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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 16, 2007)
www.portlandobservcr.com Committed to Cultural Diversity P o litic a lly M etro A c tiv e H ip H o p Dead Prez raps for a reason 'jportlatth (íí)hscruer o m m u n ity a le n d a r Unity in Praise Saturday, May 19, at 6 p.m., Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, 5935 N. Min nesota, invites the community to a free night of praise featuring many local guests. Call 503-289-3665, for more infor mation. SECTION Art Hop Focus: Community Philem on R eid, w hose p aintings, draw ings and prints interpret the A f rican A merican jazz culture. His work will be shown in a dozen or more locations this weekend through this m onth's Last Thursday art walk. Everyone is invited to join the Art Hop Parade Saturday, scheduled for 2:30 p.m.- You can dress up your dog, child, bike or yourself; decorate a float, your car, a wagon or w heelbar row. You can carry a banner, streamer or advertise your business; or bring your music- a band, drum s or other musical instrum ent to m ake some noise. Be it bands, strolling performers, impromptu street performance, sky- high b icycles, neighborhood kids hawking hot dogs, or the hundreds of artists displaying and selling theirow n creations street side, there is some thing to delight anyone open to "the surprise o f art." As street elder Allan O liver o f Onda Gallery puts it: "Art has a transcen dent kind o f power. It adds an aspect that is very important to the emotional and spiritual quality o f our lives and to the com m unity in which we live." * ■ -1 Youth Summer Sports July 5 through July 27, the annual summer youth sports program held at PSU cam pus, providing low-income youths ages 10-16, with sports instruction, field trips, a free medical exam and two free meals daily. Registration is open now. Visit palkids.org. Interstate Farmers Market A farmers market is held each Wednes-- day through Sept. 26 from 3 - 7 p.m. just off Interstate Avenue between Overlook Park and the Interstate Kaiser Permanente Campus The market is known for its va riety of quality fresh local produce, baked goods, cut flowers, artisan cheese, meat and fish. ‘Our Violent Sun' On the second Monday of each month through August, at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., the M HCC Planetarium Sky Theater explores the unpredictable behavior and flame like geysers of our violent sun. Admis sion is $ l. Metro Start Heart Walk Saturday, May 19, the American Heart Association 'Heart W alk’ festival will take place at the Vera Katz Eastbank Esplanade, Southeast Water Avenue and Main Street, opening ceremonies at 9:45 a.m. To register, visit pdxheartwalk.org. Seeking the Horizon Luau Saturday, May 19, the PSU Pacific Is lander Club will host the annual luau at the Peter Scott Center, Southwest 10th Avenue and Hall Street. Doors open at 5 p.m. Tickets available now at the PSU box office. Basketball Classic Saturday, May 26, at SEI, 3920 N. Kerby, you invited to encourage and support high school athletes compete in the Port land Interscholastic League Basketball Classic. Doors open at 2:30 p.m. with tip- off at 3 p.m. Proceeds to benefit the Joyce Washington Memorial Scholarship Fund. Call Mark Washington at 503-288-0033 for more information. Cockpit Day Saturday, May 19, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Pearson Air Museum, 1115 E. Fifth Street, invites the public to explore vin tage aircrafts; free plane rides are avail able for children ages 8-17 years old from 10a.m. to 3 p.m. Contact 360-694-7026 for ticketing information. International Night Friday, May 18, from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., Portland State University, host this 31st annual event celebrating the student di versity at PSU. The event will be held in the Smith Memorial Student Union caf eteria, 1825 S.W. Broadway. Call 503-725- 4094orvisitois@ pdx.edu for more infor mation and ticketing. Learning Improvement Saturday, May 19, from 10:30 a.m. to noon, the Celebration Tabernacle, 8131 N. Denver, host the free informational presentation to improve learning skills for all ages. Contact 503-286-1668 tor more information. Staying Healthy Tuesday, May 22, Tuesday, June 5, and W ednesday. June 6, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., the North East Health Center, 5329 N.E. MLK Blvd., will host the forum discuss ing issues of men and young m en's health. A gift card will be given to all males attending. Call 503-988-3387, extension 22242 for more information. Community Support The African American Health Coalition, a non-profit that touches the lives of m illionsof African Americans each year, reminds you to support your community organization. All donations, grants, and gifts are tax deductible. For more informa tion, visit aahc-portland.org. Ceramics Pottery Sale Tuesday, May 29 through Thursday. May 3 1. the PCC Rock Creek cam pus, 17705 N. W. Springville Rd., the ceram ics guild will hold its sem i-annual pot tery sale in the art gallery and atrium in Building 3. communitv servic e See story in Arts & Entertainment, inside Saturday’s celebration brings people together The A lberta Art Hop and parade will take place on Saturday, May 19 with the goal o f creating com m unity through the pow er o f the arts. The eight annual event is an invita tion for people to com e together to create art together w hether as audi ence or participant. It is a day long celebration o f the arts with special events scheduled from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m . This creative-cultural arts festival is put on by the street's local business ow ners and artists, coordinated by Art on Alberta. Each year the festival is guided by a theme. This year's them e is "Eyes on A lberta—The G reat Aha!" A rtists and residents will dem on strate, using various original art form s from visual arts to fashion, what the A lberta arts district m eans as a com munity. The festival them e will throw a spotlight on w hat's new and special, what lights up our eyes and our im agi nations. The “All A lberta A rtist” this year is Philemon R eid will show his paintings, drawings and prints on African Am erican ja zz culture at locations up an d down N ortheast Alberta S tre e t during Saturday's Art Hop. R eid is the “All Alberta Artist" for this ye a r's celebration. Young Artists Honor Unsung Heroes As they explore identity, race and gentrification by N icole R onal H ooper T he P ortland O bserver Artist Kathe Sw aback moved to Portland in 2002 and opened Art Up on Northeast 16th and Alberta Street. Like many others who m oved here recently, she had no idea o f the historic contributions that A frican-A m ericans made to her neighborhood. But what Swaback did know was that she d id n 't want to be another white person m oving on A lberta and not doing anything for the A frican-A m erican com m u nity. This year, as a part of Saturday’s annual Art Hop celebration, she along with 12 young women aged 12-17 will showcase Project Look Up featuring 80-inch oil portraits honoring 10 women of color. In exploring them es o f identity, racism and gentrification, the young artists discovered and utilized their own strengths, goals and dreams of their future in creating these portraits. The Regional Arts and Culture Council awarded a grant for the exhibit. The goal was not only to teach art but honor local African Americans who have blazed new trails and made a positive difference in Portland. Like Swaback, and perhaps the young artists them selves, many local residents regardless of color may not know the local history and how African-American women have contributed. “One of my passions is working with teens and I just tried to put it all together," said Swaback. “If kids don't have people in their lives that they can look up to, they w on't be able to achieved their dreams,” she said, "They need more than celebrities and reality TV people for role Oil portraits honoring 1 0 w om en o f color are going on display beginning baturoay ounng m e n i u e n c Art Hop celebration at Art Up stu d io s. 1 6 1 4 N.E. Alberta St. The creators include Trisha Taylor (far left) who is honoring Maya Angelou; S a d e ' B ea sley (top. center) who is honoring Elizabeth Catlett and Beatrice Cannady; and Tricia Knope (center, bottom ) who is honoring Roslyn Hill. models.” The components for the project came together when Swaback became familiar with Rosalyn Hill. Hillis a black woman and a fixture in the Alberta and northeast community who owns several properties, a successful woman by any means. continued on pane II2 Jefferson Grad Earns Doctorate from Harvard Will use her expertise to teach teachers F ifte e n y ears ago, D yan Watson graduated with highest honors from Thomas Jefferson High School. Jefferson has been given a bum wrap over the years as it struggles to maintain educational standards and meet enrollment goals. De- r — “ I Dyan W atson ............— S ; spile its battle to reclaim its good was already an adult when their name, the school serving north parents divorced. The family 1 and northeast P ortland, has relocated to O regon to start her bachelor s, master te a c h in g c e rtific a te Willamette University in S graduated brilliant minds that afresh and Dyan landed in contribute to our community and Vernon Elementary in northeast Watson was true to hi glory and graduated cum ,« our society as a u hole. One ol Portland and then Binnsmead Upon graduation, she too
