The Portland Diary Summit
For anyone who considers journaling and daily life documenting to be therapeutic, sacred, liberatory, a path to the unconscious or otherwise of interest.
Report from the 2026 Diaries, Notes, Sketches
Diaries, Notes, Sketches was a beautiful community event that took place on the first night of the year. We sold out! Over 70 people showed up which was plenty for the small gallery space.
We snacked on cookies, popcorn, and tea. We wrote in companionable silence. We watched films that linked us to generations before us and connected the films to our own lives today.
The event came about because I was a resident artist at Stelo Arts from late October through mid-January. I had the idea to offer a “mini-summit” to the public, an event that would bring together different forms of “diary” in a direct way. On January 1, everyone, even people who try not to, are doing some sort of reflection on the previous year, and thinking about the year ahead. For that reason, I scheduled Diaries, Notes, Sketches right on January 1.
I loved researching and discussing this film program with Cadie Godula. I loved watching the audience actually write in the booklet between films. It felt like a warm social experiment, inviting people to write together while watching films.
The Portland Diary Summit may return every January 1!
Julie Perini
January 9, 2026
The Diaries, Notes, Sketches booklet which included information about the films along with journal prompts inspired by the films.
Cadie Godula (left) and Julie Perini (right) introduced the program at Stelo Arts in Portland. (Photo by Kristin Hole)
Just a few days before Diaries, Notes, Sketches, the Portland Mercury listed us as a Top Event -the Top Event - for January 1!
Thank you so much: Cadie and Experimental Exposure; marvin, Jurrell and Shir at Stelo Arts; the Nyback Archive; Spectrum Between; Filmmakers’ Cooperative in New York City; John Frentress for the drawings in the program; all of the open-hearted, open-minded audience members who showed up on January 1; the filmmakers for making the films in the first place.