Converge 45 Names Theme and 28 Artists for Portland Triennial
Portland’s citywide triennial Converge 45 will return on August 27 with a new title, a new curatorial frame, and a roster that keeps its attention close to home. The 2026 edition, marking the organization’s 10th anniversary, is titled “Here, To you, Now,” a phrase borrowed from Ursula K. Le Guin’s 1985 novel Always Coming Home.
New York-based curator Lumi Tan drew the title from Le Guin’s vision of the Kesh, a people who survive ecological collapse and treat language as something provisional, remade in the present moment. That idea of impermanence runs through the exhibition’s structure as well: more than half of the 28 participating artists are based in Portland, while others are coming from New York, Los Angeles, Rome, and elsewhere.
Among the Portland artists are Srijon Chowdhury, Aaron Cunningham, Marcus Fischer, keyon gaskin, Linda K. Johnson, sidony o’neal, and Vo Vo. The out-of-state lineup includes Trisha Baga, Frank Heath, and Rose Salane from New York; Jacqueline Kiyomi Gork from Los Angeles; and Lex Brown, who is based in Rome. The full list also includes Ricky Bearghost, Meech Boakye, Gerald Clarke, Tannaz Farsi, Michelle Fromme, Annie Rose Macer, Elmeator Morton, Ido Radon, Rob Rhee, Morgan Ritter, Amy Ruhl, Sophia Cleary, Lu Yim, Dan Tran, Patricia Vázquez Gómez, and Lynn Yarne.
Converge 45 will unfold across 16 venues in Portland, including the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, the Portland State University Schnitzer School of Art + Art History + Design, Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, Oregon Contemporary, and Open Signal Community Access Network. Amanda Donnan, the organization’s executive and artistic director, said the project is meant to bring artists into direct contact with the city’s histories, spaces, and communities rather than simply placing work inside them.
Tan said Portland’s art ecosystem shaped her thinking from the start. In her view, the city’s artists, curators, gallerists, technicians, and administrators often operate in close, overlapping roles, creating a culture of mutual support and adaptation. That sensibility also informed her conversations with local artists about impermanence, temporary audiences, and the way knowledge moves through a city.
Converge 45 launched in 2016 as a two-year series of exhibitions and programs before shifting to a triennial format for its 2023 edition. This year’s iteration extends that institutional history while asking how a city’s artistic identity changes when attention itself becomes a shared responsibility.
