THE OPEN ROAD
a learning community
classes, workshops, performances, etc.
SUMMER 2024
The Open Road encourages lifelong learning, and seeks to build a gateless community of people who are curious about everything. Open Road Events (ORE) are initiated by the Open Road, other things are recommended by the Open Road (ORR). All live events in Portland, unless otherwise noted. If you have questions, contact us at stallingsjohnny@gmail.com or 503-347-6869.
special event!
Open Road Potluck Picnic! (ORE) Bring food and a poem to share. (Don’t bring anything that needs to be cooked.)
Laurelhurst Park (near the duck pond)
Sunday, July 14th at 1 pm
classes
¡Bibliophiles Unanimous! (0RE) Friendly online conversation that starts out with books and…meanders. Email Johnny (stallingsjohnny@gmail.com) to request the Zoom link.
July 14th at 4 pm: Favorite Books of All Time
July 28th at 3 pm: Favorite Poems & Poets
August 11th at 3 pm: Read Any Good Books Lately?
August 25th at 3 pm: Multicultural
Free
Yoga with Elizabeth (ORR) Elizabeth Domike teaches yoga five mornings a week online. Gentle joint activation movement, with a poem at the end of each practice. Join people from all over the world. To register, contact her at: smallhouse@aol.com.
Monday-Friday 8-8:30 a.m.
$38 per month
Bardaphilia! (ORE) “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players…” If you don’t already love Shakespeare, this class will remedy that. And if you do…you know there’s nothing more fun than reading the plays and poems together with friends. Actor and director Johnny Stallings (stallingsjohnny@gmail.com) is the genial host. Bring copies of some of the plays—(optional). We will make up the “curriculum” as we go along.
Artspace Room at Taborspace, 5441 SE Belmont
Friday evenings, July 19th & 26th, August 2nd & 9th: 7-9 pm
suggested donation $5 per class
workshops
Make Books and Zines: Easy, Fun, Fast (ORE) Jill Littlewood (littlewoodart@gmail.com) teaches different techniques of book making. She will supply materials.
Thursdays from 1-3 pm at Taborspace, 5441 SE Belmont
July 18 (Artspace Room), August 15 (Library), August 29 (Artspace)
maximum of 10 people
suggested donation $5 per class
Class One (July 18): Guerrilla Sketchbooks
Going on a hike? Getting on a plane? Going camping? I will show you how to make easy, cheap, fast-to-assemble notebooks so you or anyone can write a story, color, draw, collage, and experiment without worrying about preciousness. You’ll make 5-10 in this session using office supplies: it is easy to level up if you want to use artist’s papers for watercolor or pen & ink.
If there is time we can do a few pop-ups or fold-outs. I’ll have some supplies to draw/color with but my main goal is for you to leave with books to take home and the knowledge of how to make them. Share this know-how with the kids in your life: in my experience kids tell more complex stories and use more sophisticated language when they make their own books.
Class Two (August 15): Accordions and Concertinas
These book structures are amazingly versatile. We will make several and then concentrate on various ways to enrich your story: pop-ups, doors, envelopes, flaps, foldouts. I’ll have some drawing supplies but if you want to bring your own markers or colored pencils feel free to do that.
Class Three (August 29): Books, or Zines, From a Single Sheet of Paper
We will make a bunch of books using one sheet of paper. These can be adapted to make Zines, since you can put your artwork on a copier and get multiples. Bring pens, markers, or colored pencils if you want or use mine.
performances
Small Batch Storytelling (ORR) Will Hornyak’s Narrative Distillery presents well-crafted tales in a small outdoor venue. For ages 14 and older.
Saturdays, Sept. 7 & 14, 7-8:30 p.m.; Sunday, Sept. 15, 5-6:30 p.m.
Will & Concetta’s Backyard, 11375 SE 33rd, Milwaukie
$15 at the door (bring a lawn chair)
Reservations required: hornyak.will@gmail.com or 503-697-5808
The Deck Boys (ORR) Board member Jeffrey Sher plays with The Fabulous Deck Boys. Catch them when you can! (deckboys.com)
July 11th
Artichoke Music, 2007 SE Powell
1 p.m.
July 19th & August 16th
Ross Island Grocery & Cafe, 3502 S Corbett Ave
7 p.m.
$5 Suggested
August 31st
Al’s Den, 303 SW 12th Ave.
7-9 p.m.
Your Enjoyment of the World is Never Right Till Every Morning You Awake in Heaven (ORE) Johnny Stallings reads poems and meditations of the Christian mystic Thomas Traherne (1636-1674), followed by dialogue.
Muir Hall in Taborspace, 5441 SE Belmont, Saturday, July 20th, at 7 pm
$5 suggested donation
Kalidasa (ORE) Johnny Stallings reads from the works of the greatest Sanskrit poet and playwright—“India’s Shakespeare”—Kalidasa (4th-5th Century CE), followed by dialogue.
Muir Hall in Taborspace, 5441 SE Belmont, Saturday, August 24th, at 7 pm
$5 suggested donation
some of our favorite books
Katie Radditz: The Plague by Albert Camus, The Gate of Angels by Penelope Fitzgerald
Elizabeth Domike: Gilgamesh (Helle translation), The Hunter by Tana French
Jill Littlewood: Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren, The Heroine With 1001 Faces by Maria Tatar, The Gift by Lewis Hyde
Jude Russell: Becoming Duchess Goldblatt by Anonymous, Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy, The True American by Anand Giridharadas
Deborah Buchanan: The Heartsong of Charging Elk by James Welch; a favorite poet is W. S. Merwin
Mia Butzbaugh: my body, the buddhist by Deborah Hay, My Heart by Semezdin Mehmedinovic
Ken Margolis: books by Walter Kempowski, Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens, “What Men Live By” by Leo Tolstoy (story)
J Kahn: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carré, Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Jeffrey Sher: The Overstory by Richard Powers, Fantasyland by Kurt Andersen
Johnny Stallings: “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman (poem); The Storyteller by Mario Vargas Llosa (novel); “Tenth of December” by George Saunders (story)
Kim Stafford: Two Old Women by Velma Wallis
Howard Thoresen: Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami, Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, “The Mad Gardener’s Song” by Lewis Carroll (poem)
Will Hornyak: This is Happiness by Niall Williams, The Gift by Lewis Hyde, We Don’t Know Ourselves by Fintan O’Toole, The Force of Character by James Hillman
some of our favorite movies
Katie: Heaven Knows Mr. Allison, A Room with a View
Elizabeth: Wings of Desire
Jill: Sea Beast, Perfect Days, The Secret of Roan Inish
Jude: The Lives of Others, Edward Scissorhands, The Crying Game
Deborah: Children of Paradise, Casablanca
Mia: Sir! No Sir!, What We Do in the Shadows
Ken: The Rules of the Game, Persona, The Rider; favorite game: Hide and Go Seek
J: My Cousin Vinny, City Island, Galaxy Quest
Jeffrey: Jules et Jim, Annie Hall
Johnny: Wings of Desire, Moonrise Kingdom, I Heart Huckabees
Kim: Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors
Howard: Apu Trilogy, Monty Python movies, Bergman’s The Magic Flute
Will: Hit Man, The Banshees of Inisherin, They Shall Not Grow Old, La Casa de Mi Padre
& a few podcasts…
Elizabeth: A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs: https://500songs.com/
Strict Scrutiny https://crooked.com/podcast/a-terrible-horrible-no-good-very-bad-term/
Know Your Enemy Know Your Enemy on Apple Podcasts