Art & Beer: Pitchering Oregon – Exploring the Way Art is Consumed

Lily E. White, Evening on the Columbia, 1903/1905

Throughout the country, the artistic and experimental culture that co-exists within America’s artisanal beverage industry has been profuse. It’s often showcased with ornate designs, collaborations with local artists within their taprooms, or multi-course dinners pairing the country’s best brewers alongside award-winning chefs.

Though what’s coming to the Portland Art Museum on Saturday November 4th, as part of their 125th Anniversary celebration, is something entirely different. It’s to be an exploration of Oregon’s visual past paired with beers and ciders crafted by the state’s finest in the art of fermentation.

The event will feature 18 different breweries and cideries, each presenting an offering that’s been inspired by 18 different works of art over the past 125 years of the state’s history. This specific collection has been organized by artist, founder of Portland’s Beers by Made by Walking program, and Marketing Manager of Hopworks Urban Brewery, Eric Steen.   

“Art & Beer: Pitchering Oregon will be an extraordinarily unique beer event,” says Steen. “It brings together breweries from the coast to the valley and to the easternmost reaches of Oregon for the purpose of reinterpreting artwork of our beautiful state. I love that the Portland Art Museum continues to actively pursue building connections between their collection and the craft that has made this state the best beer region in the country!”

General Admission to Art & Beer: Pitchering Oregon (1 p.m. – 6 p.m. $25 General/$20 Museum Members) includes museum admission, a commemorative glass, an art/beer program booklet, and 10 tasting tokens (each token = one 3 ounce pour). Attendees will choose from 16 beers and two ciders crafted just for the event and inspired by artwork from the Picturing Oregon collection.

There will also be a VIP Brewers Brunch from from 10:30 a.m. ($40 General/$35 Museum Members) which includes everything in the General Admission outlined above along with a hearty buffet brunch, early access to the beer, cider and artwork, and lively presentations from participating craft brewers and curators in a more intimate setting. Brewers Brunch tickets must be purchased in advance, by November 1st.

Tickets and more details available through the Portland Art Museum website.

A full description of the artwork and accompanying beers and ciders are listed by region below.

Amanda Snyder, The Forest in Autumn, ca. 1970

• Breakside Brewery – PHOTO: Bobby Abrahamson, Bob and the Puddle Cutters, from the series North Portland Polaroids, 2011 (negative); 2012 (print).
• Ecliptic Brewing – PAINTING: Amanda Snyder, The Forest in Autumn, ca. 1970.
• Great Notion Brewing – PAINTING: Charles McKim, Sauvie Island, ca. 1920.
• Hopworks Urban Brewery – PHOTO: Lily White, Columbia Slough, 1902/1904.
• Leikam Brewing – PHOTO: Henry Berger Jr., Congregation Beth Israel, Portland, ca. 1928.
• Little Beast (Beaverton) – PHOTO: Shawn Records, Near Five Oaks, from the series Beaverton, 2005.
• Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider – PAINTING: Childe Hassam, Oregon Still Life, 1904.
• Widmer Brothers Brewing – PHOTO: Minor White, Untitled (Grain Elevators), ca. 1939

• Heater Allen Brewing – PRINT: Constance E. Fowler: Yamhill Block-House, from the series The Old Days: In and Near Salem, 1969.
• McMenamins (Salem) – PRINT: Constance E. Fowler, Lincoln Wade’s Store, from the series The Old Days: In and Near Salem, 1969.
• Wildcraft Ciderworks – PAINTING: Norma Driscoll Gilmore, Untitled (Skinner’s Butte with Industrial Area Below), 1950.

• Deschutes Brewery (Bend) – PAINTING: Charles Heaney, Black Butte, 1917.

• De Garde Brewing – PAINTING: Michael Brophy, Harvest, 1995.
• Fort George Brewery – PAINTING: Mark Andres, Nocturne (Astoria), 2015.

• Standing Stone Brewing – PAINTING: Frank Vincent DuMond, Sketch of Table Rock Near Medford, 1911.

• Steens Mountain Brewing – PHOTO: Drex Brooks, Rick, Barb, Jackie, and Michelle at Hot Springs – Juntura, Oregon, from the series Ranch Pictures 1981-1986, 1981/1986.
• Terminal Gravity Brewing – PHOTO: Minor White, Wallowa Mountains at Enterprise, Oregon, ca. 1940.

• pFriem Family Brewers – PHOTO: Lily White, Evening on the Columbia, 1903/1905.

Cover Art: Minor White, Wallowa Mountains at Enterprise, Oregon, ca. 1940.