Community Outreach

As the Community Engagement & Public Programs Manager, I have the good fortune to shake hands, talk to artists at marketplaces, hear the stories of performers, and see firsthand what is happening in the cities, towns, rivers, and forests that make up Clackamas County. Now, at the close of summer, I am reflecting on all of the festivals and gatherings that build our cities and towns. All around the county, I have seen our local communities gather in celebration, and at the key of many of these celebrations are arts and culture. From Molalla to Happy Valley to West Linn, neighbors have gathered to listen to music and performances at concerts in parks. In Milwaukie and Oregon City, residents opened their driveways and porches and backyards to musicians at Porchfest events. Makers and crafters came together to sell their wares at street fairs in Oak Grove and Gladstone, in Estacada for Arts at the Creek, in the shade of trees at the Sandy Mountain Festival, in the flower fields of Canby for the Basil & Art Festival, and at the much-anticipated Oregon City Festival of the Arts. 

Communities are coming together. We are watching spectacles at Clackamas Repertory Theatre and witnessing the history of animation unfold at Lakewood Center for the Arts. We are listening to the words of traveling poets as well as writing poems and stories of our own. At a special bonus reading in the Milwaukie Poetry Series, Kim Stafford provided an introduction to Alireza Taghdarreh, a scholar and translator visiting from Iran, building bridges not only within Clackamas County, but across the borders of nations. Around our county, art is connecting humans to one another, to ourselves, to the green world of nature, and to the places we call home, with place-making sculptures in Milwaukie and Lake Oswego, a wildflower mural in Estacada and a new bike kiosk in West Linn.

As we transition into fall, I wanted to invite our community to a few more events and opportunities that we at the Clackamas Arts Alliance will be hosting.

• Join us for a pre-Halloween Gathering in October at Venvino Studios on October 23. Come meet other artists and relax in an arts workshop in Happy Valley. And if you are building a creative business or trying to give your side hustle a boost, join one of our free Makers & Creatives workshops. REGISTER HERE TODAY!
• On November 15, learn more about writing an artist statement and get prepared to apply for gallery shows. STAY TUNED FOR REGISTRATION COMING SOON.
• And through the end of September, we are inviting visual artists to apply to have their work shown in one of 20 galleries throughout the county in the Artist Exhibit Program.

Stay tuned, as well, for the Clackamas County Cultural Coalition’s annual fall grant cycle, which will be open for applications September 29th and closing on November 3rd.

With all of the gatherings and celebrations happening around the county, we invite you to become part of this community-making effort, and to have your creative joys be celebrated too! 

These gatherings and celebrations bring joy to our families and neighbors and friends, and they are the result of the shared vision and effort of countless community members. Much of the process of organizing a festival, or putting on a play, or commissioning a sculpture is not seen. It is the work of the volunteers who deliver signs for Porchfest concerts or distribute canvases for a tiny art show. It is the work of committee members who meet after work in city offices and think through sculpture designs to make sure their community’s history is honored. When I make my way through our county, I meet these committed volunteers who show up purely because they want to make their home a better, brighter, and more colorful place. If you have loved attending a concert or appreciated a mural in your town, I would encourage you to connect to the organizers and learn how to get involved. Amazing, vibrant communities are the work of many people sharing their energy, vision, and time – and that could be you.