Events listed occur throughout the month are free and open to all visitors unless otherwise specified.
SATURDAY 07.05.25
In Form-A nature inspired art show | Sidestreet Arts
Join Sidestreet Arts on Sat. July 5th, at 140 SE 28th Ave for our July opening from 5pm to 7pm . Immerse yourself in the beauty of nature-inspired artworks created by our 2 talented guest artists, Jennifer Kapnek and Denise Krueger. From serene botanical paintings to vibrant ceramic sea pods, this show will captivate your senses and inspire your love for the natural world. Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to experience the wonders of mother nature through the eyes of artists. See you there!
5 PM – 7 PM @ 140 SE 28th Ave., Portland, OR
Maria Lux: Heart and Mind, Blood and Nerves | Carnation Contemporary
This installation of new work by Maria Lux looks at venomous snakes—bringers of health and death, and linking our distant past with modern knowledge.
Snakes have a persistent association with both healing and harm. Their venom contains risk and remedy, pain and potential. From antidotes made out of venom itself, to modern bioprospectors searching for the next billion-dollar drug—snakes and their venom have been used as healing agents for millenia—and cause hundreds of thousands of human deaths each year. Since the beginning, our intertwined relationship with snakes has been marked by a quest for knowledge, whether it’s the evolutionary theory that the avoidance of venomous snakes was instrumental in the development of human intelligence itself, or studies that show our fears and preconscious reactions to snakes are uniquely built into our very DNA. Recently, news outlets reported on the promising story of a snake-enthusiast who methodically allowed himself to be bitten by venomous snakes over 200 times in the hope that his own blood would create a universal anti-venom, but he is just one person in a long line who have sought invincibility to venoms through self-immunization. Whether these sacrifices and experiments lead to life-saving drugs or not, scientists all over the world look to the complexity and mystery of venom to unlock new understandings of medicine, immunology, physiology, and pharmacology. True to their many legends, snakes today can still be seen as guardians of ancient knowledge as well as yet-undiscovered secrets, and teach us things about who they and we are. Heart and Mind, Blood and Nerves considers the convergence of myth and medicine, storytelling and science, and caution and curiosity coiled around snakes.
About the Artist:
Maria Lux is a research-driven artist who makes installation-based works centering on the way animals are used to generate human knowledge and understanding. She earned her BFA from Iowa State University in 2006 and her MFA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2012. As a cross-disciplinary artist, she also regularly presents her work at academic conferences. She is currently an associate professor of art at Whitman College in Walla Wall, WA. | www.marialux.net
5 PM – 8 PM @ 8371 N Interstate Ave Portland, OR
Grayscale: A Picture Show | Sidestreet Arts
Juried by: Todd Johnson
3 PM – 5 PM @ 811 East Burnside St. #212
Portland, OR