March 28th & April 4th, 2026
10:30 – 1:30 

Paint, Pittock, and Plein-Air: Join artist Paola De La Cruz and Pittock Mansion educators for a day of watercolor on the beautiful Pittock Mansion terrace! In this open-house style activity inspired by the nature watercolors of Henry Wentz currently on display in the Mansion, families and children of all ages will have the chance to explore watercolor as a medium for painting light and landscape. Enjoy a chance to express your creativity as part of your admission to Pittock Mansion.

This is event is free, with the price of admission, for all children.

Paola De La Cruz is a Dominican American cultural worker and visual artist based in Portland, Oregon. Her work explores cultural identity, care, and community through vibrant illustrations and public art that centers connection, joy, and collective healing. Through murals and community engaged projects, she creates spaces where stories, histories, and everyday moments of belonging are seen and celebrated.   

April 9, 2026
6:30 – 7:30

Portland’s Impressive Impressionist: Harry Wentz’s artistic style, technique, and repertoire grew up alongside major art movements— the Barbizon School, Impressionism, and Modernism were all making their way from Paris, Berlin, and beyond to our own West Coast in the early years of the 20th century. Join art historian and professor Christine Weber to learn more about the movements that influenced Portland’s Harry Wentz as he painted, taught, and championed the Northwest art scene in the early 20th century. This unique lecture offers the opportunity to view Wentz’s art alongside others of the period and hisin situ work in historic Pittock Mansion.

Christine Weber is an art historian and director of the North View Gallery at Portland Community College. She has conducted research in the Bauhaus archives in Dessau, Weimar and Berlin, focusing on Bauhaus women who created design prototypes for the Haus am Horn, the first Bauhaus model home in Weimar. She is interested in the history of art and design education, the relationships between media studies and art history, design history, the history of New Media Art, and critical pedagogy. She deeply values the time she spends with her students, who give her hope for the future.

April 16th, 2026
6:30 – 7:30

Behind The Gallery Wall with collectors Randall Dagel and Mark Humpal. Learn about the art of collecting with Randall Dagel and Mark Humpal, two long-standing and knowledgeable members of the Northwest art world. From developing a personal taste or aesthetic to the process of purchasing artwork, collecting art can be an exciting and meaningful enterprise. This lecture will discuss the various aspects of curating a home or public art collection as well as provide insight into the local art scene in Portland and beyond. Enjoy an evening of art and learning that will help you develop your own skills as a curator!

Randall Dagel has been collecting art for nearly forty-years, acquiring works that truly “sang to his spirit.” His home has long been filled with art that brings beauty and joy, and he takes great satisfaction in preserving and sharing these works with the public through his collection nicknamed “The Miranda Collection”. Through exhibition loans, he brings recognition to the artists who inspired these scenes — contributing to regional pride and strengthening appreciation for Northwest art. 

Mark Humpal is an art historian, independent curator, and gallerist in Portland, Oregon. He is the award-winning author of Ray Stanford Strong: West Coast Landscape Artist. He is also coauthor, with Margaret E. Bullock, of Coast to Cascades: C. C. McKim’s Impressionist Vision, and his articles on Oregon artists have appeared in the Oregon Historical Quarterly and other journals. He is currently writing a book on Arts and Crafts metal smith, Albert Berry.