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Buckman Elementary School is putting a little extra oomph into its annual Art Show & Sell this year, hopefully to compensate for staffing cuts that might be coming due to Portland Public Schools’ ongoing budget crisis.
The Saturday, March 14, event will feel similar to the 35 previous Show & Sells—with a juried art show, food trucks, and live music—but it falls during a perilous time for PPS budgeting.
“It’s sort of a ‘pressure’s on’ moment to get as much support as we can for an uncertain future,” says Lee Ann Moyer, a Buckman parent and one of the event’s organizers.
Moyer and the other organizers have done a publicity push to try to drive attendance to the Show & Sell and have sent out a “Save the Arts at Buckman” petition.
As PPS’s only arts-focused elementary school, Buckman has full-time art, music and dance teachers. Nothing is certain yet, but the teachers may face severe cuts to their hours next year, putting the arts curriculum at risk, Moyer says. The district faces an unexpected $14 million gap in its budget for the current school year, which it plans to patch in part through furloughs at the central office and in schools. PPS also faces a $50 million budget deficit in the 2026–27 school year, which officials expect will increase. An early budget draft would result in 288 layoffs.
“Our arts programming is at risk, and that is what makes us Buckman,” Moyer says. “Families are really feeling like that’s taking away the core spirit of the school.”
The Buckman Art Show & Sell will welcome 100 regional artists alongside 120 Buckman student and alumni artists selling ceramics, paintings, jewelry, textiles and more. Funds raised go toward classroom art materials, programming and opportunities for young artists to create and showcase their work.
GO: Art Show & Sell at Buckman Elementary School, 320 SE 16th Ave., buckmanartshow.com. 10 am–5 pm Saturday, March 14. Free.
