Art
Portland galleries including Butters, Alysia Duckler, Elizabeth Leach, PDX, Pulliam Deffenbaugh, Laura Russo, and Small A Projects have increased the visibility of regional talent by participating in art fairs inChicago, San Francisco, New York, Miami, and Cologne.

The Portland Art Museum recently completed an expansion that has yielded 28,000 square feet dedicated as the Center for Modern & Contemporary Art. This new wing will showcase the Clement Greenberg Collection, the Photography Collection, and highlights of 20th Century Art. (www.pam.org)

The Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA) brings national and international performance works in dance, theatre, music, and hybrid forms to the city with their 10 day, high-intensity TBA Festival. The festival presents multiple stage and street events, art exhibitions, lively seminars and workshops, parties, etc. (www.pica.org)

College and University art galleries in Portland offer provocative exhibitions of historical and contemporary art works. These include: theDouglas F Cooley Memorial Art Gallery at Reed College (web.reed.edu/gallery) ; the Art Gym at Marylhurst University (www.marylhurst.edu); the Feldman Gallery and Project Space at the Pacific Northwest College of Art (www.pnca.edu);

Architecture
The Portland Building, an icon of Post Modernism designed by Michael Graves is located on SW 5th Avenue. Completed in 1980, this chunky municipal building houses the offices of the City of Portland. A huge statue of a woman, "Portlandia," was added in 1985, dominating the main entrance. She is the world's second-largest hammered copper sculpture, taking a back seat only to the Statue of Liberty.

Wine
Oregon is ranked fourth in the nation for wine production. With a similar climate to France's Bordeaux regions, Oregon is most well known for its Pinot Noir. However, the 250 wineries here also produce the following varietals: Pinot gris, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot blanc, Riesling, Sauvignon blanc, Semillon, Syrah.

Beer
Portland has cultivated a reputation as the Munich on the Willamette, offering more brewpubs and craft breweries than any other city in the nation. Portland's love affair with beer stretches back to 1888, when local brewer Henry Weinhard offered to pump beer from his brewery (viaPortland's fire hoses) through the pipes of the Skidmore Fountain to celebrate its unveiling. City leaders, fearing that residents might poke holes in Portland's only set of fire hoses and help themselves to the beer a bit early, vetoed this generous plan.

Coffee
Stumptown coffee was rated one of the four best coffees in the word by National Geographic Adventure. It is served at most fine restaurants and coffee shops in Portland as well as at the three Stumptown Cafes. We have such an abundance of great local coffee joints, you might not even have to go to Starbucks.

Getting Around
Portland's recently developed streetcar system, replete with non-polluting streetcars imported from the Czech Republic, provides a silent and very Euro way travel the city.

PORTLAND

Fauna
More Asian elephants (27 to date) have been born in Portland than in any other North American city.

Fuel
You may not pump your own gas in the state of Oregon.

Sales Tax
In Oregon, there is none !!

People Who Live Here
Some people you might run into include Brad Cloepfil, Chuck Palahniuk, Katherine Dunn, Dan Wieden, Stephen Malkamus, Chris Johanson, Todd Haynes, Gus van Sant, Danny Glover, Tanya Harding, Susan Faludi, Leo Bersani, Chris Riley, and members of The Shins, Sleater Kinney, The Decemberists, Pink Martini, The Thermals, Modest Mouse, Quasi, Built to Spill, and Lifesavas.

Expose Yourself to Art
In 1978, one of the world's most popular art posters was created here when Bud Clark (owner of The Goose Hollow Inn, a popular pub) exposed himself to the public sculpture "Kvinneakt" (which means nude woman in Norwegian) by Norman J. Taylor. Bud's friend Mike Ryerson snapped the photo and they ran the image in a neighborhood newspaper, offering $25 in a contest to title the picture. "Expose Yourself To Art" was chosen. In 1984, Bud Clark ran a successful grass roots campaign and became Mayor of Portland. The combination of barkeep/flasher/Mayor was big news; publications including Time,Newsweek, Playboy, and major newspapers picked up the story. The attention also landed Clark on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

By 2004, estimated sales of the official poster (and various knock-off versions) are reaching a million. The official image is owned and distributed by E. Michael Beard at www.errolgraphics.com. You can visit the sculpture near the intersection of SW Fifth Avenue and Washington Street.