First Friday PDX

All events listed occur on the first Friday of the month and are free and open to all visitors unless otherwise specified.

Labyrinth of Light | east creative collective

From lasers to fire, the artists of the East Creative Collective are turning to light as they create a diverse collection of light installations, sculptures, and performances within and around the East Creative building. 

Featuring new installations, open studios, light shows, live music, and more, Labyrinth of Light invites visitors to explore the winding halls and caverns of the East Creative building as they discover the creative visions of Portland artists come to light.

Featured artists:

• Noah Alexander Isaac Stein: @visionsofthedeluge
• Jonas Hartly: @JonasHartly
• Chrissy Grohl: @mizchaos
• Dr.Mello of Digi Slaps: @digislaps
• Bobbie Yeo: @arana_dirge
• Ada Beale: @traffichre666
• Arson Rivvers: @arsonrivvers.official
• Justin Hanrahan: @cycloptoad 
• The Redudant Beach:  @redundantbeach
• Madison Weis: @madisonmikelweissartist
•  Carlos Alejandro: @alejoker4
• Susaka Biernat

6 PM – 10 PM @ 211 SE Madison Ave., Portland, OR

Sanctum | Past Lives Gallery

 Sanctum at Past Lives Gallery will be a sanctuary of art, music and creative storytelling. Please join us on Friday, February 7th, from 6-10 pm. (Performances begin at 7 pm)

This is the Winter Light Festival’s 10th anniversary, collectively themed “A Light to Remember” and calls for what messages we wish to send to the future through our art and innovation. 
We’ll recall ancient wisdom (where community was valued & a way of life,  we viewed ourselves & our ecosystems as part of a web of connection, and embraced the natural cycles of life, birth, and death) expressed through modern technology, installations, & stage performances. 

Past Lives Gallery features local artists/makers, as well as marginalized & incarcerated artists- our makerspace aims to be a beacon of light to those in need of a second chance.

 Our stage will host live synth performances:
 Occurian (@occurian) Modular synth w/interactive light show
Infinite Fire, a creative collaboration between Kristen Curry of WhiteHeart Ritual Art & Ramon Mills of Production Unit Xero and Heterodex Records 
FlightCall (Tai Woodville, Iamflightcall.com) Warm, evocative vocals, buoyed by soundscapes of sparkling synths, Flight Call’s synth pop odyssey invites the listener beyond the duality simulation of Earth into a timeless dimension of love.

Also featuring: 
Photobooth
Live Forge Demo by Billy O
Interactive Art Installations & fortune generator
Makerspace tours available

6 PM – 10 PM @ 2808 SE 9th Ave., Portland, OR

Blackest Light | JaJa PDX

This is the first friday opening party for our interactive UV art gallery. This months works will be light focused for the Portland Winterlight Festival. Come check out glowing works by local artists and color in the art! Dance to a unique soundscape, and paint with light. 
this is a free event with food, vendors and music. February 7th, 7-11pm

Artists:
Kris Schmolze, Tori Lewis, Matt French, Ariserawk, Matt Pike, Cindy Jack, luyah, Ratskin, WestGhost, Daniel Brookshier, The Bone Goddess, Eli Currey, Josh O’ Bird, Luuk Honey, Ded Rex, Gnarly Carly, Sam Gawson, Faith Bacon, Sydney, Luyah.

7 PM – 11 PM @ 819 SE Taylor St., Portland, OR

Figure Photography of Tom Healy | Witching Hour Tattoo

Come see the beautiful bodyscapes of photographer Tom Healy, alongside the exceptional zero-waste products by Simple Alchemy.

Bodies on the wall, body care on the table – and just in time for some Valentine’s shopping!
Please join us for another great evening!

4 PM – 9 PM @ 1960 SE Hawthorne Blvd, suite 102

Sidestreet Arts 2025 Member Show Art Opening | Sidestreet Arts

Welcome to the Sidestreet Arts Member Show Art Opening! Join us at Sidestreet Arts for a fantastic display of creativity from our talented members. This in-person event is a great opportunity to support local artists and immerse yourself in a world of art. Come and celebrate with us as we showcase a diverse range of artworks that are sure to inspire and captivate. Don’t miss out on this exciting event filled with creativity and passion. We can’t wait to see you there!

5 PM – 7 PM @ 140 SE 28th Ave., Portland, OR

Art For Unity | Ambient Magic Art Studios

Ambient Magic Art Studios invites you to enjoy a night perusing art available by our studio collective and art vendors. There will be raffles for original art and merchandise and a percentage of raffle proceeds and sales will be donated to the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization. IRCO is an organization that provides culturally specific services to help immigrants, refugees, and other diverse community members thrive in Oregon and Washington. Come on by to enjoy art, bumpin’ music, snacks and drinks.

6 PM – 10 PM @ 322 SE Morrison St, Portland, OR

LOVE IN PRINT | Bite Studio

Please come join us on Friday, Feb. 7th 6-10 pm at

Bite Studio for the 15th anniversary of

LOVE IN PRINT!

Great art, great people, great benefit!

Not to mention, tasty snacks and beverages to be had!!

Once again, a portion of all sales go to the amazing Girls Build nonprofit!!

7 PM – 10 PM @ 2000 SE 7th Ave., Portland, OR

FLORA FORTUNA | GAGALLERY

Join us for an opening reception featuring the fantastical collages of Greg Traw and beautiful acrylic paintings of Erik Erath. Please join us for light refreshments and a chance to view the work and meet the artists!

6 PM – 8 PM @ 2035 SE Belmont St., Portland, OR

Pink Show | Splendorporium Gallery

Splendorporium Gallery invites you to our annual Pink Show, a community art exhibition celebrating the color pink!

Opening night is Friday, February 7th, 7-9 PM. 

We are located at 3421 SE 21st Ave.

This show features new work by 36 local artists working in a variety of media. 

We will have live ambient guitar music by Daniel Reyes Llinás and Oracle Typewriter Poetry by Ghost.

The Children’s Gallery (inside the main gallery) will be featuring new work by students in our Art4Life program. 

The show hangs through February 27th. 
Regular gallery hours are weekdays 11-5.

Pictured: West, Acrylic on Canvas by Tara Cochrane

7 PM – 9 PM @ 3421 SE 21st Ave., Portland, OR

STUPID kboopid | kboo community radio

will you be our valentine?

want cupid to stop picking on you? this year KBOO has your vday survival kit! stop by our station on Feb 7 to…

do your day shopping with our local vendors nourish your love of art by perusing our pop up gallery

• dance away the winter blues with our lineup of local bands
• make your love a valentine
• get a pre-vday makeover! (we’re talking nails, hair tinsel, even face painting…)
• drink a fun pink cocktail…because why would you not??

7 PM – 9 PM @ 3421 SE 21st Ave., Portland, OR

Human:Nature | ADX Gallery x

Human:Nature celebrates and reexamines our connection with the natural world and each other. Through representational and conceptual paintings, glass and ceramic vessels, digital and analog photography, linocut prints, and more, this group of artists explores what it means to live within a complex landscape shaped by human and natural forces, why modern society often separates those two entities, and how we can envision a brighter future.

Artists (alphabetical) Marco Acosta, Brian Denekas, Jenni Denekas, Aaron Horowitz, Rachel McKenna, B. Danielle Schulte, Anna Wilcox

5 PM – 9 PM @ 417 SE 11th Ave., Portland, OR

Black Velvet: Vol 2 | The Roll Up

Join us for the return of Black Velvet: Vol 2 at The Roll Up (2145 NE MLK Jr Blvd) on February 7th, 5–10 PM, for an unforgettable opening night!

Back for its second year, this group art show celebrates the timeless allure of black velvet canvases, blending creativity, innovation, and artistic expression. Known for its luminous glow and deep contrasts, black velvet offers a rich backdrop for artists to reimagine this nostalgic medium with fresh perspectives and captivating storytelling.

The exhibition runs February 7–15th. Don’t miss opening night—join us for an evening of community energy and artistic brilliance!

5 PM – 10 PM @ 2145 NE MLK Jr Blvd., Portland, OR

Contact Us

We do our best to make the list as complete as possible, if you have an event or correction you would like to see listed please send show details to Info@FirstFridayPDX.org or use our easy online event submission form.

Events listed occur throughout the month are free and open to all visitors unless otherwise specified.

2.1.25

Brief Encounters: Queer Instant Photography | Carnation Contemporary

Open Hours Feb 2-28, 2025, 12pm-5pm

Brief Encounters is an exploration of the legacy of artists using instant photography to express the queer experience. Queer people have used instant formats to protect the free expression of their intimacies, relationships, sexual liaisons, and communities; some of the risks of showing these images exist to this day. Brief Encounters functions to encourage artists to freely express aspects of queerness, resulting in diverse approaches to the instant format. Audiences will witness deeply personal glimpses into the lives of these artists as well as wild departures from what one may expect from “queer photography.” 

Carnation member Michael Espinoza organized Brief Encounters simply to gather as many of their favorite artists in one place and to generate a robust focal point for a growing queer creative community. Many of these artists have been connected in online platforms for years, borrowing inspiration from each other, swapping nudes, and constantly promoting each others work. Michael hopes that this show will be a joyous capitulation of a community that has developed organically in digital spaces. 

Viewers will notice strong attention to aspects of artists’ sexuality throughout this show. This is not an accident: the fact of our sexuality is the basis for our marginalization. Instant formats have from their beginning been used by queer people as confidential documents of our lives. This show functions to expose these often hidden aspects of how we express ourselves. Many of these artists bravely reject the notion that our sex lives are shameful and must be hidden. In this way, we expect that some audiences will receive this show as a celebration of free queer expression, and all are welcome to celebrate with us.

An enormous range of art practices are represented in this exhibition. Many artists are established with solo exhibitions and work in major collections. Other artists are showing in a gallery for the very first time with Brief Encounters. As the challenge for this group was to present “instant photography,” several artists are showing work that has never been exhibited before, simply because they had not seriously considered their instant media as belonging in a gallery context.

Many through-lines emerged as this show developed. Many artists have captured images of their own bodies, while may others have put close attention onto other bodies. There are sculptural approaches as well as print, textile, drawing and painting which expand the meaning of the form. Elements of obscuring, manipulating, collaging, and incorporating digital media amount to not only queerness as personal expression but as queer approaches to instant photographs. Many works reclaim the remainders of a traditional photographic practice in the form of film canisters, test shots, and negatives. Even in works which present straight-forward images, these artists have gone to great lengths to contextualize their work as through a queer lens, sometimes building a narrative, while at other times accumulating an overwhelmingly sensual experience.

The most surprising connection that emerged through this project was how these artists take what would otherwise be waste and transform it into fully realized artwork for this exhibition. These queer artists seem to have a natural tenderness towards things which have been neglected, marginalized or thrown away. This is on full display throughout this show: Chris Moody transforms a toy from a free pile into an exploration of the universe; Ian Lewandowski produces his Polaroids on long-expired film as a by-product of his large format photography practice; Jackson Fader and Carlos Enfedaque use Polaroid “mistakes” as surfaces for compositions in other media; Shadows Gather exposes the “waste” surfaces of Instax Mini exposures before producing large prints; C Meier fully embraces the flaws inherent to the media to produce abstract harmony; many of these artists consider pictures of their intimacies mere byproducts of other practices. This common sensibility makes sense. Queer people must interpret and reconfigure the prevailing culture not only for meaningful self expression, but also for our survival. Without these creative suggestions for how to meaningfully express our queerness, many future generations may not learn how to be seen. This show reaches towards the survival of queer people for all time.

5:00 PM – 9:00 PM @ 8317 N Interstate Ave,  Portland, OR

Monthly art openings and participating galleries