The public art process is dynamic and often reveals the significance of place and community.

Public art is not only an object or image in public space. It’s ultimately a process that requires coordinating the realities, opportunities, and challenges unique to communities. From a work’s conceptualization, to fabrication, and eventual installation, the process involved in public art often involves harmonizing many factors–from interests and expectations to tastes and policies–in order to produce the object or image seen out in public.  For the Public Art department at the Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC), the entire process has largely two components amid the broader effort of enriching communities through arts and culture.

The public art process highlights the relevance and context of “place,” be it abstract or concrete. Place can be considered not only an object or physical location, but also a way of seeing. The significance and history of a specific place can also be the inspiration behind a public artwork.

The emphasis on community is present as well. This part of the process is participatory and collaborative, where community members, rooted in place, experience, or common ground, ultimately contribute perspectives, experiences, and knowledge, and share decision-making in the public art design process.

Both “place” and “community” are elements that provide value to the work itself and the overall cultural and physical landscape in which the art is installed. Several recent and upcoming projects demonstrate the various dimensions of public art:

Artist Sabina Zeba Haque’s yearlong residency at the Portland Archives and Records Center (PARC) culminates in work that focuses on the annex and growth of East Portland’s incredibly diverse population. Haque will collaborate with neighborhood residents and PARC to examine the history of place as a marker of exclusion and inclusion over the past thirty-five years. She will weave a portrait of inclusive civic identity through hand-drawn animation, video projections, poster installations, and theater performance. Entitled “Annexation & Assimilation: exploring the archive east of 82 ave”, a one-night exhibition event will take place on October 21, from 6-9pm, at the APANO/JADE Multicultural space at 82^nd and Division and include large-scale video projections, poster installations, performance and oral histories. On November 17th, Haque will present an artist talk at 7pm and a second viewing of the projections from 6-8pm at APANO. Both events are free and open to the public.

The Awareness & Prevention Through Art (aptArt) Paint Outside the Lines campaign, is a multi-wall mural project, partially funded through the Public Art Murals Program, where transglobal artists are engaging with marginalized groups in the Portland community through P:ear and IRCO’s RISE program (Refugee & Immigrant Student Empowerment) at David Douglas High School. Since its founding six years ago, AptArt has facilitated workshops and collaborative murals with communities living in conflict-affected areas, including Mozambique, Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria and Jordan.  Portland is the first U.S. city to be a part of this effort. Artists Kevin Ledo, Ernesto Maranje, and Ruben Sanchez are painting murals at four sites in Downtown Portland and the Central Eastside Industrial District. The project will extend into spring 2017, but two murals will be completed in October 2016. (Read Portland Tribune article, Eastside Mural Aims to Claw Out Conflict, 10/11/16)

Kevin Ledo’s mural in progress as part of “Paint Outside the Lines Portland” project on SW 2nd and Stark.

Artist Nick Goettling was selected to create two related murals on retaining walls in Portland’s Powellhurst Neighborhood, on both sides of the street between SE 136th and Mitchell. The mural design was inspired by the research and input of various neighborhood and community groups. Using a simple palette of blue, red, gray and white, the east wall depicts a montage of various images of local or historical significance strategically placed within an aerial map of the neighborhood. The west wall features the name of the neighborhood – Powellhurst Gilbert. In both murals, small pink hearts will be included to honor the life of a five-year-old girl who was struck and killed near the site several years ago. Nearly twenty neighborhood volunteers worked with the artist to complete the project by the end of September 2016 and a community celebration is in the works.

The Black Williams Project, led by artists Cleo Davis and Kayin Talton Davis, acknowledges the complex and changing history of Williams Avenue and its impact on Portland’s African American community. Contrary to recent times, North Williams/Albina was home to the City’s largest African American community for most of the 20th century. The artists have gathered stories and perspectives from the existing African American community in connection to North Williams that will be depicted on 12” x 18” panels at approximately 30 locations along Williams, between NE Broadway and NE Killingsworth. The project is funded by the Portland Bureau of Transportation and administered by RACC.

Installation of public art for the recently reconstructed Sellwood Bridge has begun, and is projected to be completed by January 2017. Boston-based artist Mikyoung Kim’s installation, Stratum Project, consists of a series of 23 fourteen-foot-high sculptures, the design inspired by the power and beauty of the geological phenomena of the Willamette River Valley. The sculpture’s richly patinaed surfaces refer to the geological processes of this region. Upon completion, the artworks will line both sides of the street east of the bridge, ending at S.E. 6th Avenue and Tacoma Street. The project is funded by the Portland Bureau of Transportation Percent for Art and will be maintained by RACC.

A public art sculpture, titled River Guardian, will be installed on the South Waterfront Greenway near SW Curry Street. Pacific NW Native American artist Lillian Pitt, along with artist Mikkel Hilde have developed the concept to stand as tribute to the resilience and endurance of native peoples. The sculptural form draws inspiration from mythical images of shadow spirits found in petroglyphs and pictographs along the rock walls of the Columbia River. Made from recycled materials, the sculpture’s represents several themes, including: honoring native ancestors, respecting nature, healing, and sustainability. The sculpture is expected to be completed by late October 2016

Following the construction of an expanded wastewater station for the City at the intersection of Fanno Creek Trail and SW 86th, artists David Boekelheide and Christina Conant were selected to design and fabricate an outdoor sculpture. They have proposed an installation consisting of a series of curved weathered steel ribbons that weave along the east side of the Bureau of Environmental Services Pump Station property. Overlapping sections of the sculpture reference the topographical elevation lines of the Fanno Creek area. In collaboration with Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation, native edible species will be planted near the installation in reference to the native people of the Tualatin tribes and first agricultural settlers in the area.

Night Lights, a monthly public art event, begins its second year of urban intervention on Thursday, October 6. Every First Thursday through April 2017, local artists and art students will claim public space at NW Park Avenue at Glisan Street, broadcasting their digital media work on the north wall of the Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) offices after dark.  This fall, works by Renee Sills (October), Arlanna Gazca (November), and Portland Community College (December) will be on showcased.

Over 60 murals in 4 years.  Forest For the Trees returns to Portland with 7 new public art works.

North, South, East and West, for the last four years “Forest For the Trees” has been responsible for bringing domestic and international artists to Portland for the purpose of creating public art.  For this year’s installment, murals are being created by local artist Adam Friedman at the Maker House on North  Bryant Street (at right); Whole9 and Peach Momoko from Japan at Cider Riot on NE Couch; Local artist Jesse Hazelip at Hanoi Kitchen on NE Glisan; Colorado artist Molly Bounds, Alex Gardner (below) from California and Max McMaster from California at Disjecta on North Interstate; locals David Rice and Zach Yarington at The Redd on SE 7^th Avenue; Japanese artist Yoshi47 (below) and New York artist Nina Chanel Abney (below) at ADX on SE 11^th Avenue; and local painter and sculptor J. Shea at the Portland International Airport Terminal A.

The non-profit festival started in 2013 with the idea of bringing artists from around the world to Portland in order to create public art that would enhance and educate the local community. Forest For the Trees is organized by artist Gage Hamilton, Hellion Gallery owner Matt Wagner and event producer Tia Vanich. The mural festival’s name comes from the phrase “can’t see the forest for the trees,” which signifies the inability to understand the greater picture when you are too focused solely on what is in front of you. Forest For The Trees hopes to pull Portland’s residents away from their daily routines and provide them a moment of appreciation for the creativity that surrounds us in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.  RACC’s partnership with the festival has allowed the project to grow and continue to add to the city’s public art collection.

“Since the 2014 event, RACC has recognized the importance of this program bringing new art to the city’s landscape and supports FFTTNW with funding from the Public Art Murals Program,” says RACC public art manager Peggy Kendellen. “This year marks the first time that all of the murals created as part of the event have become part of the City of Portland’s public art collection. The considerable effort on the part of the curators continues to bring striking murals to the city’s evolving public art landscape while providing great opportunities for local artists, local business owners and neighborhoods to be part of this contemporary art landscape.”

This year’s mural festival brought artists from France, Japan and cities throughout the United States to Portland, where they created murals in neighborhoods across the city. In addition to the murals the festival hosted live performances, short film festival, and public art installations.  In the past the central city area was the focus of the festival. With return of this year’s festival, new outer areas of the city were added. Adam Friedman painted a wall at the Maker House on 1505 North Bryant Street in North Portland.

“I’m obsessed with mountains,” Adam explains. “I think a mountain is the ultimate symbol of the sublimity and power of nature. One of my favorite things about living in Portland is seeing Mt Hood on a clear day.”  His vibrantly colored depiction of Mt Hood faces the Max lines on North Interstate Avenue.

“Some days it looks close enough to reach out and touch,” Adam says. “Hood is such an icon of Portland, and Oregon in general. But as with anything, we can desensitized to something we see every day. By showing Hood in a new light the mural is meant to serve as an homage to our local beauty and a reminder of how lucky we are to live here.”

A new partnership this year is with Disjecta in North Portland.  Disjecta is a contemporary art center that  receives general operating support from RACC.  Besides hosting two of the Forest For the Trees live performances, the art center is the home to 3 new murals for this year’s festival. Artists Molly Bounds, Alex Gardner and Max McMaster have created something really special for the Kenton Neighborhood.

“There are people who do and people that wish they could do,” says Bounds, referring to the overall theme of the wall.  The pastel figurative mural is meant to inspire people to create.

Mural by Molly Bounds and Alex Gardner at Disjecta, N. Interstate.

On NE Glisan, artist Jesse Hazelip created a piece that reflects a cultural element to the neighborhood.  The piece features a pack of wolves and the phrase in Vietnamese that translates to “unity is strength.”  The artist states, “It’s about the oppressed coming together. I use the wolf as a metaphor for prisoners.  Humans are pack animals like the wolf.  When we are separated from our pack it takes a toll emotionally.”

Another first this year is a mural and sculpture installation from J. Shea at Portland International Airport.  The installation is inspired by the artist’s fascination of all things flight. J. Shea has created a whimsical flowing installation that features some of his favorite floating characters.  The installation is a mixture of a mural and a collection of mobile-like suspended sculptures.  The work opens the viewer up to a colorful world of flying vessels and drifting creatures that sift through the air while always keeping in mind a perfect balance of scale, shape and recycled details.

In the future, The Forest For the Trees mural festival will continue to explore contemporary public art.  This year’s expansion into live performance, short film films and multimedia installation signifies a continued effort to bring new and exciting creative projects to the city of Portland.  The curiosity of the organizers will foster these explorations into new media and innovative artists to add to our city’s community.

For more information and images of all completed murals, visit www.forestforthetreesnw.com.

Mural by Japanese artist Yoshi47 at ADX on SE 11th.

Mural by New York artist Nina Chanel Abney at ADX on SE 11th.