Remembering the arts in Portland

Last January ArtsWatch Senior Editor Bob Hicks talked about "Portland Arts: Covering More With Less" at the Breakfast Forum at Terwilliger Plaza. " From that talk:

When I started writing about theater in Portland, a few people were doing original shows. Ric Young and others were creating new works, some of them quite splendid, at Storefront Theatre. Charles Deemer was writing interesting, usually Oregon-set plays for a variety of companies. Sam Shepard was still in San Francisco, and people here were producing his vivid new American plays almost as soon as they were available. The New Vaudeville movement was in full flower, adding circus skills and acrobatics and mime and juggling and puppetry and countercultural politics to the performance scene. But the emphasis was on revivals (sometimes very good ones) of European and American classics.

This would be the 1980s, by and large. Hicks has followed my work in Portland pretty much from the beginning, usually complimentary, always fair. In a website he had before ArtsWatch, he reviewed several of my novels and a book of poetry, he remembered the 25th anniversary of my best known play, and he supported my digital filmmaking. In one film, I gave him a cameo role as a, what else?, arts scene critic. Having him around has given my artistic life more visibility than I would have had without him. I am grateful for the good fortune.