The Design Datebook is GRAY’s weekly list of must-attend design and cultural events.
“As I Am” Transgender Portrait Series Antoinette Hatfield Hall, 1111 SW Broadway Ave., Portland
The Portland Opera has collaborated with photographer Gia Goodrich on a series of portraits and interviews featuring transgender members of the Portland community. The series, called “As I Am,” coincides with the opera’s premiere of “As One” (March 22-30), Laura Kaminsky’s coming-of-age chamber opera featuring a transgender heroine named Hannah. (Through March 30, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; free)
Shohei Takasaki, “Where did you sleep last night?” Nationale, 3360 SE Division St., Portland
Portland painter and sculptor Shohei Takasaki’s exhibition, “Where did you sleep last night?,” explores domestic life and abstracted intimacy through canvases featuring scenes painted from his daily life. The artist’s brightly colored, collage-like works overlap recognizable things such as a cracked egg or a leaf with geometric forms, challenging the viewer to recognize his subject, then interpret it from her own perspective. (March 15-April 23, times vary)
ByDesign Festival 2019: Cross-Cultural Design Thinking Northwest Film Forum, 1515 12th Ave., Seattle
Northwest Film Forum’s annual ByDesign Festival offers three days full of design- and architecture-themed programming, including feature films, live performances, hands-on workshops, and a pop-up design fair loaded with goods from local makers, including Seattle design studio Fruitsuper. This year’s lineup includes an opening night screening of the documentary Endless Letterpress (complete with free live letterpress printing!) followed by an after party at Capitol Hill’s Vermillion Gallery. Italian film “SuperDesign: Italian Radical Design 1965-1975” and “Brasília: Life After Design,” featuring a post-show Q&A with director Bart Simpson, are also on tap. (March 15–17, times and prices vary)
Kali Spitzer: “An Exploration of Resilience and Resistance” Grunt Gallery, 350 E 2nd Ave., Vancouver, BC
In BC-based artist Kali Spitzer’s photographic series, curated by Grunt Gallery program director Glenn Alteen, tintype photographs of mostly indigenous and mixed-heritage people touch on themes of identity, culture, endurance, and opposition, while also challenging such pre-conceived notions of race, gender, and sexuality. (March 14–April 27, times vary)