If you’ve been waiting for a chance to brain up on contemporary art, the next three days offer opportunities galore:

Things begin very shortly with a noon lecture today at Weiden Kennedy ( 224 NW 13th) by German photographer Oliver Boberg. Somewhat like fellow countryman Thomas Demand, Boberg creates small models based on real sites that he then photographs, creating simulacrum-rich photographs of banal spots.

Later tonight, Larry Rinder, Dean of the Grad School at the California College of Arts and former Whitney curator, will lecture at PNCA (1241 NW Johnson, 6:30 pm, free). Rinder is in town in conjunction with New Work from Recent Graduates of the California College of the Arts, which he curated for the Elizabeth Leach Gallery.

Tomorrow afternoon, Reed College hosts legendary Conceptual artist and sculptor Tom Marioni , who is responsible for terrifically named pieces, such as “The Art of Drinking Beer with Friends is the Highest Form of Art” and “Bird, Running and Jumping With a Pencil, Marking the Paper while Trying to Fly.” Marioni will speak at Reed’s Eliot Hall (3203 SE Woodstock), at 4:30, Saturday Nov 3.

Sunday, master printer Kathan Brown, founder of the seminal Crown Point Press, visits the Portland Art Museum to talk about working with artists like Chuck Close (who currently has a major print show at PAM). Crown Point has worked with a veritable who’s who of late 20th century artists, including Christian Boltanski, Dan Flavin, Julie Mehretu, Ed Ruscha, and Kiki Smith, so that hopefully translates into an interesting lecture from Brown. That happens at the art museum, 1219 SW Park, at 2 pm this Sunday, and costs $5-10.

And if all that only leaves you hungry for more, Monday night, Portland mainstay Brad Adkins is on deck at PSU’s Monday Night Lecture Series. Over the past several years, beginning with his involvement in Charmbracelet, Adkins has ascended as a serious artist to contend with in his own right, with a seemingly bottomless well spring of ideas and a dedication to his craft. PSU’s Monday Night Lectures happen weekly at Fifth Avenue Cinemas, 510 SW Hall, at 7:30 pm. And they’re always free.