Old Town Origins (OTO) brings art, live music, maker retail, workshops, and creative community together in Portland’s Old Town.

PORTLAND, OR, UNITED STATES, October 1, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Something strange is taking shape in Portland’s Old Town. Old Town Origins, also known as OTO, is a new all-ages nonprofit arts organization bringing total creative experimentation together under one roof.

Part gallery, part music space, part shop, and part creative meeting ground, OTO invites visitors to see an exhibition, hear a band, discover something made locally, join a workshop, or walk into an event they didn’t know existed. Its programming will include exhibitions, concerts, First Thursday events, educational programs, artist and maker retail, rehearsal opportunities, and participatory music programs, with room for the unexpected.

Founded by musician, producer, educator, and community builder Carl Hinds, OTO is built around a simple belief: culture is infrastructure. Located in one of Portland’s oldest and most culturally significant neighborhoods, the organization will support the people already creating there while opening the door for new work, new collaborations, and ideas that may have nowhere else to go.

"OTO began with a simple idea: if artists worked collectively, we could use economies of scale to make services like booking, publicity, graphic design, screen printing, legal guidance, vinyl production, and merchandise more affordable," said Hinds. "As visual artists joined us, that vision expanded to include art scanning and printing, along with studio space for both artists and musicians.

At the center of OTO is a commitment to the entire creative process. Artists and musicians need opportunities to exhibit and perform, but they also need places to experiment, rehearse, meet collaborators, teach, learn, sell their work, and build an audience. OTO is designed to support that larger ecosystem while creating more ways for artists to be paid for what they make.

The organization is equally committed to lowering the threshold around arts participation. Visitors won’t need to understand contemporary art, know someone in the music scene, or have a significant budget to feel welcome. OTO is being built for working artists and lifelong musicians, curious neighbors, students, tourists, collectors, former band members, Portland lifers, and anyone drawn inside by something happening through the window.

Hinds continued, "When the opportunity arose to open a brick-and-mortar location, we realized we could also create a place for those same artists to exhibit, sell, and perform. OTO became a vertically integrated creative hub designed to give artists the resources they need while allowing them to keep more of the revenue their work generates."

Carl Hinds' history spans nearly every corner of OTO’s mission. As a member of the band Dandelion, he recorded and toured extensively after signing with Columbia/Ruffhouse Records. He later founded Mother Superior Studios and School of Rock Portland, then spent roughly a decade helping expand School of Rock nationally. His work also includes theater, music production, arts education, and several years as board president of Tears of Joy Theatre.

OTO takes its visual identity from the moth. Drawn to light, capable of transformation, and beautiful in a dark, imperfect way. It reflects the kind of Portland the organization wants to support: independent, handmade, curious, inclusive, irreverent, and serious about art without taking itself too seriously.


Located at 435 NW 6th Ave. in Portland, Old Town Origins will be open for the First Thursday gallery walk and launches its inaugural event slate on October 10 with performances by Halfmast, Honeydrone, Clair/G.A.B., and Talking Doll. Stay tuned for opening details, upcoming events, programming, membership information, and more.

Learn more and purchase show tickets at OTOPDX.org, or follow OTO on Facebook and Instagram.

Melissa Meszaros
Don't Hide PR
melissa@donthidepr.com
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