Welcome to the TextileX resource guide—a growing effort created to map out and connect the vibrant textile community and resources in the Portland metro area and beyond. The foundation of this guide was built from the diversity of organizations that participate in the Portland TextileX Month festival every October.
Development of and funding for this guide have been provided by Textile Hive with additional funding from a RACC catalyst grant in 2019.
We encourage you to contribute additional resources through this form and consider becoming a member of TextileX to help further develop this resource guide as well as Portland TextileX Month.
Studios
Baba Wagué Diakité
Wagué grew up drawing–first for his own pleasure, then for schoolwork and finally for part-time jobs. He first learned claywork however, after meeting American artist Ronna Neuenschwander, and moving to Portland, Oregon in the US in 1985. There, he began using clay as his canvas.
Wagué and his wife, artist Ronna Neuenschwander, have collaborated artistically on a number of projects, including an animated film by Jim Blashfield entitled “My Dinner With the Devil Snake”, an award-winning documentary film by William Donker of their lives entitled “Don’t Paint Lizards on my Wall”, and a number of public art projects. They recently completed a large tile floor mosaic for the Serengeti Plaza at the Oregon Zoo. They continue to return to Mali with their two daughters bi-annually for extended stays.
Wagué is founder and director of the Ko-Falen Cultural Center in Bamako, Mali, which enables artists and travelers from other countries to live, meet, study and collaborate with artists of Mali. The Ko-Falen Cultural Center encourages cross-cultural exchanges through art, dance, music and ceremony to promote a greater understanding and respect between people. Ko-Falen also manages education programs for youth of artisans in Mali.
ceramics classes storytelling visual art
Businesses Organizations
Black Earth United
Black Earth United, driven by the principles of Gawakazi, is a creative ecosystem reclaiming narratives, honoring ancestral wisdom, and forging a harmonious bond with nature worldwide. Through intergenerational and interdisciplinary collaborations, we illuminate the gaps in the outdoor industry's narrative, cultivating inclusivity and justice. We revere the sacredness of our land connections, steadfastly preserving their significance. Our clothing, our storytelling and our offerings interlace cultures, nurturing a profound kinship with nature. We raise consciousness about the historical quests for healing, community, resources, and salvation within the land's embrace. We unite diverse perspectives and dream of shaping a future where heritage and horizons harmoniously converge. Locally crafted clothing inspired by tradition, designed for harmony with nature. Nature's Embrace--A temporal community based artist residency spanning 6 generations coordinated by Black Earth United.
community fashion residency visual art
Galleries
Gallery 114
Founded in 1990 as an artist's cooperative, Gallery 114 celebrates its strength and resilience as a gallery that provides opportunities for artists to exhibit with complete artistic freedom. It inspires its members to push their limits and take their ideas to unexpected and challenging places. Whether we are exhibiting 2D, 3D, sculpture, video art and more, you will find artistic exceptional innovation at Gallery 114. Our neighborhood (the Pearl District) is Portland’s playground, ideal for strolling, shopping, dining and enjoying many other fine galleries. Our juried and guest-artist exhibits give the gallery an ever-expanding and national scope. We also welcome plays, lectures, readings, musical performances and film screenings. Gallery 114 is a Proud Member of Portland Coalition of Art Collectives. The arts uniquely empower the creative vitality of every identity. G114 understands that America's cultural vocabulary is due to its diversity and that all cultures are vital to the arts and the promotion of a culturally democratic world. We recognize that cultural diversity includes language, ethnicity, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and range of ability and age. We aim to create and adhere to policies that increase and support diversity within our organization and monthly shows, and we seek to enhance member understanding of diversity issues in order to achieve our mission.
film gallery performance social justice talks visual art
Businesses
Kate Blairstone
Kate creates from her home studio in Portland, Oregon, where her family, kitchen and garden are always within reach.
She believes we are deserving of color and pattern in our lives and that they can be harnessed to tell our stories, create connection, and inspire joy in our homes, communities and around the world.
interior design surface design visual art
Studios
Merridawn Duckler
I’m an artist and writer who creates cross-genre in poetry, theater and visual art. These inspire and inform each other in my work. I’ve made huge novel-sized installations and produced haiku-like miniatures no bigger than a seed. I relish an art historical reference and I’m a sucker for a visual pun. I prefer to see the mistake-making hand present and often work in media we’ve abandoned since childhood, like tracing and coloring. I enjoy humble materials and have an affinity with the Arte Povera, found art and land art movements. My projects unfold over time. Because I work in so many different media I am often thinking in oeuvre, and relational themes.
sculpture visual art
Studios
Palmarin Merges
https://www.palmarinmerges.com/
Palmarin Merges is a Filipina American artist whose work draws from the desire to become more sustainable by re-using materials close at hand and by adapting restriction as a generative force for creation. Trained as a Printmaker, she now works primarily in mixed media, especially household waste - plastic, cardboard, etc. These common materials taken from the fabric of her daily life are processed and then transformed into pattern, collage and concrete poetry. Raised in Hawaii and California, she left Oregon in Dec. 2019 with her husband to return to Japan, this time to Tokyo. Her adventures now include exploring a variety of traditional crafts and wandering the areas in and around the Yamanote Line. Palmarin Merges holds an MFA Printmaking from the San Francisco Art Institute and has exhibited in Japan, the Philippines, San Francisco, and Portland, Oregon. She has previously taught Relief, Screenprint and drawing at Pacific Northwest College of Art, Marylhurst University and Pacific University.
print sculpture sustainability textile art textile reuse visual art
Organizations
The Hellenic-American Cultural Center & Museum
https://hellenicamericancc.org/
The Hellenic-American Cultural Center & Museum (HACCM) of Oregon and SW Washington was formed in 2007 by proud Greek-Americans who desired to preserve and celebrate their cultural heritage. The museum and cultural center focuses on educating Hellenic-Americans, philhellenes, and the broader public in their customs, traditions and history, and on preserving the Greek-American immigrant experience in Oregon and SW Washington.
community museum textile history vintage textiles visual art
Studios
Vo Vo
Vo Vo (they/them) explores support strategies and models of community care within a post-traumatic social landscape, focusing on the resilience of BIPOC, LGBTQIA2S+ and disabled communities. They are editor of an internationally renowned publication, speaker, educator, curator, artist and musician who has exhibited and toured in Australia, Germany, Indonesia, The Netherlands, Singapore, Croatia, Mexico, Finland, Denmark, New Zealand, Vietnam, Sweden, Malaysia, and the States. In their transdisciplinary art, they work in textiles, embroidery, audio, video, weaving, and furniture building. Their installations seek to interrogate power dynamics, structural oppression, challenge histories and realities of imperialism, white supremacy and colonization.
community performance social justice visual art
Studios
Zoe Huddleston
Hi there! I am a stop motion fabricator from Savannah Georgia. I have a B.F.A. in Animation from the Savannah College of Art and Design. I have always been crazy about art. Sculpting, painting, drawing, I love it all. In high school, I got bored with the still two-dimensional image and wanted more so I thought I might try making movies. I realized quickly, however, that I missed touching stuff and getting messy...and that's when stop motion found me. I became a fabricator, and I've been happily sleep deprived ever since.
film sculpture visual art
Galleries
imperfecta
imperfecta is an art & design gallery focused on elevating women artists and underrepresented creatives. Our driving belief is that nothing is perfect and that imperfections are what makes humans human. Imperfecta collects, shares and offers art that reflects this belief as well as design artefacts and wondrous heirlooms that bring beauty wherever they go. As an art gallery, we love showcasing diverse fine art types - from visual art to sculptures, assemblages, interactive installations, conceptual art and art dolls. As a design space, our inventory includes jewelry, vessels, unique decorations, dinnerware and, occasionally, antique fabrics, furniture, and heirlooms. We also have a large collection of vintage art, design and photography books, which are available for purchase as well as reading in the comfort of our gallery. Due to the extensive number of books in the collection, not all are currently listed in our shop -- please contact us if you are looking for a specific title. In 2025 imperfecta launched Imperfecta Arts Collective - a program focused on elevating the arts in Oregon City and surrounding communities by focusing on three key goals: hosting engaging art events, offering art residencies, and providing professional workshops for artists.
community gallery residency visual art workshops