We are having this conversation now, yesterday, and tomorrow: Michael Espinoza interviewed

The Portland-based artist talks about Queer Ancestors lost to persecution, disease, fatal sadness, and closets

The best west coast art

Each week, our regional CLIFF NOTES columnists pick the most exciting events and exhibitions on the West Coast. We send them straight to your inbox.

Art and culture events in California, Oregon, and Washington

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Letter from the editor

Newly-appointed Associate Editor Ella Ray writes about the privilege of feeling the urge to write, the people who cared for her over the years, and how she plans to reciprocate that care in her new role.

Read Ella’s letter.

We publish fearless, rigorous, accessible writing about West Coast art and culture.

We may not offer romantic weekend getaways, but we do have some pretty cool subscriber perks.

Plus, you get to help support and elevate West Coast art. Pretty great, eh?

Check out the Cliff Notes archive for over two years of weekly emails about the best West Coast art.

If you wear an artwork, does that make you a work of art? We think so.

From the archive

Dispatch | Traveling West: Art and Cars in the 2022 Whitney Biennial by Brandon Sward, July 19, 2022

As moguls like Elon Musk reimagine the automobile, we’re left with the uncomfortable knowledge that not only are we dependent on it, but that it occupies a prime place in the national imagination of the US as a symbol of both freedom and danger. LA-based artists Danielle Dean, Guadalupe Rosales, and Aria Dean bring West Coast car culture to New York City.

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