Portland, I went looking for a free puppet show and somehow ended up wanting to know everything about a man who spent years building imaginary worlds. There are tiny creatures made from fabric, pieces of wood, paint and found objects. Some look like they're halfway through telling you a secret. Others look as though they might have a very complicated relationship with the dentist. I adore them already.
The man behind them is Davis Wohlford, a Portland artist who has created hundreds of handmade characters over the years. These aren't identical toys coming off a factory belt. They have personalities and histories, and they inhabit a place Davis invented called North Pole Jr. The longer I looked at his work, the less interested I became in calling any of them ordinary.
An imaginary place became part of a very real one.
Davis is also a founding artist of North Pole Studio, the nonprofit Portland arts organization he helped establish in spring 2020 alongside Sula Willson, Mary Ellen Andersen and Sarah Mensah. The studio supports artists with autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities in building meaningful careers and participating visibly in the arts community. That is work: making art, exhibiting it, selling it, and being treated as the artist you are.
I keep coming back to that connection. Here is a man who spends years inventing a place where unusual characters belong. Then he helps create an actual place where working artists are supported and seen. One exists in his imagination. The other has a front door in Portland's Pearl District.
Krista Gregory from North Pole Studio shared a beautiful observation about Davis's work and why the story of Rudolph's unwanted toys resonates with him: “The twist is that what makes us different makes us unique, interesting and desirable.” She explained that Davis has made these toys in the hope that children will play with and love them, not merely stare at them on pedestals.
And now the toys are getting a stage.
His exhibition, The Island of Misfit Toys, opened November 5 at imperfecta gallery. Krista photographed the installed show for PNW Passport. Look at that little riot of characters hanging along the walls and the colorful puppet stage in the middle. According to the studio, the opening went wonderfully, and Davis sold a large portion of the toys. No, I do not have a sales count, and I won't pretend I do.
This year's characters are also moving from the shelves to the stage. The studio says the puppet performance uses handmade figures, music and familiar fairy tales reimagined in unexpected directions. It sounds like the exact sort of afternoon where a child and a grown-up might leave arguing over which impossible creature was their favorite.
I haven't met Davis or attended the show, and I don't want to put words into his mouth. What I can tell you comes from Krista, the studio's exhibition statement and the artist's publicly documented work. I'd still love to hear Davis describe North Pole Jr. himself one day, in whichever way he is most comfortable sharing his art.
If you go, make room for the artist behind the joke.
The funny little toys will get you through the door. But I hope you stay long enough to notice the years of imagination in them, the care in making things by hand, and a Portland organization helping artists build real creative lives. A handmade creature with an unusual face might make you laugh. Knowing who made it gives you something much better to carry home.
And if you encounter a tiny yellow weirdo with a dental situation, please tell him I said hello.
How to see Davis's Misfit Toys in Portland
Free puppet show: Friday, November 13, 2026, 4–5 p.m., at imperfecta gallery, 809 NW Flanders Street, Portland. North Pole Studio says no registration is required. Some third-party listings show an additional performance; only Friday is confirmed here by the studio's direct correspondence. Check the official studio schedule before traveling.
Exhibition: November 5–28, 2026. Gallery admission is free. Confirm exhibition viewing hours and accessibility with imperfecta.
Know the artist: Davis Wohlford at North Pole Studio. Please do not show up unannounced at the studio expecting to meet Davis; the studio requires arrangements for visits.
Reporting: Original October 29–November 10, 2026 email correspondence with Krista Gregory of North Pole Studio and Daria Loi of imperfecta; studio event listing; Travel Portland event listing. Source studio approved the original photograph for PNW Passport's organic website/editorial use with exact credit “North Pole Studio.” This is a reported feature, not a first-person visit or direct artist interview.
The story doesn't end when I hit publish.
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