OUR MISSION
The mission of Portland Open Studios is to act as an essential component of the Portland art community by prioritizing artists and their professional development in order to enrich our city. We do this by organizing an annual city-wide studio tour every second and third weekend in October, providing professional development resources for our member artists, and organizing engaging arts-based events for our city.
THE STUDIO TOUR
Portland Open Studios runs a free yearly juried art studio tour, creating a unique educational opportunity for the public to witness art in the making, meet the creators behind it, learn about media and materials, and shop for beautiful handmade artwork—thereby directly supporting local artists. Through these interactions, Portland Open Studios creates a platform for artists to thrive and fosters a community that values and supports the arts.
Founded in 1998, Portland Open Studios is an arts nonprofit working to bridge the gap between artist and patron.
OUR STORY
Portland Open Studios has come a long way since starting in 1998. What began as a gathering of artists who wanted to showcase their work in their communities quickly blossomed into a vibrant artist ecosystem and a formalized nonprofit organization. When asked why our artists want to be a part of Portland Open Studios, the number one response is the community it builds.
The tour usually includes at least 100 studios across nearly every city neighborhood. The popular tour is visited by thousands during the second and third weekends of October, all eager to experience art being made right in front of them. Our ethos of "meet the maker" meshes well with the values of our creative, experience-driven city. In 2021, we began offering an archive of career development resources for our participating artists, covering a wide range of topics from developing an effective artist website to making sales using your contact list.
We have also developed scholarship opportunities. The Kimberly Gales Scholarship for Emerging Artists is available to emerging artists under the age of 30. In 2022 we added the Molly Cliff Hilts Scholarship for Historically Marginalized Artists. Our scholarships cover an artists' participation fee.
