For the past few months, since he left The Oregonian, Scatter founder Barry Johnson has been exploring the territory of starting an online home for good, groundbreaking arts journalism in Portland.

As a first step he’s set up a new site, Portland Arts Watch, which continues and expands on his old Portland Arts Watch print and Web column in the Big O.

Great news for Portland. The city’s been missing Barry’s insightful viewpoints and ability to approach problems from odd angles to discover new stuff. He can be provocative, he can be funny, he makes connections. We’ve updated our old “Portland Arts Watch” link to take you to the new site. Get kickin’, Barry!