Portland Media Update: March 2006

Greetings from Portland, Oregon. Below is an update on the area’s newest travel-related developments. We hope you will find this information useful. If you prefer not to receive future media updates on Portland, please click here.

MARCH TOPICS

Quirky Stuff – Velveteria Museum of Velvet Paintings

Arts & Culture News – Oregon Ballet Theatre Debuts Full-length Swan Lake

Attraction News – Portland Saturday Market Kicks Off 2006 Season

Velveteria Museum of Velvet Paintings

How many of us would fess up to having one – let alone 1,000 – examples of America’s most ridiculed art form: the velvet painting? Portland residents Carl Baldwin and Caren Anderson, however, are proud to proclaim their passion to the world. Or, at least, those residents of the world who pass through the doors of the Velveteria, a museum of velvet paintings that Baldwin and Anderson opened in northeast Portland last December. The walls of the compact storefront gallery are covered, floor to ceiling, with paintings of sad-eyed clowns, tropical landscapes, and, of course, Elvis. A separate gallery – just up the ramp covered in tiger-striped carpeting – contains a large selection of female nudes. Since the Velveteria isn’t large enough to accommodate Baldwin and Anderson’s entire collection, the plan is to have the paintings rotate periodically. The Velveteria is open Thursday, Friday and Sunday, noon to 6 p.m.; Saturday, noon to 8 p.m. The museum is located at 518 N.E. 28th Ave, Portland; 503.233.5100.

Media Contacts: Carl Baldwin and Caren Anderson, Owners/Curators, Velveteria, 503.233.5100, velveteria@earthlink.net

Oregon Ballet Theatre Debuts Full-length Swan Lake

In fall 2004, ballet lovers were eagerly anticipating the world premiere of Swan Lake, Act III, choreographed by Oregon Ballet Theatre Artistic Director Christopher Stowell (after Marius Petipa). As each performance concluded, audiences leapt to their feet to cheer. Critics proclaimed the Black Swan pas de deux breathtaking in its daring, its drama and its no-holds-barred declaration: this is ballet! Night after night, the audience asked for more and, now, they’re getting it. The complete Swan Lake will run for four performances only – June 9-11, 2006 – at Portland’s Keller Auditorium. The four-act production features choreography by Christopher Stowell (after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov), a full orchestra, scores of dancers, romantic costumes, great beauty and intense emotions. For more information on Oregon Ballet Theatre and its production of Swan Lake, click here.

Media Contacts: Nancy Puglia and Joan Hallinan, Hallock Modey Public Relations, representing the Oregon Ballet Theatre; 503.224.1711; npuglia@hallockmodey.com, jhallinan@hallockmodey.com; www.obt.org

Portland Saturday Market Kicks Off 2006 Season

Shake off those winter blahs. Celebrate the coming of spring with a visit to the Portland Saturday Market, the nation’s largest open-air market for handcrafted goods. Located in Portland’s Old Town District, the market offers more than 350 craft booths, as well as an international food court and live entertainment. Open Saturdays and Sundays, March through Dec. 24. (The market is also open the entire week preceding Christmas for its “Festival of the Last Minute.”) For more information on the market, click here.

Media Contact: Reid Decker, Portland Saturday Market, 503.222.6072, ext. 11; reid@saturdaymarket.org; www.portlandsaturdaymarket.com