MUSEUM CANDLELIGHT TOUR

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The quaint Oregon town of Aurora was one of the West Coast’s only Christian communal colonies. Founded in 1856 by German families, today Aurora includes many antiques shops and specialty boutiques as well as simple clapboard houses built in the late 19th century. During the OLD AURORA COLONY MUSEUM CANDLELIGHT TOUR, you’ll travel back in time to the Aurora Colony of 150 years ago. Tour participants view the Old Aurora Colony Museum and watch vignettes of Colony families re-enacting history. Light refreshments will be served. The museum and town will be decorated for the holidays. To get a start in your holiday shopping, before taking the tour, check out the town’s unique stores.

LIGHTING PRESENTATION

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Mid-century lighting includes everything from flying saucer-shaped pulldowns to wagon-wheel chandeliers. Still popular today, home lighting from that era ranges from kitschy to modernistic. During “MID-CENTURY MODERN LIGHTING EYE CANDY FOR THE 'JOLLY ROGERS'” presentation, Rejuvenation designer and historian Bo Sullivan will entertain while he explains this décor.

HOLIDAY HOME TOURS

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Take several beautifully-decorated homes in the Eastmoreland neighborhood in Southeast Portland. Throw in some fun gift shopping while raising money for a good cause. What do you have? The 30th ANNUAL DUNIWAY HOLIDAY HOME TOUR. The tour includes a ride on an historic trolley as it rolls down the tree-lined streets of Eastmoreland, stopping at each home on the holiday tour and the tour’s boutique. The event raises funds that will benefit Duniway Elementary School, as does the boutique, with items by local artists and merchants. During the LA GRANDE ROTARY HOLIDAY HOME TOUR, eight houses or businesses in the La Grande area will be dressed up for the holidays. A variety of architectural styles will be represented on the self-guided car tour.

HOLIDAY HOME LIGHTING DISPLAYS

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Do strands and strands of Christmas lights give you a warm and fuzzy feeling? Head for PEACOCK LANE, a street in Southeast Portland renowned for the homeowners who live on it, who spend hours and hours gussying up their houses each holiday season for drivers-by and passersby alike to enjoy. The houses, mostly English Tudors, are adorned with sparkling lights and the front yards are filled with nativity scenes, rotating Christmas trees and replicas of Santa and Frosty. A popular event (expect happy crowds), the decorations are best enjoyed on foot.

HOLIDAY FOOD AND GIFT FESTIVALS

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Home décor, arts and crafts, gourmet food, unique gift items, wines to taste, elegant holiday displays, Santa and a festive atmosphere are just some of what you’ll find at the ANNUAL HOLIDAY FOOD AND GIFT FESTIVALS. The fests will be held in Portland, Eugene, and Redmond.

ART SHOW

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Curated by former ID magazine editor Steven Skov Holt and art historian Mara Holt Skov, the exhibit MANUF®ACTURED: THE CONSPICUOUS TRANSFORMATION OF EVERYDAY OBJECTS includes new works made from mass-produced objects and materials, including a dress made from one continuous zipper and towers crafted from polystyrene. This is a great opportunity to think about the more serious issues of overabundance, appropriation and reuse. Some of the artists’ work will be for sale.

ARCHITECTURE PRESENTATION

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The American Foursquare, one of Portland’s most notable historic house styles, was popular from around 1900 until well into the 1930s. Today it’s found in every older neighborhood in Portland. To find out more about this popular house style, check out FOURSQUARE HOMES: QUINTESSENTIAL PORTLAND ARCHITECTURE, a presentation by architectural historian Jack Bookwalter, who will show what constitutes a Foursquare, including its ornamental details and hybrids.

ARCHITECTURAL PHOTO EXHIBIT

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Shelter is one of our most basic human needs, both physically and psychologically. We seek shelter from the elements, from the storm, from harm. SHELTER, a national juried exhibition of contemporary photography, shows how shelter can be interpreted visually in all its manifestations.

Brian Vegter

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When dog portrait artist Brian Vegter was working as a film and television cameraman in New York City, a friend of his opened an upscale pooch boutique in 2003. “I wasn’t getting film work I liked, so I took up the paintbrush again to make some paintings of dogs for the walls,” he says. “That turned out to be the beginning of a new career.”

Lawrence Newman

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While growing up in sunny San Diego, Calif., furnituremaker Lawrence Newman was frequently surrounded by wood, metal and tools. “My grandfather was a general contractor, so I spent a lot of time as a kid on his project sites,” he says. “I’d take things apart and try to get all the pieces back in order. Once I even took my grandfather’s chainsaw apart and put it back together, and it still worked.”