Children and Youth Bill of Rights

The next mural on our ever-continuing tour Children and Youth Bill of Rights, a big and busy 2 story design on the south side of Killingsworth at Maryland Ave. The RACC description:

This mural by Jesus Kobe Garcia and Margret Harburg was inspired by The Bill of Rights for the Children and Youth of the City of Portland and Multnomah County. Adopted by both City and County in 2006, the document was created with help from more than 3,000 youth and seeks to serve as a constant reminder of the vital role children and youth play in shaping the future of their communities. Garcia and Harburg worked with students from five schools throughout North Portland to design the mural which honors the academic dreams and successes of youth as well as the history of African-Americans and Native Americans in North Portland. Extending beyond the immediate community, the mural also displays painted flags representing countries where natural disasters and conflicts have disrupted their people (Japan, Libya, El Salvador). The artists worked with youth from Blue Faith Youth, a faith based youth group from North Portland’s Holy Cross Parish, and students from Trillium’s 3rd and 4th grade art class to paint the mural.

NE 30th & Killingsworth

Ok, the next painted intersection we're visiting is a bit different from the last few; rather than placing a big design in the middle of the intersection, the one at NE 30th & Killingsworth has designs on the four streetcorners instead. A circa-2006 City Repair description of the then-new progject (via archive.org) indicates that the intersection was too busy for the traditional sort of street design, and the city wouldn't let them close it off for a day of painting:

This community project will include painting creative crosswalks and building kiosk-type structures along Killingsworth approaching the intersection from both directions to catch driver’s eyes and slow traffic, transforming a dangerous intersection into an attractive expression of community co-creation and safe space. Despite the flood warnings and evacuation routes that must be kept unperturbed, the residents are tired of it all passing by unnoticed. Can’t we just close the street for one day to paint? Many thanks to this community for braving the “higher ups” and doing something anyway. Keep the dream alive and keep the designs a’comin. Strong community prevails.

Do Not Ignore the Humanity in Front of Your Eyes

The next stop on the ongoing mural tour is at N. Albina & Killingsworth, where a building bears the inscription "Do Not Ignore the Humanity in Front of Your Eyes". I've found a lot of photos of this on the interwebs (see [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]), but nobody (myself included) seems to know who painted this or why. Though I suspect that if this sort of sentiment has to be spelled out for people, the struggle is not going well.

Mallory Meadows Park

View Larger Map A few photos of NE Portland's tiny Mallory Meadows Park, right on Killingsworth a few blocks west of MLK. The city describes it thusly:

Formerly a parking lot, Mallory Meadows is one of three parks in the King neighborhood financed in large part by a grant from the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund. Completed in 2002, neighborhood volunteers built it with grants, donations, and hard labor. One of the park's elements is a low, undulating wall faced with glazed tiles containing self-portraits of elementary school children from the neighborhood.

The city did a great job of making a .15 acre lot look bigger than it is, with little hills and winding trails, like a miniature version of downtown's Pettygrove Park, which itself is pretty small. The design also does a great job hiding the busy street next door. Still, you can't totally escape the small size of the place. The first time I drove by to take photos, someone was sitting in a swing, obliviously texting away. Maybe it's just me and my antisocial tendencies, but somehow it felt like there wasn't room in the park for a second person, so I bailed and came back another day.

East Park Blocks: Omaha Parkway

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This stop on our tour of the East Park Blocks takes us to North Portland's Omaha Parkway, on N. Omaha Avenue between Killingsworth and Rosa Parks Way. If you look at a map of the city, it appears that Omaha Parkway is actually slightly to the west of the park blocks downtown. It's still on the east bank of the river, though, so I'm going to assert that "East Park Blocks" is still a reasonable name. Otherwise I'd have to try to think of a different name, and I don't want to.

It's possible that Omaha Parkway doesn't share an origin with the others, which would explain why it's not on that list. A page at Rootsweb describes it like this:

Omaha Ave. Albina addition, (1891) From Killingsworth Ave. north to Portland Blvd. [until 1891, known as 1st & 2nd Aves.]. before 1915 became N. Omaha Ave.

N. Omaha Ave. Albina addition, (1915) From 157 Killingsworth Ave. (1932) 5 east of Greeley north from Killingsworth to Winchell. [until before 1915, known as Omaha Ave.].

This indicates that the street (or some parts of it) existed prior to 1891, when Portland absorbed the old city of Albina. Doesn't mention anything specifically about park blocks though.

When I'm feeling pedantic (which is regrettably often), I sometimes wonder about a place, "Who waters the grass?" This 1989 Oregonian article says the Parks Bureau waters the grass at Omaha Parkway, or at least they did 19 years ago. And they almost didn't then, due to the Parks Bureau's perennial lack of funds. The place used $2500 worth of water over the course of the summer, in 1989 dollars. Article describes the parkway as a "median strip".