The Front & Center Galleries
The Front & Center Galleries
August 8 - September 13, 2025
Allana Nagy - mixed media in the Front Gallery
Jennifer Foran & Mary Neustadter – paintings and sculpture in the Center Gallery
There will be a joint reception for these exhibitions on Thursday, August 14th from 6-8 p.m. Jennifer Foran will also be doing a painting demonstration in the Center Gallery on Saturday, September 6th from 10:30-12.
Jennifer Foran was born and raised in Pennsylvania, and has called Portland home since 1999. Inspired by the beauty of the Pacific Northwest, she began to paint forest landscapes not on canvas but on wood. Foran’s painting process begins by observing the patterns created by the wood grain, and then responding to them. “As the grain twists and turns, it begins to transform from lines to threads to paths.” By following these paths, she creates paintings that are “a soft-spoken reminder that everything is connected.”
Mary Neustadter inherited her father’s workshop after he passed. In it she found a beautifully organized collection of old metal hardware. As a tribute to him, Mary began to incorporate these rusted bolts, hinges, and washers into her work with clay. Her initial fascination with the way these materials would interact gave way to a deeper understanding of both her artistic process and her father. “I am an architectural historian and was drawn to that profession because I too like to reclaim, to preserve.” She began collecting discarded metal objects on her walks and travels, and using them as a part of her sculptures as well. She describes the resulting body of work as a “conversation about time, change and resilience.”
Allana Nagy is a Portland-based artist and educator whose work explores nuanced emotions in pieces that are often black and white in color. “Each piece I create is a narrative,” she says. She often incorporates text in these pieces, exploring how word and form work together. She is interested in communicating the “essence of emotion” and the way that duality shapes our perception. Nagy’s work is a heartfelt invitation to reflect on what she describes as “universal themes that unite us all.”
2025 Exhibition Calendar
January 10 – February 15, 2025
Menka Desai – works on paper
Studio Art Quilts Associates (SAQA) Oregon – “Biophilia: Threads of Natural Wonder”
Reception: Saturday, January 18, 1-3 p.m.
February 21 – March 29, 2025
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
April 4 – May 10, 2025
Two companion exhibitions with work by over 50 regional LGBTQIA2S+ artists, co-curated by Pablo V. Cazares, Lux Harris and Megan Hatch.
- “Shift Work: Queer Artists in Tectonic Times” – a group show in the Center Gallery featuring work by Zephyr Kim, Tommy Bruce, Robert Sumner, Areem Rose, and Ami Patel.
- “Holding Our Own: Works by LGBTQIA2S+ Ceramic Artists” – a group show in the Front Gallery.
Related events:
- Reception: Thursday, April 10, 6-8 p.m. in the Front & Center Galleries
- Artist talk: Saturday, April 19, 1 p.m. via Zoom
- Reading by regional LGBTQIA2S+ writers: Saturday, April 26, 2 p.m. in the MAC Auditorium
May 16 – June 21, 2025
Heidi Keith – figurative ink paintings on paper
Jennifer Rabin – mixed media sculpture
Reception: Saturday, May 31, 1-3 p.m.
June 27 – August 2, 2025
Re Pinter, Molly Lecko Herro and Phoebe Mol – cartoon-based arts
Gesine Krätzner – ceramic sculpture
Reception: Saturday, June 28, 1-3 p.m.
August 8 – September 13, 2025
Jennifer Foran – paintings
Mary Neustadter – found object and ceramic sculpture
Allana Nagy – mixed media
Reception: Thursday, August 14, 6-8 p.m.
September 5 – October 25, 2025
Portland Zine Symposium – historical and contemporary zine art
Reception: Thursday, September 25, 6-8 p.m.
Reading: Thursday, October 9, 7-8:30 p.m.
September 19 – October 18, 2025
Biennial MAC Instructors’ Exhibition – works in a variety of media
Reception: Thursday, September 25, 6-8 p.m.
October 24 – November 29, 2025
Jere Grimm – a retrospective featuring ceramics, textiles and works on paper
Reception: Saturday, November 1, 1-3 p.m.
January 10 – February 15, 2025
Menka Desai – works on paper
Studio Art Quilts Associates (SAQA) Oregon – “Biophilia: Threads of Natural Wonder”
Reception: Saturday, January 18, 1-3 p.m.
February 21 – March 29, 2025
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
April 4 – May 10, 2025
Two companion exhibitions with work by over 50 regional LGBTQIA2S+ artists, co-curated by Pablo V. Cazares, Lux Harris and Megan Hatch:
- “Shift Work: Queer Artists in Tectonic Times” – a group show in the Center Gallery featuring work by Zephyr Kim, Tommy Bruce, Robert Sumner, Areem Rose, and Ami Patel.
- “Holding Our Own: Works by LGBTQIA2S+ Ceramic Artists” – a group show in the Front Gallery.
Reception: Thursday, April 10, 6-8 p.m. in the Front & Center Galleries
Artist talk: Saturday, April 19, 1 p.m. via Zoom
Reading by regional LGBTQIA2S+ writers: Saturday, April 26, 2 p.m. in the MAC Auditorium
May 16 – June 21, 2025
Heidi Keith – figurative ink paintings on paper
Jennifer Rabin – mixed media sculpture
Reception: Saturday, May 31, 1-3 p.m.
June 27 – August 2, 2025
Speck Collective (Re Pinter, Molly Lecko Herro and Phoebe Mol) – cartoon-based arts
Gesine Krätzner – ceramic sculpture
Reception: Saturday, June 28, 1-3 p.m.
August 8 – September 13, 2025
Avery Nielsen Webb – large-scale photography
Allana Nagy – ceramic sculpture
Reception: Thursday, August 14, 6-8 p.m.
September 5 – October 25, 2025
Portland Zine Symposium – historical and contemporary zine art
Reception: Thursday, September 25, 6-8 p.m.
Reading: Thursday, October 9, 7-8:30 p.m.
September 19 – October 18, 2025
Biennial MAC Instructors’ Exhibition – works in a variety of media
Reception: Thursday, September 25, 6-8 p.m.
October 24 – November 29, 2025
Jere Grimm – a retrospective featuring ceramics, textiles and works on paper
Reception: Saturday, November 1, 1-3 p.m.