About this Event
Thought Forms: Workshop with Jamison Edgar
Saturday, November 7th / 3:30 PM - 5 PM with Open Studio to follow
Organized by 2026–27 Curator in Residence Jamison Edgar, Thought Forms: Open Studio reconfigures Oregon Contemporary’s Gallery 2 into an open studio—inviting visitors to create handmade paper banners, protest signs, and declarations expressing what they believe sanctuary should protect, resist, or make possible in Portland. Alongside the open studio, monthly artist-led workshops held during Oregon Contemporary’s First Saturdays’ events invite the public to work together to create multiple large-scale fabric banners, building on the ideas and declarations that emerge within the exhibition.
Thought Forms draws inspiration from two seemingly disparate sources: an esoteric book by Annie Besant and C. W. Leadbeater, titled Thought-Forms (1901), that illustrates thoughts and emotions as materialized shapes and colors, and the banners hung outside Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson, AZ, in 1982, declaring sanctuary for Central American refugees. Together, these sources inspire a process in which collective declarations can take form, shape, and action.
Guiding prompts and materials will be available during regular gallery hours, allowing visitors to work independently. Finished works will become part of a growing collection displayed throughout the gallery, inviting others to read, reflect, and respond. The completed banners will return to Oregon Contemporary in April 2027 as part of Sanctuary Cycle. Sanctuary Cycle examines sanctuary as a political, ecological, and spiritual practice.
Event venue & nearby stays
Oregon Contemporary, 8371 North Interstate Avenue, Portland, United States
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