Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current, July 09, 2008, Page 3, Image 3

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    Page A3
Clu |J n r tk u tb © b s e ru e r
luly 9, 2008
Three Story
Sculpture
Unveiled
High up in the treetops, a metal falcon
is perched surveying its surroundings. Its
body is fashioned from horseshoes, a
hatchet, a screwdriver and other objects
donated by neighbors with a collective 80
years in the Boise neighborhood. Nearby,
a dragonfly and a beetle are nestled on
branches— both made from recycled ob­
jects with deep stories to tell.
Theseu 1 pturecom ing to the ReBuiIding
Center on M ississippi A vnue is called
Com m unity Trees and is scheduled for
unveiling on W ednesday, July 9 at 6 p.m.
as part a o f celebration including African
dance, poetry, and neighborhood stories
from long-tim e com m unity residents.
T he artw o rk fea tu re s tree tru n k s
sculpted from cob that are topped with
branches and leaves crafted from reclaimed
metal and household objects donated by
com munity members.
“W e wanted this to becom e a neighbor­
hood landmark visible to the public all
hours and seven days a w eek," said Shane
Endicott, executive director o f O ur United
Villages. “A place where people could
com e for generations, and point up and
show their children or grandchildren the
object they had donated and what it turned
into."
The trees are also a creative dem on stra-
tion o f reuse and sustainability, since nearly
all o f the com ponents com e from recycled
an d re c la im e d m e ta l o r in d u s tria l
byproducts.
"If I never made another sculpture again,
I'd be happy knowing that I worked on
these trees. I'm very excited at how they
turned out," says Mike Suri o f Suri Iron,
who created a total o f eight enormous
trees, com plete with hundreds of branches,
leaves, and blossoms.
T he trees reflect all four seasons.
S pring featu res hundreds o f w hite b lo s­
som s co m p o sed o f nail heads; the su m ­
m er and fall leaves, p ain ted various
shades o f green, oran g e, and red, were
created from industrial p u nch-outs; the
final trees on the rig h t— w in ter— sh o w ­
case the in tricate p atchw ork that form s
the bark and trunks.
And then there are the artifacts, also
created by Suri Iron, that were crafted from
donated com m unity objects.
“We started asking people last winter
to bring in an object with a story that they
would like to have as part o f the com m u­
nity sculpture," says Kate Erickson, co m ­
munity outreach organizer for Our United
Villages. "W e were am azed by the beauti­
ful, touching stories that people shared
with us.”
S cu lp to r M ike Suri (right), R o n n ie B oicourt (cen ter) o f Suri Iron, a n d a R eB uilding C e n te r v o lu n te e r co o rd in a te th e
in sta lla tio n o f a tree to p m a d e from re c la im e d m eta l.
Je ff G oebel donated three spoons in
"m em ory o f P atricia and C arl G oebel,
w orld travelers, authors, parents o f five,
and the heads in a great love sto ry ." The
w ings o f the bird w ere fashioned from a
Rosa Parks’ Belongings up for Auction
fon dress she wore for the cerem ony and
the photo o f her with the president.
There's a tattered schoolbook, "How to
Speak and W rite Correctly," that she kept
from her student days.
There's also a letter she wrote telling of
King's house being bombed on a night
she was with him at a meeting ju st a month
after the bus boycott began.
"We do not know what else is to follow
these previous events, but we are trust­
ing in God and praying for courage and
determ ination to withstand all attem p tso f
intimidation." Parks wrote in her clear,
flowing script.
Parks left nearly all o f her estate to the
Detroit-based Rosa and Raymond Parks
Institute for Self Development, which was
created to teach young people leadership
and character development. But her 13
nieces and nephews, which feuded for
years with the people she appointed to
handle her affairs, filed a legal challenge
to Parks' will six months after she died.
A settlement was eventually reached,
although terms o f the deal were sealed.
G uernsey's, w hich had inventoried Parks'
possessions, was asked by the court to
sell them.
Ettinger said (he proceeds from the
sale w ill be split between the institute and
Parks' relatives. There's no deadline for
the sale.
Collection could
earn $10 million
(AP) — Arlan Ettinger will never forget
the response he got when he took one o f
civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks' hats to a
m eeting at the Apollo T heater in New
York.
"It was a fairly plain-looking black hat.
And then I said it was Rosa Parks’. And
their mouths just opened up w ithout say­
ing a word and tears" flowed, Ettinger
said. "It was a very, very pow erful m o­
ment. You could see the impact this woman
has had on everyone."
A probate court judge in Detroit has
a s k e d E ttin g e r 's a u c tio n h o u se ,
G uernsey's, to find a buyer — preferably
a museum, university or other institution
— for thousands o f Parks' personal items.
Among them are her presidential and
congressional medals, a post card from
Martin Luther King Jr. and the hat Parks is
believed to have been wearing on Dec. 1,
1955. when she refused to give up her bus
seat to a white man. cem enting her spot in
civil rights history.
Ett i nger, whose Ne w Y ork-based com ­
pany has auctioned off items ranging from
the possessions o f Presidents John E.
Kennedy and Franklin Roosevelt to Jerry
G arcia's guitars, estim ates the Parks col-
Civil rights icon R o sa P a rks in 1 9 9 5 .
lection could be worth $10 million.
When it com es to the civil rights m ove­
ment. "Rosa Parks was its heart and soul,"
he said.
Parks, the diminutive woman whose ac­
tions sparked the yearlong Montgomery.
Ala., bus boycott and threats that eventu­
ally led her and her husband to Detroit, died
in 2(X)5 at age 92 with many of her most
treasured possessions still with her.
T here’s the Presidential Medal o f Free­
dom she was aw arded by President Bill
Clinton, along with the rose-colored chif­
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