Between Here and Home: Work by Jorge Luis Porrata and Erick I. Rodriguez

The Old Church Concert Hall and Venezuela’s Voice in Oregon present a Hispanic Heritage Month exhibition connecting two Portland artists across place, culture, and memory.

PORTLAND, Ore. The Old Church Concert Hall (TOC), in collaboration with Venezuela’s Voice in Oregon (VVO), presents Between Here and Home: Work by Jorge Luis Porrata and Erick I. Rodriguez, on view September 1 through October 15, 2026, in TOC’s gallery in downtown Portland.

The exhibition brings together Venezuelan American artist Erick I. Rodriguez and Cuban American artist Jorge Luis Porrata, two Portland-based artists whose distinct bodies of work are informed by the places and cultures they have carried with them to Oregon.

About the Exhibition
For Between Here and Home, Rodriguez presents Venezuelan Butterflies, a series of twelve prints based on original oil paintings of butterflies that migrate through and to Venezuela. Bright colors drawn from memories of Venezuela meet the quieter tones of the Pacific Northwest as Rodriguez uses the butterflies to consider movement, transformation, memory, and belonging.

Porrata presents six works from his series of animal fables, What the Animals Had to Say and What the Men Replied. Three intaglio/letterpress prints from the first book are paired with three digital prints from the second, reflecting an evolving exchange between image and story. In the first book, spontaneous monoprints informed the stories; those stories later helped shape the dialogues and digital collages of the second.

The works also explore the different facets that coexist within us and influence how we behave. Through a spiritual narrative of animals and people, Porrata considers harmony between humanity and nature, and within ourselves.

Together, these distinct bodies of work give Between Here and Home its title. Rodriguez looks to movement between places and the memories carried between them, while Porrata moves between image and language, nature and humanity, and different parts of the self.

Music for the event will be provided by Portland DJ and musician Omie.

The exhibition and reception are free and open to all ages, with a bar available for guests 21+ with valid ID.

About Erick I. Rodriguez
Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Erick I. Rodriguez is a Venezuelan American artist based in Portland. His work draws on memories of Venezuela and his life in the Pacific Northwest, exploring place, migration, and belonging through color and landscape. Rodriguez established Criollo Paintings Art Studio in downtown Portland in 2020, and his work has been exhibited throughout the Pacific Northwest as well as in Florida and New York.

For Rodriguez, the butterflies in this exhibition carry meaning beyond their natural forms.

“I’m not just depicting nature,” Rodriguez writes. “I’m mapping a feeling of migration, belonging, and the spaces in between.”

The original oil paintings from the Venezuelan Butterflies series were sold to support Venezuela’s Voice in Oregon.

About Jorge Luis Porrata
Jorge Luis Porrata was born and raised in Camagüey, Cuba, and emigrated to the United States in 2001. A poet, artist, and educator, he has illustrated approximately a dozen books and published poetry in literary magazines in Mexico, Cuba, and the southwestern United States. He taught art at universities in three states for ten years and currently teaches third grade at a bilingual school.

Porrata’s What the Animals Had to Say, published by Ediciones Homagno in 2012, is a bilingual book and part of an ongoing series of animal fables. His second book, Todo en el tiempo de Dios, brings together 30 years of his original poetry in Spanish and English.

About Omie
Omie is a Portland-based DJ & musician specializing in narratives that highlight latin rhythms, past & present global curations, rare disco, and atmospheric electronica. He also produces music solo, performs live with bands, & helps cultivate communal growth for local artistry. His family’s roots come from north-central Mexico. 
Instagram: @ Omie.wav