Spring Term 2025 Registration Information

Registration for Multnomah Arts Center's Spring Term 2025 opens soon! Most spring term classes and activities will run the week of March 31 through the week of June 2. Our spring schedule is now available to view online here.

Registration opens at 9:30 am. Mark your calendars:

• March 6 - for classes and activities beginning March 31-May 4
• April 10 - for classes and activities beginning May 5-June 22

Registrations can be processed in a variety of ways!

• ONLINE: View MAC's spring activities online. Search for classes by age, category, or keyword and register through your Portland Parks account. We highly recommend utilizing this method due to the possibility of long wait times with phoning in or coming in person.
• PHONE: When registration opens, call any PP&R site or the PP&R Customer Service Center at (503) 823-2525 (Monday-Friday, 8:00 am-5:00 pm).
• IN PERSON: Any PP&R facility can process your registration, including the Customer Service Center located on the first floor of the Portland Building at 1120 SW 5th Ave.

New class alert! Modern Band (ages 12 & up)

We are elated to announce a new community music group at MAC starting on April 1st (not an April fool’s joke!). Modern Band is offered for people ages 12 and older on Tuesdays at 6:00-7:00 pm. This group is focused on creating joy through community and music in a relaxed and welcoming environment for anyone who is interested in playing in a band! No experience is necessary and instruments to loan may be available. We will collaborate on music selection and delve into a variety of genres depending on interest. Non-traditional instruments like drumset, accordion, and guitar are welcomed. Come create meaningful community through music! Taught by MAC's Kelly Mason.

Registration for this class opens at 9:30 am on March 6, click the link below to view and "favorite" this class!

Meet the current MACA Board of Directors

"Arts education is one key way to understanding human expression. Lifelong learning leads to self-reflection and a perspective on how we interact with the whole. I believe everyone should have access to the arts. As a MACA board member, I am investing in arts education, which is imperative for building a well-rounded society.” - Connie Moore, MACA Board Member

The Multnomah Arts Center Association (MACA) is looking for board members with skills in communications, fundraising, finance, or community engagement. We're especially excited to welcome diverse voices and nontraditional backgrounds.

If you're passionate about community arts and want to make a difference, consider joining us! Board members attend monthly meetings (in person or remotely) and contribute about five hours a month. Get more details about commitments for joining and feel free to contact Kathleen Madden, board president, with any questions.

Shop at Fred Meyer? Support MACA at the same time!

Looking for an easy, no-cost way to support MAC/MACA? Link your Fred Meyer/Kroger account to their Community Rewards Program here: https://www.kroger.com/i/community/community-rewards

Every time you shop at Freddie’s, Kroger rewards us with a small donation. MACA’s ID number is: DB515.

Thanks for your support of community arts education!

You are invited!! MAC Performing Arts Events & Performances

The MAC Performing Arts departments want to invite the community to some of their quarterly end-of-term performances! All events are free and open to the public and take place in the MAC Auditorium. Take a look below - we hope to see you there!

Page to Stage Presents: Nancy Drew & the Missing Letter

Tuesday, March 11 at 7:00 pm

Tuesday, March 18 at 5:00 pm

Directed by MAC Studio Theatre Directors Timothy Scarrott and Dawn Panttaja, come watch our young actors perform a fully staged adaptation! The runtime is about 30 minutes. Performances are free and open to the public, but donations are gladly accepted.

A rare book is stolen from the River Heights Library, and a troop of mysterious actors have transformed the old Granville Estate into a Shakespearean Dinner Theatre - complete with ghosts and witches! It's up to Nancy and her chums to solve these mysteries so the show can go on!

Multnomah Chorus Winter Recital

Wednesday, March 19 at 7:30 pm

Led by MAC Choral Director Mark Woodward, come join our Multnomah Chorus as they present an evening of choral selections. Snacks and refreshments provided!

Studio Theatre Presents: Dracula

Friday and Saturday, March 14 and 15 at 7:00 pm

Sunday, March 16 at 2:00 pm

Directed by Timothy Scarrott and Dawn Panttaja, you are invited to come watch this fully staged production being put on by our Studio Theatre students! The runtime is about 60 minutes. Performances are free and open to the public, but donations are gladly accepted.

"Good evening. I bid you welcome." A new family has moved into the old mansion on the hill and you're just dying to meet them. They're throwing a party and everyone is invited. You'll want to stay for dinner and dancing on into the night. It will be so much fun that you won't find the will to leave... ever! Join Studio Theatre as we take on these undead creatures of the night. This class will provide students with professional training and valuable stage experience (garlic, wooden stake and mirror provided).

Updates from the MAC Gallery

February 21 – March 29, 2025

A two-person show in the Front & Center Galleries

Katsuyuki Shibata – nature photography

Julie Johnson – plant-based fiber art

Reception: Saturday, March 1, 1-3 p.m.

Artist talk: Saturday, March 29, 1 p.m. in the Center Gallery

Katsuyuki Shibata creates many of his photographs during his backpacking treks through the alpine regions of the Cascade Range. “The beauty that I find in nature and wildlife is what drives my passion,” he says. He is very intentional with how he creates this work – emphasizing a holistic experience rather than what he calls the “drive-stop-capture” approach. He applies this intentionality to how he shares the work as well, eschewing the use of social media and focusing instead on the tangibility of photographic prints.

Julie Johnson is a plant-based fiber artist. Her eloquent sculptural baskets and abstract forms are made from materials that she harvests sustainably throughout the Pacific Northwest. She, too, approaches her relationship with the natural world with intentionality. “All plants are respectfully harvested with permission, and the source location is recorded for each piece,” she says. Some of these plants and fungi she also uses as dyes. Her current work is inspired by movement and incorporates elements of ritual and sound.

April 4 – May 10, 2025

Front Gallery: “Shift Work: Queer Artists in Tectonic Times”

Center Gallery: “Holding Our Own: Work by LGBTQIA2S+ Ceramic Artists & Potters”

Joint reception: Thursday, April 10, 6-8 p.m.

Additional events: Will be announced via MAC’s website and @macapdx on Instagram.

“Shift Work: Queer Artists in Tectonic Times” is about recognizing the shifting social and political landscape beneath our feet and finding ways to relate and create community despite it. How do we navigate these uncertain times? How do we create joy and hold space for grief amidst it all? Featured artists include Ami Patel, Areem Rose, Zephyr Kim, Tommy Bruce, and Robert Sumner. There will also be a large installation called "We Take Care of Us" made of photographs by regional LGBTQIA2S+ artists that share what they are feeling, or feeling for, right now. Of this piece, the curators write: “There is a power to witnessing and being witnessed. This installation is an invitation to connect to it and to each other.” This show is curated by Pablo V. Cazares and MAC Gallerist Megan Hatch.

“Holding Our Own: Works by Queer Ceramic Artists” explores our collective capacity to hold space, hold the line, hold each other and hold on to hope in these rapidly shifting times. Vessels and sculptures by regional LGBTQIA2S+ ceramic artists and potters will be on display. This show is curated by Lux Harris and MAC Gallerist Megan Hatch.

Annual Call for Art

Exhibitions in MAC’s Front & Center Galleries are scheduled via a Call for Art that occurs each year. The next call will occur mid-2025 for shows that will be scheduled through 2026 and into 2027. Stay tuned! Our next newsletter will include additional information about how and when to apply.

MAC Staff Spotlight: Kelly Mason, Performing Arts Lead

Kelly Mason is the Performing Arts Lead at Multnomah Arts Center. They previously directed music in public schools as well as non-profit, extracurricular, and private music lessons settings. Some notable positions include Portland State University’s Viking Sound Athletic Band Director, Associate Conductor of The Minnesota State Band, Lead Teacher for Grrls Rock and Roll Camp, and Director of Music at Jefferson High School: “Demo’s I Say!”

Kelly studied Music Education and Trumpet Performance with a Jazz Minor at Winona State University and Instrumental Conducting at Portland State University. Since then, they have spent time playing and recording professionally for a variety of genres including symphonic bands and orchestras, hip hop, jazz and cumbia groups. Kelly’s focus is on making arts accessible and relevant for all while supporting authentic and thoughtful community growth.

Kelly enjoys playing trumpet in local and touring bands and hiking in the beautiful PNW with their dogs Lola and Thelonious.

Kelly is excited to be sharing their professional music experience this upcoming spring term through several NEW music class offerings at MAC, including: Modern Band, Rock and Roll Band, and Songwriting Through Piano!

For more information, click the link below.