Converge 45: Here, To you, Now

August 27 - October 4, 2026

Curated by Lumi Tan

Named for Portland’s position on the 45th parallel, halfway between the Equator and the North Pole, Converge 45 has always been about bringing the Pacific Northwest into dialogue with the wider world. In its tenth year, Converge 45 brings that idea into focus with its 2026 Triennial, Here, To you, Now, a citywide exhibition of works that do not simply arrive in Portland, but that engage its histories, its spaces, and the communities that shape its present.

Curated by Lumi Tan, Here, To you, Now takes its title from Ursula K. Le Guin’s 1985 novel Always Coming Home. In the book, Le Guin—who lived most of her life in Portland—distinguishes between the written word, which is “there, for anyone, at any time,” and the spoken word, which is “here, to you, now.”

Tan builds from that idea to bring together 28 artists whose work is shaped by impermanence and animated by new forms of communication and storytelling. In turn, the exhibition invites its audiences to become temporary communities: to perceive these forms, process their meanings, and consider how they are carried forward.

At Oregon Contemporary, Amy Ruhl presents Other Spaces, an immersive scenographic environment developed through artist-convened reading groups. Centered on a panoramic video installation, the work is based on collective inquiry into speculative fiction–especially “ambiguous utopias” like that imagined in Ursula K. Le Guin’s 1974 novel The Dispossessed– as a site of political possibility. For this commission, the Brooklyn-based artist collaborates with dancer/choreographer Lu Yim and actor Sophia Cleary, who activate the installation with ensemble performances navigating a landscape of inflatable sculptures and interactive audio technology to meditate on the labor of building future worlds.

Also at Oregon Contemporary, North Pole Studio and Elbow Room are Portland art studios dedicated to supporting the professional careers of artists with autism and intellectual or developmental disabilities. For Here, To you, Now, Tan has curated a group exhibition of paintings, drawings, and sculpture by artists associated with the two organizations. Featuring works by artists Ricky Bearghost, Aaron Cunningham, Michelle Fromme, Annie Rose Macer, Elmeater Morton, and Dan Tran, the exhibition serves as a warm introduction to their unique perspectives, persistence, and long-standing presence in Portland’s creative landscape.

Here, To you, Now opens to the public August 27.