Blue Sky Gallery

Blue Sky’s mission is to educate the public about photography through exhibitions, publications, and dialogue; and to further the careers and artistic development of the artists shown. It executes its mission through:

·      Blue Sky offers 18-24 solo photography exhibitions each year, rotated monthly. Artists receive a $750 stipend and assistance in framing work for the show if needed. Each artist is given the opportunity to produce an exhibition catalog. Most artists offer the work on view for sale, with 50% of the proceeds going to the artist. Artists can also give a public talk about their work, attended on average by 30 people. Last year we offered 26 artist talks and other related programs.

·      The Pacific NW Photography Viewing Drawers features 10 original prints each by 42 contemporary Pacific NW photographers. Like our exhibitions, most of Drawers work is for sale, with 50% of the proceeds going to the artist. Blue Sky hosts several Drawers talks, special events, and sales each year. This year, we have added 6 Community Drawers, which feature work by community members of local organizations including p:ear, Portland Darkroom, PNCA, and Public Annex.

·      The No Strings wall provides an un-juried space for up to 52 local photographers to show their work, each for a week.

·      Publications: Blue Sky publishes an annual "yearbook" with a selection of images from all artists presented the previous year. These are distributed free of charge to members and arts/education institutions around the US. Past issues are offered for sale to visitors.

·      Blue Sky offers an excellent non-circulating library of more than 1,000 photography books.

·      Our website, provides a developing archive of every artist who has ever shown at Blue Sky.

Serving 22,000 visitors annually, all Blue Sky exhibitions/programs are offered free of charge from our 3,700 square foot gallery in Portland’s Pearl District. The building is shared with three fine arts galleries on the ground floor, and the Oregon Jewish Museum. PNCA is located just a few blocks away, as are many other fine art galleries.