Industry Spotlight: Erin Boberg Doughton
Artistic Director & Curator of Performance at PICA
Published August 20, 2025
Written by: Carolina Nascimento
Meet Erin Boberg Doughton, Artistic Director & Curator of Performance at the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA), and one of the key figures behind Time-Based Art Festival (TBA).
Erin’s relationship with Portland’s arts community began early. A lifelong fan of performance in all its forms, dance, music, and theatre, she started volunteering with PICA when it was founded in 1995. Over the years, she transitioned from behind-the-scenes logistics into curatorial leadership, now helping to shape the artistic vision of one of Portland’s most celebrated multidisciplinary arts events.
Since TBA’s launch in 2002, Erin has worked on every single festival. She describes the event as “a 10-day festival of dance, performance, music, visual art, and experiences that are something in between.” It’s a space where boundaries blur, artists take creative risks, and audiences are invited to be fully present.
For Erin, Portland isn’t just the backdrop—it’s part of the story. “Portland is a highly collaborative and engaged city, with a DIY spirit that you can see at every scale,” she says. “People are aware and involved with things outside their niche interest or job, and supportive of other people trying something new.”
This willingness to cross boundaries and lift each other up makes Portland fertile ground for events like TBA and so many others. “Whenever I host visitors, it's so fun to see the city through their eyes, the amazing food scene, the parks, nature, the variety of human-scale neighborhoods,” Erin notes. “It’s so enjoyable and easy to get around as a pedestrian, on public transport, or by bike.” All of these things make Portland not only livable, but a powerful place to experience and produce art.
Erin is a firm believer that festivals and public events are essential to Portland’s creative identity. “TBA connects our local artists’ community to the rest of the country and the world,” she explains. “Although Portland is relatively small, it is known worldwide as a creative hub.”
Events like TBA provide vital platforms where local artists can connect with national and international peers, and audiences can engage with cutting-edge work before it hits larger stages. “Attending festivals like TBA can make you feel like a visitor in your own city again,” she says. “It’s also a place for connecting and meeting new people.”
Funding from Prosper Portland’s Office of Events & Film has helped keep TBA accessible to broader audiences. “Support like this is essential to keeping our events affordable and accessible. Ticket sales represent a small percentage of our budget—the rest is support like this,” Erin says.
Erin encourages anyone producing events or building creative infrastructure to bring artists into the process early on. “Invite artists to the table in the early phases of planning events or spaces,” she advises. “Ask artists what they want, if an event or space is good for artists, the audiences will follow.”
For those looking to follow a path like hers, her advice is simple: “Show up to everything. Ask questions. Stay curious.”
As TBA prepares for its next edition (September 4–14), Erin remains committed to helping Portland stay true to its artistic roots: risk-taking, collaboration, and connection. “Arts and culture are the soul of a city,” she says. “Portland is renowned as a creative hub, and I hope that businesses, local governments, and individuals will continue to support arts organizations and artists, enabling us to move the culture forward.”
Learn more about the Time-Based Art Festival and view this year’s lineup at pica.org/tba