | Thursday, October 1, 2026, 5–9 pm
Where | NW 13th Ave, between Flanders and Lovejoy
Follow along | @urbanartnetwork | @mypeoplesmarket
October is Portland Textile X Month
PTXM 2026: Layers of Resilience
Week one begins on First Thursday, October 1, 2026. Click the button for more information and list of events.
Portland TextileX Month (PTXM) returns this October with more than 40 exhibitions, workshops, talks, and gatherings across the city. This year's theme, Layers of Resilience, asks how textiles and community help us hold on to memory, adapt, and care for each other through uncertain times. Many events are free, thanks to a grassroots festival that brings together makers, teachers, students, businesses, and textile lovers of all ages and backgrounds.
An Ode to Holden Caulfield
Calling all former (and forever) teenagers! Pippa Arend's new portrait show is a love letter to anyone who ever felt lost in a wayward world. Inspired by The Catcher in the Rye, the work captures the push and pull of adolescence: innocence and despair, romance and rebellion, angst and ecstasy.
Snack on cheese sandwiches. Sip scotch and soda if you're one of the cool kids, or Coke if you're not. Then brave the awkward open mic, hosted by Frayn Masters, founder of BACKFENCE Storytelling and former producer and host for The Moth. The prompt: two minutes on adolescent awkwardness.
Homework | Read The Catcher in the Rye (again)
When | Friday, October 9, 2026, 6–8 pm
Where | Pippa Arend's Studio, 239 NW 13th Ave. Pearl District, Portland
Sponsored by | BACKFENCE Storytelling
Featured portrait: Pippa Arend, Modern Holden (Alex), 19 x 24", pencil and ink, 2026
Did We Sell Out? A Conversation Hosted by Creativos Unidos in Partnership with PNCA
A day of honest conversation about community, money, access, visibility, growth, compromise, and what happens when the work Creativos Unidos builds starts getting recognized by the institutions, brands, and systems around us. Come ready to listen, question, disagree, reflect, and be part of the conversation.
Event includes: a community panel, workshops, Community Tables, baile with Bailando Afuera, food, and plenty of time for conversation.
Meet our moderator, Sabrina Cerquera (@flowerxgirl), and our panelists Mia Arvizu (@miaarvizuart), X (@x_aviersmith), Jonas Angelet (@luvjonezmusic), and Lynn Mendoza-Khan (@lynnmendozakhan).
Free and open to the public.
When | October 11, 2026
Time | 12–5 PM
Where | Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA), PNCA Campus, 511 NW Broadway, Portland OR 97209
Part of @adxportland, and Latino Entrepreneurship Week.
First Thursday Gallery Walk
October's First Thursday Gallery Walk features many of the PTXM exhibitions highlighted here, and so much more. Stroll through your neighborhood galleries for a vibrant, eclectic mix of artists and mediums.
October at Blue Sky Gallery
Contaminated: Bootsy Holler
Bootsy Holler grew up near the Hanford Nuclear Site in southeastern Washington, where her grandfather started working for the Manhattan Project in 1942. Her handmade photo sculptures and landscapes tell the stories of the people and land affected by radiation and government secrecy. @bootsyholler
This Work They Call Love: Lucy Bohnsack
Lucy Bohnsack honors mothers raising children with too few resources. Using cardboard, plastic bags, fabric scraps, and a printer, her portraits make the hard, often unseen work of motherhood visible.
Also on view: the 2026 Blue Sky Members Show on the Community Wall.
Events:
First Thursday opening reception | Thursday, October 1, 5–8 pm
Artist talk with Bootsy Holler | Saturday, October 3, 2–3 pm
Artist talk with Lucy Bohnsack | Saturday, October 3, 3:30–4:30 pm
On view | October 1–31, 2026
Gallery hours | Wednesday – Saturday, 12–5 pm
Where | Blue Sky Gallery, 122 NW 8th Ave.
Follow along | @blueskygallerypdx
Kanetaka Ikeda - Cosmic Trees | through Oct 31
Stephan Soihl - In Memoriam | through Oct 31
Paula Bullwinkel - S’wonderful S’marvelous | through Oct 31
Christopher Shotola-Hardt - Stanzas | through Oct 31
First Thursday Opening Reception | Oct 1, 5-8pm
Stanzas Exhibition Preview & Artist Talk | Sept 30, 6-8pm
Designing a Painting ADX Fest | Oct 24, 2-4pm
Memorial for Stephan Soihl | Oct 25, 2-5pm
Gallery Hours | Wednesday–Sunday, 11:00 am–5:00 pm
(*Please check the gallery website for current hours of operation)
Location | 938 NW Everett St., Portland, OR 97209
Instagram |@blackfish_gallery
Elizabeth Leach Gallery opens Contemporary Textiles this First Thursday! The group show brings together six artists from four states, timed with Portland X Textile Month and this year's theme, Layers of Resilience.
Meet the artists:
Anna Von Mertens (@annavonmertens) stitches star patterns onto hand-dyed cotton, linking the night sky to moments in human history.
MK Guth (@mkguth) invites audiences to braid and sew fabric into shared sculptures and tapestries.
Elizabeth Hohimer (@elizabeth.hohimer) weaves bold abstract works inspired by the Texas Hill Country.
Ellen Lesperance (@ellenlesperance) turns the sweaters worn by women activists into detailed works on paper.
Mary Ann Peters (@mapseattle) challenges old stereotypes of Arab immigrants and honors women silk workers in Lebanon.
Vo Vo (@anoutrecordings) weaves large tapestries that explore oppression, care, and healing.
On view: September 30 – October 31, 2026
Opening First Thursday | Thursday, October 1, 2026, 5:30–7:30 pm
Gallery Hours | Tuesday–Saturday, 10:30 am–5:30 pm (and by appointment)
Location | 417 NW 9th Ave. Pearl District, Portland
Instagram | See the exhibition | @elizabethleachgallery
Two New Shows at Gallery 114
Kay Henning & Ruth Ross - Aftermath | through Oct 31
Group Show - A Soft Place to Land | through Oct 31
A Soft Place to Land - featuring work by gallery artists Nancy Helmsworth, Kimber Shiroma, Elena Thomas, Dawn-Starr Crowther, and Angela Riggs.
This exhibition is being held in conjunction with Portland Textile Month @portlandtextilemonth
Opening reception: Thursday, October 1, 5–8 pm, with a live performance by harpist Shera Sinell
Artist talk with Kay Henning & Ruth Ross: Saturday, October 10, 2–4 pm
Resilience meditation with Dawn-Starr Crowther: Thursday, October 15, 6–8 pm
Gallery Hours | Thursday – Sunday, 12–5 pm
Where | 1100 Building, 1100 NW Glisan St. Pearl District, Portland
Follow along | @gallery114
Meet the artists:
SIGNAL / NOISE | Dan Gay
absurdity amused and other tall tales | Julie Liger-Belair
mapping the cloth | Michael Hoeye & Sonja Dahl
as above, so below | jacqueline myers-cho & patricia anders
Dates | October 1–31, 2026
Opening reception | Thursday, October 1, 5–8 pm
Details | imperfecta.xyz/upcoming
Artist talk | SIGNAL / NOISE: Dan Gay | October 3 | 2pm
Artist talk, mapping the cloth: Michael Hoeye & Sonja Dahl | Friday, October 9, 2026, 4 pm
Installation, part of PTXM's Inter/dependent
Details | imperfecta.xyz/upcoming
Artwatch | View the post
See the full schedule at imperfecta.xyz/upcoming.
Gallery Hours | Open Wednesday to Saturday: 11am-5pm
EXCEPT first Wed (closed) and first Thurs (open 5-8pm)
Location | 809 NW Flanders St, Portland OR 97209
Plan your visit: imperfecta.xyz/upcoming | @imperfecta.xyz
Instagram | @imperfecta.xyz
Bethany Rowland - Testament | Oct 15 through Nov 25
Nicholas Stelter - Kiln-Fired Glass Vessels | Oct 15 through Nov 25
Opening Reception | Oct 17, 4-6pm
A Dialogue with the Artists | Nov 21, 11am-12pm
Gallery Hours | Open Tuesday through Saturday, 11:00 am to 5:30 pm, and by appointment.
Location | 824 NW Davis St., Portland, OR 97209
Instagram | @lvdesignandgallery
Maroon Portals | Oct 2, 5-7pm
Gallery Hours | Book an Appointment: Appointments are free and open to the public. Available Days: Thursday - Sunday. Available Times: 12pm - 5pm
Email us to book a time:
info@theblackgallerypdx.com
Location | 916 NW Flanders Street, Portland, OR
Instagram | @theblackgallerypdx
Kindra Crick - Nocturnal Worlds
First Thursday Opening Reception | Oct 1, 5-8pm
Artist Talk | Oct 18, 11am-12pm
Gallery Hours | Wednesday–Saturday, 11:00 am–5:30 pm, Sunday, 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Location | 124 NW 9th Ave. Pearl District Portland
Instagram | @waterstonegallery
Save the Date
Don’t Miss the Final Month for 2026: Pearl District Culinary Farmers Market
October is your last chance to shop the Pearl District Culinary Farmers Market this season. Let's make it count.
The market is a big part of the Re-Ignite the Pearl initiative. Our local farmers, chefs, and makers have been showing up for us all season. Now it's our turn. Let's show up for them and pack the street!
Grab your market bags, bring your friends, and come hungry.
When | Sundays through October, 10 am – 2 pm
Where | NW 13th Ave, between Everett and Glisan
Cost | Free
Follow along | @pd_culinaryfarmersmarket
Pearl District Business Support Committee Monthly Networking Coffee
October PDNA Business Support Committee Monthly Networking Coffee
Join the Business Support Committee for the monthly gathering of networking over coffee. Meeet other local business folks and build connecions.
When | Wednesday, October 21, 2026
Time | 8-9 am
Where | Aesthetic Experience, 1015 NW Lovejoy St. Pearl District, Portland, Oregon
Powells Books: A Most Peculiar Evening Halloween Event
Tricks, treats, and curiosities of all kinds await discovery during A Most Peculiar Evening After Hours Halloween event.
One night only at Powells, Saturday, October 24 - an affair like none other. Encounter confounding magicians. Prolific poets. Furred creatures, performers, and other peculiarities around every corner, fortune tellers and a array of carnival games.
Dress for the occasion, and enter the evening’s costume contest. Everyone is invited to participate. Those whose ensembles merit distinction stand to earn accolades and awards.
Spirited cocktails, zero-proof pours, savory bites, and sweet treats from some of Portland’s favorite makers will be available to purchase throughout the evening. VIP ticket holders will enjoy an elevated hosted culinary experience created especially for the occasion.
When | Saturday, October 24th, 2026
Time | 6:00 PM
Where | Powell's City of Books 1005 W Burnside St. Portland, OR 97209
Get your ticket now, and experience Powell’s as it’s rarely seen | Tickets
Please be advised, however: admittance is limited to those 18+
Portland Center Stage is kicking off their 20th season in The Armory with playwright Kate Hamill’s sparkling adaptation of Jane Austen’s PRIDE & PREJUDICE, directed by Marissa Wolf. Here’s your first look at the cast who will bring the swoon-worthy romance and sharp wit to life in this Regency Era classic-cum-contemporary comedy!
Kushi Beauchamp as Lizzy
Setareki as Mr. Darcy
Ashlee Radney as Jane/Miss De Bourgh
Nicole Marie Green as Lydia/Lady Catherine
Treasure Lunan as Mary/Mr. Bingley
Dana Green as Mrs. Bennet
Michael O’Connell as Mr. Bennet/Charlotte Lucas
Janice Munk as Wickham/Mr. Collins/Miss Bingley
Charles Grant as Mr. Darcy (Replacement, October 21–25)
Date | September 27-October 25
Location | Portland Center Stage at the Armory, 128 NW Eleventh Ave, Pearl District , Portland
Welcome to Around the Pearl
We've launched Around the Pearl to showcase the vibrant culture and exciting events that define the Pearl District! From unique art experiences to hidden gems, we're here to connect our readers with all the amazing happenings in our vibrant corner of the city. Whether you're looking to explore the dynamic art scene or connect with community, this is your go-to guide.
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We're here to promote the Pearl District and highlight the events that make it a great place to live, work, and play.
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