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10 JULY 2 2010
NORTHWEST NEWS
Brian Marki Fine Art
Z“ " ,
2236 NE Broadway | Portland, OR 97232
Out with the O ld.
landscape
M en s W e llness C e n te r b e c o m e s P ivot,
re -b ra n d in g b illb o a rd s ra ise e y e b ro w s
B Y R Y A N J. P R A D O
Michael Victor Jackson
Scott Gellatly
July 1 - August 15
Mitchell Albala
Reception: Friday, July 2, 5-8pm
When you live at Terwilliger Plaza,
art and culture are all around you.
Portland's vibrant entertainment
district is just a few blocks away.
Museums, concert halls and galleries
are right in the neighborhood or just
a short ride by streetcar. Fill your life
with culture and enjoy all the other
benefits of living at Terwilliger Plaza.
terwilligerplaza.com
800.875.4211
503.299.4716
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The following is a fictional reenactment: a
woman drives her sport utility vehicle down
North Lombard Street on a sun-teased week
day errand, her children in tow, her eyes scan
ning the roadway for signals, stop signs and
the cosmic whims o f other drivers. In her pe
riphery, as she nears Gilbert Avenue, she sees
a bright new billboard with the words “Pivot.
Have a coffee. Have a chat. Make a connec
tion.”— as well as an address and a website
URL. H er nano-second perusal o f the infor
mation leads her eye to the top border o f the
billboard, which features the lower halves o f
mens faces, side-by-side, expressionless, until
one frame captures two men sharing a kiss.
The woman immediately pulls her car over,
calls the offices o f Portland’s city government,
and the re-branding o f the former M ens Well
ness Center to Pivot becomes a less perfectly
seamless switch than was anticipated.
Try telling that to Michael Kaplan, ex
ecutive director o f Cascade A ID S Project.
Despite a few complaints about Pivot’s bill
boards— either directly to C A P or via word
o f m outh—what ought to be discussed is the
successful re-imaging o f one o f Portland’s best
resources for men who have sex with men.
The M en’s Wellness Center (M W C ) was
launched in 2006 by CAP, recognizing that
today in Oregon, 75 percent o f all new H IV
infections are still among men who have sex
with men. The program provides a safe gath
ering space for men into men and accents
that basic function by providing important
resources, information, H IV testing and
numerous sub-programs designed to edu
cate and entertain gay and bisexual men. If
C A P were going to make a difference in the
epidemic, they needed a program and a place
that was “specific and culturally com petent”
for working with gay and bisexual men who
“Pivot ca p tu re d w hat
we were a b o u t-a b o u t
a point around w hich
c h a n g e is m ode, be
it in health, in the HIV
e p id e m ic, in com m unity
norms or in individuals."
MICHAEL KAPLAN.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF
CASCADE AIDS PROJECT
have sex with men, said Kaplan.
Kaplan hadn’t yet taken the reigns at CAP
when this decision was made, and while the
name “M en’s Wellness Center” worked in some
respects, it fell short o f the mark in others.
“It was a little bit clinical feeling, and it
was a little less hip,” explained Kaplan. “It just
wasn’t easy for branding.”
“There were so many misconceptions in
the community about w hat the M en’s W ell
ness C enter was,” said Brad Forkner, Pivot’s
coordinator. “People thought we only did
testing, [or] only worked with folks who are
H IV positive. Many guys did not realize CA P
as an agency was broader than M W C , and
lots o f marketing folks [thought] we were a
gym, spa or alternative medicine place.”
It was clear to Forkner, Kaplan and Pivot
Manager Michael LaClaire that a change was
needed— a name that spoke to what the space
was about, without involuntarily excluding
those who used the space when M W C events
weren’t scheduled. Teaming up with Portland
branding agency RAIN yielded “Pivot.”
“Pivot captured what we were about—about
a point around which change is made, be it in
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