Beginner's Guide to Art Lurking in Portland (Part One)

What got me going and a few places I always come back to.

During the days of Fisk Gallery

For me it all began in 2021, after a birthday trip to Los Angeles that deeply imprinted on me to stop waiting for someone else to do what I wanted. My then best friend and I spent hours at LACMA, but in the back of my mind I couldn’t help but wonder at the root cause of why I hadn’t been to my own Portland Art Museum. I wanted someone to go with me, someone to take candid pictures of me, someone to read the plaques and go “ahhh.”

My friend ended up having to work for a significant portion of the LA trip, so I wandered around the city by myself. I had the best time, people were friendly, and it built a sense of confidence. When I got back to Portland, I had my first solo trip to the Portland Art Museum. I propped my phone up on benches to take pictures of myself, got lost in the paintings, and treated myself to a coffee from Umbria afterwards.