Tanner Springs wildflowers, July 2022

A few recent photos from Portland's Tanner Springs Park, a sort of pseudo-natural nature park righ in the middle of the Pearl District. This place was a regular staple here for a number of years, starting in 2006 and tapering off in 2014 for no particular reason. I happened to be in the area last month and wasn't in a hurry so I stopped in and ended up with a few wildflower photos, so here they are.

(I think it's fine to call them wildflowers, even if someone technically planted them here as part of a planned garden. I'm using the term in the sense of "local native species of flowering plant" and not by how "wild" an individual plant appears to be. Just tossing that out there in case any angry internet flower pedants stumble across this post. I have never actually met an angry internet flower pedant, mind you, but generally speaking if a thing exists, someone is mad about it on the internet. So it just sort of stands to reason.)

Art Wall, Tanner Springs

I've already done quite a few posts about Tanner Springs Park, such that I have a blog tag devoted to it. Initially I didn't like the place at all, and snarked about it endlessly. I may have rushed to judgment slightly though; in recent years it's begun to grow into its role as an urban nature area. I mean, apart from the pond, which still has trouble with algae and introduced goldfish. The latter seem to attract herons though, so even that part counts as a sort of ecosystem. After looking over those old posts I realized I've never done one specifically about the art portion of the park, the recycled rail and fused glass wall along on the east side of the park. I figured it merited a separate treatment, given the ongoing public art project I've been so big on lately. So the rusty rail wall is called Art Wall, by Herbert Dreiseitl, whose firm designed the park as a whole. Its RACC page says:

The concept of the Artwall integrates the concept of the park itself. In one urban block the skin of city is peeled back to reveal the landscape before its industrial development. The wall is an element which thrives on the polarity between the site’s industrial past and the purity of its new nature. It is composed of 368 railroad tracks set on end and integrates 99 pieces of fused glass inset with images of dragonflies, spiders, amphibians and insects, like animals captured in amber—creatures of times and habitats long gone. The images were hand-painted by Herbert Dreiseitl directly onto Portland glass, which was then fused and melted to achieve the final effect.

If we want to nitpick, it looks like the city's been calling it "Artwall", while the Dreiseitl firm seems to call it "Art Wall"; I tend to go with the designer's name when sources disagree.

Assorted artsy links about the Artwall, and the park in general:

• Art on File
• Landezine – Society for Promotion of Landscape Architecture
• Forecast Public Art
• Atelier Dreiseitl

rust, tanner springs

tanner springs, october 2012 (vi)

tanner springs, october 2012 (v)

tanner springs, october 2012 (iv)

tanner springs, october 2012 (iii)

tanner springs, october 2012 (ii)

tanner springs, october 2012 (i)

small subjects, tanner springs

green & violet, tanner springs

irises, tanner springs (may 2011)

spider, tanner springs

As seen on the wall-o-rusty-rails at Tanner Springs. I should point out that these were taken with macro gear and the spider is shown much larger than actual size. I'm not a spider expert, and I can't identify the beastie shown here. Feel free to leave a comment if you have any ideas about what it might be.

october wildflowers, tanner springs

pink (tanner springs)

When I title a post with a color like this, I'm not just trying to be twee and pretentious. The color generally indicates I have no idea what the plant(s) in the photos are, and I can't think of a better title. So now you know.