WHO'S YOUR DADA: A Portland Art Workshop for People Who "Can't Draw"
About this Event
Every Tuesday, 6-8 PM at The Haven PDX. $50 per session, materials included, BYOB if you want. Don't be square, be there.
Who it's for: Total beginners and working artists alike. This isn't a skills class - it's a habit-breaking class where we will get you to think, see and feel like a Dadaist.
What you'll do: Hands-on painting, collage, automatic drawing, and process-based exercises pulled straight from the Dada movement - the same techniques that went on to shape punk, pop art, performance art, and meme culture.
Why Dada, why now: it started in 1916 as a middle finger to a world that let nationalism and "rational" thinking march straight into WWI. The response was to embrace absurdity, chance, and irony instead of rules - and it's the reason punk, pop art, and the absurdity of so much meme culture exists today. Feels relevant again, doesn't it? Come find out what happens when you give yourself permission to make something "wrong", "filthy" or "downright ugly."
What you'll leave with: A finished piece, a looser grip on "doing it right," and a standing invite back next week for a new prompt and deeper unlearning.
If you have specific art materials you love, bring those for yourself. It's encouraged to bring sentimental papers or objects that you want to turn to art. (Someone once brought their divorce papers! Lets just say they look different now)
*Can't swing the $50? Two pay-what-you-can seats are held every week - just email [email protected], no explanation needed.
"I am incredibly proud of the work that I have been creating in Dada class. The focus of my work is becoming more apparent and I am letting go of perfectionism/control, which used to block my creative flow. The warmups are super engaging and exhilarating. There are lessons at the beginning of each class that tie everything together and give us direction and structure. I love Nolan's process and emotional attunement to the people he is teaching. I find myself feeling deeply connected to the project and the other participants as well"
-July 28th, 2026 Faera J. Valore
"I havent made an original work of art since I was eight or nine. Somewhere around that age I believed myself incapable of making art. By the end of the class it felt like I could let an animal out that was clawing at the door in my soul."
-July 7th, 2026 Mark M.
This is the work of one of our favorite Dadaists: Hannah Höch (1930) Ohne Titel (Aus einem ethnographischen Museum) , 1930
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 55.20 to USD 65.87
