Pony Club

The Pony Club is by far my favorite place to go on first Thursday. All of their art is really cool and my style. The prices for the pieces are fair and reasonable. Go here! Buy something!

What with the absolutely gorgeous weather and all today, I thought it was a good time to head and out and just wander around and check out galleries on First Thursday in and around 3^rd & NW Broadway. What a great choice. I started out just as it was on the very edge of dark and magical to be enveloped in large groups of people, listening to them talk, and not really being able to see anybody’s face clearly moving from gallery to gallery. My favorite group of small, eclectic galleries was in the block bounded by Broadway, Davis, & Everett, and my favorite of these was The Pony Club. When I walked in the door, I was engaged by a group of engaging animal prints and enjoyed my time viewing everything in the small space. There was nothing pretentious about it, which made it even better, and I’m glad I spent my First Thursday visiting these galleries and particularly The Pony Club.

This little tiny gallery is totally entertaining. They offer the collected work of a few artists and sell prints, crafts, trinkets, zines, and all sorts of «art gallery» fodder.
I wandered in to this place on a recent First Thursday and was surprised to find a lot of unpretentious, fun and reasonably priced art. The name itself invokes cloudy memories of besotted cowboys frolicking through urban top-​40 dance clubs, doing the robot to Genuwine tracks… barefoot.
Don’t ask. It’s my fantasy, I can imagine whatever I want.
The gallery space itself is small, and can get quite packed. Tragic fashion choices abound, and on a wet Portland First Thursday, with the throngs packed in like sardines, the thick humid atmosphere exudes a dank equine musk. It begs the question — at what level of «unwashed» does a hipster become a full-​bore hippie? Or do the tight jeans control?
Only the members of the secret Pony Club illuminati know. But really, that’s fine, because as a casual observer, if you can overcome the heavy stank in the air, you’re easily in for a strong art– and people-​watching experience any time you pass the velvet rope into this den of the horse dancer.

Do you want to go to First Thursday but work until seven? Do you like observing art that doesn’t need a personal explanation from the artist before you even attempt to appreciate it? I do. These are just two reasons why I love The Pony Club. No pretension. Just lovely illustrations that appeal to your sense of humor, your imagination and your heart, basically the human condition… blah, blah, blah. Yes, I suck at telling you what to see. This is why you should just go there and view the work yourself. It’s affordable. There is wine and cheese. The gallery is open until 9 or later on First Thurs. It’s two stories. What else do you need? I’m especially a fan of Jennifer Parks and her piece titled «The Conversation» and also her piece titled «The Dead Tree.» What are you a fan of?

I went to a lot of stores and galleries in a few days of visiting Portland, and this was one of my favorites. The screen door grabbed me by the heart and flung me down a super slippery slide of hand drawn and deeply original art that I wish I had been able to beg borrow buy or steal. sigh. I felt like I came home to a place I didn’t even know I left.

a «Gallery/​Studio/​Store space» of several artists, notably Theo Ellsworth. theirs is a cozy space with «mini-​comics, art prints, handmade stuffed animals, silkscreened shirts, and handmade clothing» for sale.
Pony Club Gallery is run by artists David Youngblood, Theo Ellsworth, Dylan Williams, Jennifer Parks, Tim Karpinski, and Zack Soto.