About Portland Arts Week

Portland Arts Week is an annual celebration of Portland’s arts community, centered each year around a timely and relevant theme. The inaugural 2026 summit, Art & Sports, explores the intersection of creative culture and athletic innovation across Portland’s Cultural Corridor.

Bringing together galleries, museums, nonprofit spaces, artists, and community partners, Portland Arts Week highlights Portland’s creative energy while encouraging collaboration, visibility, and civic engagement through the arts.

As Portland welcomes major developments in the sports landscape, including the arrival of the Portland Fire WNBA team, Art & Sports offers a timely platform to examine how art, athletics, identity, and community intersect.

The 2026 summit is presented in partnership with the Oregon Alliance of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the regional chapter of the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), whose mission includes educating the public about art and promoting the work of women artists.

2026 Theme: Art & Sports

The 2026 theme, Art & Sports, examines how athletics and creative practice intersect through movement, performance, identity, design, public space, and community experience. Through exhibitions and events across the city, Portland Arts Week invites audiences to consider the shared values of discipline, expression, spectacle, collaboration, and cultural impact that connect these two worlds.

Press

“Portland Arts Week Isn’t Playing Around,” Portland Monthly Magazine, April 21, 2026, by Matthew Trueherz

“What you need to know about an upcoming Portland art-sports event ,” Portland Business Journal, June 11, 2026, by Simone Fischer

“Portland gallerist turned her post-pandemic gloom into a celebration of arts and sports,” The Oregonian, July 1, 2026, by Lizzy Acker

“Portland Arts Week debuts with a citywide celebration of art and sports,” Oregon Artswatch, July 5, 2026, by Justin Duyao

“The First Portland Arts Week Is Here, And Ready to Play Ball” The Willamette Week, July 7, 2026, by Rachel Saslow

“First-ever Portland Arts Week brings together city’s love for sports, culture” KOIN News AM Extra, July 8, 2026, by Emily Burris, Mia Villanueva

“Leaders make case for Moda updates, sports' place in Portland,” Portland Business Journal, July 10, 2026, by Eve Peyser

Portland Arts Week was a success

Portland Arts Week
was a success