Now is the Time, the Time is Now

Next up on the mural tour is Now is the Time, the Time is Now, at the Irvington Covenant Church at NE MLK & Shaver. This was created back in 1989 by artists Isaka Shamsud-Din, Paul Odighizuwa, Charlotte Lewis, and Kathy Pennington. The RACC description:

This mural was created as part of a neighborhood mural project designed to train and employ promising young artists, enhance the cityscape, foster a sense of community pride and aid in revitalization efforts in the area. ‘Now is the Time, the Time is Now’ is about education, the importance of history, the identity of the African American community and knowledge of where they came from.

The mural was created with a second companion mural on the south side of the building that was regrettably removed in fall 2009 due to necessary repair of the building.

From a 1989 Oregonian article about the then-new murals:

The first two of what Shamsud-Din hopes will be more than a dozen murals along King Boulevard were dedicated Dec. 18. They grace the north and south walls of the American Contractors Center owned by Bruce Broussard, who was the first "to take a chance on us," Shamsud-Din says.

The north-facing mural was designed and painted by Shamsud-Din. It features a large portrait of Martin Luther King Jr. surrounded by other faces, among them Nelson and Winnie Mandela, South African expatriate playwright Selaelo Maredi, and muslim leader Elijah Muhammad.

The south mural was painted by artists Kathy Pennington, Charlotte Lewis, and Paul Odighizuwa and depicts the progression of African heritage from ancient Egypt to contemporary children using computers.

Shamsud-Din hopes the project will become self-sufficient and eventually expand to other parts of the city. Similar projects in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Philadelphia have caused a reduction in graffiti and initiated a visible increase in civic pride in the neighborhoods.

"I wanted to start something that would give African-American artists in Portland some exposure," he says. "It would be a lot more fun here if it wasn't such a whites-only art club."

Note that Nelson Mandela was still imprisoned by South Africa's apartheid government when these murals went up, and many Western politicians still insisted he was some sort of scary Communist.

As of 2015 the south wall of the building was home to a simple blue sky design instead.

He is Watching

Here's another mural in the vicinity of NE 15th & Burnside, which I happened to notice while looking for Metal Mole Movement and a couple of others I haven't posted yet. This one's on a pair of doors facing 15th, is signed "GTM", and bears the words "He is Watching". That's all I know about this one. It's located right between a couple of Ashley Montague murals (i.e. the ones I haven't posted about yet), and it looks kind of, how should I put it, 8th-grade-art-class in comparison. But I figured I might as well take some photos of it since I was in the area anyway, and here they are. Enjoy!

Metal Mole Movement

The next stop on the mural tour is on SE 15th, just south of Burnside, where a large mural lurks down an alley/driveway between two houses, on the back of a commercial building. Wiredforsound23 on Flickr calls this "Metal Mole Movement" (whatever that is) and notes it's by local artist Klutch, who did a couple of other murals I've covered here, including the huge one at Buckman Field.

Watershed mural, N. Lombard & Charleston

Next up on the continuing mural tour is a small design on an empty building at N. Lombard & Charleston, which I happened to notice while looking for the Peninsula Station mural across the street. The building housed the Weir's Cyclery bike shop for a number of years; you can sort of make out the mural in the photos of an April 2007 Waymarking page about the store. That's all I know about this one, I'm afraid. Well, that and the fact that it might not be around for much longer. A St. Johns Review issue from last July talks about a proposed 4 story upscale apartment complex to be built on this spot. Because it's mid-2010's Portland and that's what always happens. I think the idea is to build as many upscale goodies as possible as quickly as we can, to cash in before our media-driven hipness bubble bursts.

Taqueria y Panaderia Santa Cruz mural, St. Johns

Next mural we're looking at is in St. Johns again, this time outside Taqueria y Panaderia Santa Cruz at N. Lombard & Alta. The mural's by Portland artist Senén Angón, who was the subject of an interesting Oregonian profile back in 2007. I also ran across a 2009 Walla Walla Union Bulletin article about a mural he did there, for another Mexican restaurant.

We ♥︎ St. Johns mural

Next stop for the ongoing mural project is the We ♥︎ St. Johns mural outside the Tulip Pastry Shop on N. Lombard, literally right next door to the Peninsula Station mural we looked at yesterday. No luck searching the interwebs about this one, so this is going to be a rather short post.

Incidentally, I had a bit of trouble adding the heart to the title of this post, since a lot of fonts (OSX Futura among them) don't include a full set of emoji. So technically what you see here is a playing card heart and not an I-wuv-this heart, since the Unicode committee insists they have to be separate characters, and fonts are more likely to contain the playing card one, I think because it's been a defined character for a lot longer.

24 Hour Fitness mural, Pearl District

Next up we're checking out the murals outside the Pearl District's 24 Hour Fitness at NW 12th & Johnson, in which a bunch of handlebar-mustached Victorian gentlemen show off their boxing and weightlifting skills. The artist also co-created the Roseway neighborhood's Neighborhood in Motion mural at NE 72nd, Sandy, & Fremont.

People's History of Hawthorne

Next up on the continuing mural tour is People's History of Hawthorne, on the Eagles lodge at SE 49th & Hawthorne. Regular readers with good memories might recall the similarly-named People's Bike Library of Portland on W. Burnside; you probably can't go wrong with an obvious Howard Zinn reference here in Portland. Anyway, here's the RACC description:

“The History of Hawthorne”—or “the peoples’ history”—is a direct dedication to the surrounding neighborhood and community, showing not only the “known” history, but the personal mythos, characters (past and present, alive and dead) who have shaped SE Portland and this core region. This part of Portland is known for great neighborhoods, food, bars, churches, houses, parks, retail, and a general place to “hang out.” Hawthorne is a busy community all year round. Artist Chris Haberman wanted to show Hawthorne’s history and vibrancy, from hipster to hippy, from early farmer to brewmaster, and from homeless to home owner. During this exploration he canvassed the neighborhood, talking with dozens of citizens. Haberman sought to embody an “oral” tradition by weaving these stories and experiences into the history of the Hawthorne neighborhood.

For some reason this design makes me think "Dr. Bronner's soap label", even though the two things actually look nothing alike. Maybe it's the jumble of disordered words along the top, I'm not really sure. In any event, it was painted in 2012-13 by Chris Haberman, who also did the much smaller mural at O'Malleys, a bar at SE 66th & Foster.

Peninsula Station mural

The ongoing mural tour visits St. Johns again, for a peek at the Peninsula Station mural at N. Lombard & Charleston, outside the shipping & printing shop of the same name. The RACC description:

The Peninsula Station mural is a colorful celebration of life in the St. Johns neighborhood. It commemorates residents, both young and old, doing what makes St. Johns great—talking, playing, laughing, eating, dancing, cycling, and being with one another.

This was created in 2010 by Bruce Orr, who also did the Scrap Mural on Williams Avenue.

Women Making History in Portland

Women Making History in Portland at N. Interstate Avenue & Harding St., not far from the Widmer brewery. The RACC blurb about it:

In Other Words Women’s Books and Resources were the organizers of this mural. The mural represents a women’s history of Portland, and was made to promote the mission of empowering women through art and education. The mural portrays women from all walks of life within the Portland community.

Links:
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ShNOxn-TqY

This was created in 2007 by Robin Corbo, who also did the mural at the Community Cycling Center on NE Alberta, and the large BARK Mural on SE Powell, among other things. She posted a Facebook photoset about the mural, with brief bios for many of the women depicted here.

Albina Yard mural

Next stop on our continuing mural tour is the gigantic Albina Yard Maintenance Building Mural, on the eponymous building on Mississippi Avenue near the Interstate 5 underpass. It's another of the "history of this neighborhood" murals that Portland loves so much, and it has a rather wordy RACC description:

The west side of the Albina Maintenance Building features a mural embracing a theme of “perpetual collaboration” similar to a Rube Goldberg machine in city scale and through time. Community practices and industries that affected the local Portland-Albina neighborhood over the last several eras represent the mechanical components of the city-Goldberg-machine. The driving force behind this mural was the community engagement where the nearby communities and maintenance workers contributed their voices to develop the mural.

As the Maintenance building tapers out of the hillside, from left to right the image shows our Native American landscape migrating into historic Oregonian industries of lumber, railroad, and steel, moving into representations of the diversity of people and activities characteristic of Portland. Throughout the image are several series of local mountains, bridges, gardens, parks, icons of communities, and city workers behind the scenes to keep the city-Goldberg-machine functioning. Included are symbols of the neighborhoods’ transitions of communities from the Native American, Volga Germans, Finnish, Chinese, and African American. Out of the neighborhood flows a procession of all communities, some are playing instruments, creating a lively jazz display in the foreground. As the maintenance building’s height rises vertically the mural shows a culmination of the community united in celebration, incorporating elements of diversity throughout the image.

Links:
Article: http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2012/07/albina_yard_maintenance_buildi.html

In the interest of historical accuracy, I just have to point out that a lot of these transitions (like, say, Native American tribes to pioneers, or from an African-American neighborhood to upscale white hipster playland) were rather less happy and orderly than the mural indicates. I mean, we all know this already, yes? But I still feel like I can't let this pass unremarked-upon.

All That Is Gold

The next stop on the mural tour takes us to NE 33rd & Sandy, where All That Is Gold is hidden down a gated alley next to the Laurelhurst Studios building. The mural was created in 2014 by Gage Hamilton and Zach Yarrington, whose names you might recognize from innumerable Forest For The Trees murals over the last few years.

The title's painted up toward the top of the building and is hard to see from street level; I'm not sure where it's meant to be viewed from. The iceberg theme around the alley entrance made me think the title said "Cold" rather than "Gold". Luckily I ran across some photos and making-of videos that cleared this up before I hit Publish. That would have been sort of embarrassing. Not as bad as the New York Times spinning lurid tales of Iraqi WMDs that, um, never existed, but embarrassing by this humble blog's usual standards.

Fight for Your Dreams

Next mural up is Fight for Your Dreams, created by artist Maryanna Hoggatt for the 2014 Forest for the Trees event. It's located out at NE 59th & Sandy, on the side of BTU Brasserie, a newish brewpub/Chinese place I haven't gotten around to trying yet.

Share the Road

Next mural up is Share the Road, a mural about bikes on the side of an auto shop at SE 43rd & Hawthorne. It has a brief RACC description:

The mural graphically registers the pulse of a neighborhood in motion and integrates the auto into the grander scheme of alternative transportation, environmental sustainability, and the need for harmonious safe traffic through an urban neighborhood.

This was painted in 2006 by artist Sara Stout, and was the subject of (at least) three BikePortland posts as well as (at least) one at Portland Transport, because bikes.

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.

2015 in Instagram cat photos

#Caturday #CatsOfInstagram

A photo posted by brx0 (@brx0) on Jan 24, 2015 at 12:20pm PST

So there's a year-end tradition here (by which I mean the last couple of years) in which the year's final post is just a batch of Instagram cat photos from the previous 12 months. I figured I'd go ahead and do that again for 2015, since people never really get tired of cute cat photos. Incidentally, this post also brings me up to 186 posts for the year, which isn't a lot by recent standards, but it moves 2015 into an exact tie with 2012 and 2009. Apparently this is pattern that repeats every third year, for whatever reason. *shrugs* Anyway, Happy New Year!

#CatsOfInstagram #caturday #cat #neko

A photo posted by brx0 (@brx0) on Feb 21, 2015 at 8:43pm PST

Friday... #CatsOfInstagram

A photo posted by brx0 (@brx0) on Jun 5, 2015 at 8:39am PDT

Sunshine #catwednesday #CatsOfInstagram

A photo posted by brx0 (@brx0) on Jun 10, 2015 at 8:51am PDT

Lazy #Caturday... #CatsOfInstagram #catsofportland

A photo posted by brx0 (@brx0) on Sep 26, 2015 at 8:57am PDT

Mid-yawn #cat #neko #CatsOfInstagram

A photo posted by brx0 (@brx0) on Oct 1, 2015 at 11:39pm PDT

#NationalCatDay

A photo posted by brx0 (@brx0) on Oct 29, 2015 at 2:07pm PDT

Compass Junction

The next painted intersection we're visiting is "Compass Junction", in St. Johns at N. Edison & St. Louis. This one was first painted in 2011; a recent City Repair project guide describes it:

Compass Junction, three berry-lined blocks from Cathedral Park, was first painted in 2009. Our Mariner's Mandala is a navigational aid, directing our gaze outward from the central compass to an Escher-like outer ring from which we see the Baltimore Woods Connectivity Corridor, the sparkling river that separates us from Forest Park, the titanic vessels that ply the working waters of the Willamette's North Reach, and the iconic green gothic arches of our beloved St. Johns Bridge, from which we can glimpse downtown, Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens on a clear day. This is The Crossroads.

We are on the Edge of Everything, and the edge is where the action is. Come look through our special window on the world for the day!

That description really captures why I have a soft spot for the whole painted intersection phenomenon. I'm an inveterate cynic (in case you hadn't noticed already), but there's a sense of goofy unironic optimism about the whole business that I just can't bring myself to sneer at; it would be like sneering at a box of puppies or something.

Jarrett Grove

Next up on the painted intersection tour is "Jarrett Grove", at NE 28th & Jarrett. Like a number of the others I'm posting today, this is a recent one, first painted in summer 2015. The project description:

The Jarrett Grove intersection painting is the first of many natural building projects planned by the neighborhood. The community named the project Jarrett Grove as it is a celebration to pay homage to the amazing Douglas Fir trees, among many other evergreens, that fill the neighborhood. The trees are pointed in four different directions with faith houses at each base. The trees all stem from the same potent, lovely, and sacred geometry.

I'm no expert on "sacred geometry", but this design does look kind of familiar, as if we've seen a very similar design at some other intersection. I can't put my finger on which one, but it definitely rings a bell. In an early post in this series, I offered a few free ideas for intersection paintings, and I'd just like to toss them back out there for anyone who's got a city permit but needs a design. It's been almost 2 years and as far as I know nobody's used any of them so far, so you -- yes, you -- could be the first:

It's a shame there's nowhere to put one in my downtown neighborhood. All the streets around here are way too busy, and most of them have MAX or streetcar tracks running through them. It's a shame because I think I'd be pretty good at brainstorming designs. The moon, maybe, or a giant octopus, or a Deep Space Nine wormhole, or Pac-Man, or a crop circle, or maybe a Sarlacc pit, or a surreal Escher design to confuse passing motorists. Some of these might be a bit tough for amateur street painters to pull off in a weekend, though, and others might have trademark issues. Feel free to swipe any of these notions for your local intersection if you like though.

Rainbow Dragon

The next painted intersection on our tour is the Rainbow Dragon at NE 32nd & Sumner. This is another new one, first painted in summer 2015. The brief project description:

Dragons symbolize strength in many cultures. Slide down the Rainbow Dragon and feel the force of neighborhood community. Rainbow Dragon honors the strength of our friend and neighbor, Brook Irwin, who lost a five-year battle to cancer. Rainbow Dragon infuses a playfulness into the intersection. Forget the crosswalk, just skip across the street on the stepping stones and admire the brook below.

The design kind of takes me back to junior high in the early 1980s, when roughly half of all school supplies were plastered with some combination of rainbows, unicorns, and dragons. I say half because anything with a rainbow was strictly a girls' item for whatever reason, and I recall a lot of my school supplies having an epic space battle theme instead. I didn't mind that at the time, but in retrospect it's weird that I missed out on a lot of dragons because of a few rainbows and the anxieties of a strange decade.