DIY/alternative studio/performance spaces

Increasingly of late, Portland artists and performers are taking to heart the old axiom, “If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.” Hence the appearance or reincarnation of venues such as the Apohadion (a creatively cluttered, hard-to-find studio on Hanover Street), the Dooryard (formerly the Sound Post, a homey mixed-use building on High Street), and Mayo Street Arts (the most formal of these three, a non-profit arts center housed in the old St. Ansgar’s Church), which combine performance and gallery space (for a variety of genres, from music to visual art to theater to dance) with studios for working artists. Not only do such spaces give developing artists exposure and inspiration, they also encourage a sense of collective responsibility — of, “This city’s arts scene is what we make it.” These are previously missing pieces in Portland’s diverse art-venue puzzle, one that is still taking shape.

Apohadion | 107 Hanover St, Portland

Dooryard | 108 High St, Portland | dooryard.blogspot.com

Mayo Street Arts | 10 Mayo St, Portland | 207.615.3609 | mayostreetarts.org