A p ril 15. 2009
Page A2
Lost Era of Portland Soul Recreated
Artist brings back House of Sound
by J ake T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
T im es are changing n o rth
east Portland.
Property values have e sca
lated. B u sin esses have gone
out o f business. Longtim e resi
dents have moved. Institutions
that helped define the com m u
nity have disappeared.
T he H ouse o f S o und w as
one o f these social outlets. The
record store at North W illiams
Avenue and Beech Street was
one o f the few places that ca
tered to custom ers looking for
soul music during the 1970s.
T he store served as a social
hub for people looking to drop
some o f their pay checks on the
latest Ray Charles or Chi Lites
record, or find som e sm ooth
tunes to play for a hot date.
B lack s and w h ite s sh o p p e d
there and could count on whom
ever was w orking the counter
to give them good recom m en
dations.
E v e n a f te r th e b u ild in g
clo sed its doors m any y ears
a g o , th e ic o n ic s ig n th a t
a d o r n e d its e n t r a n c e r e
m ained, and w as an o b ject o f
fasc in atio n fo r many.
An art installation at the New
A m erican Art Union at 922 SE
A nkeny Street, seeks to recre
a te th is c h u n k o f P o rtla n d
thought to be long lost.
V a n e ssa R e n w ic k 's "T h e
House o f S ound” exhibit is un
c o lo r o f an old o ran g e, sits a
g lass co ffee table w ith soul
reco rd s scattered on top. T he
e n tire in sta lla tio n w ith tw o
co u ch es and a reco rd p lay er
is bath ed in o ran g e-red lam ps
that look they cam e from your
g ran d m o th er's house. You a l
m ost expect the ghost o f Isaac-
H ay es to m a teria liz e at any
The neighborhood is changing
so rapidly that I wanted to honor
what is there, and point out what
we're losing and what this change
is brining about.
-VanessaRenwick
like o th e r art ex h ib itio n s. It
doesn't ju s, show im ages, but
attem pts to create the feel and
atm osphere o f 1970s Portland.
T h e sig n th a t is u se d to
g re e t c u s to m e rs is th e first
thing visito rs see, and a sm all
field o f can d les lit in tribute
are sc attered in front o f it. On
top o f a ro u n d shag rug, the
moment.
The exhibit plays a black and
w hite video o f the vacant and
m uddy lot where the House o f
Sound used to be, w hile an in
terview o f form er em ployees in
the background.
"The neighborhood is chang
ing so rapidly that I w anted to
honor w hat is there, and point
Portland artist Vanessa Renwick recreates the old “House o f Sound” soul music store in
an unusual art exhibit at the New American Art Union building at 922 S.E. Ankeny St.
The original House of Sound signage was saved when the building on North Willialms
was demolished.
out w hat w e're losing and what
this change is brining about,"
said Rertwick o f w hy she un
dertook the project.
The House o f Sound build
ing was razed earlier this year.
At the time, Renw ick had an art
exhibit coming up and was look
ing for ideas. W hen she found
out about the building's dem o
lition she got on the internet and
fo u n d th e o w n e r, w h o w as
happy to pass the sign along
to her.
R e n w ic k g o t M is s is s ip p i
Records to loan her the record
player and vinyl records, some
o f w h ich w ere u sed rec o rd s
from the H ouse o f Sound.
"All these different elem ents
cam e together to m ake it hap
pen," she said.
T h e free exhibit runs until
Sunday, April 19.
Jobless at Record High
(AP) - O regon's jobless rate
has taken a dram atic jum p, to
12.1 percent — a rate seen only
once before since the years af
ter World War II.
T he state E m ploym ent D e
partm ent says the M arch jo b
less figure m atches that o f N o
vem ber 1982, w hich w as the
high point o f the recession o f
the early 1980s.
T he d ep a rtm en t said M o n
d ay th e s ta tis tic s a re n 't e x
actly co m p arab le , but it a p
p ears that 12.1 p ercen t is the
h ig h e st u n e m p lo y m e n t rate
the state has rec o rd e d sin ce
th e d e p a r tm e n t f irs , b e g a n
p u b lis h in g th e s ta tis tic s in
1947.
T he state's jo b le ss rate has
risen for 14 months in a row. The
increases averaged a p ercent
age point per m onth over the
last five months.
L as, m onth's rate w as 10.7
percent.
Jeff Celebrates 100 Years
A cclaim ed as "the w o rld ’s
largest high school” during its
g ro u n d -b reak in g cerem o n y a
ce n tu ry ag o , Je fferso n H igh
School is celebrating its 100th
year with a Fun Run on Satur
day, April 25.
“We are looking for hundreds
o f people to take par, in this
event,” according to Jefferson
Alumni Chairman and Race Di
rector, M aggie Brister-Mashia,
Ask your outlets
to open up and
say A A H H H H .
class of 1980. The run/walkathon pledges. Even, T-shirts will be
will star, at 8:15 a.m. at the north provided to each official entry.
Entry forms are available at the
Portland school with closing cer
e m o n ie s a, th e h ig h sch o o l Jefferson High School Alumni
O ffic e o r by v is itin g th e
scheduled for 11 a.m.
or
Six divisions will participate, je ff a lu m .c o m
ranging in age from 5 to 9 and to jeffersoncentennial.com .
The centennial celebration will
75-plus. Awards will be given out
to the top three participants in conclude with a golf scramble,
dinner-auction, cam pus activi
each category.
Participants are asked to make ties, and all-class reunions on the
a d o n a tio n o r to ro u n d up weekend of May 28-30.
Spiffin’ up Martin Luther King Blvd.
T he N orth /N o rth eas, B usi
ness A sso ciatio n and SOLV,
with the support o f sponsors,
o rg an izatio n s and businesses
on M artin L uther King Jr. Bou
levard, are organizing a com m u
nity clean-up even, on S atur
day, April 18.
By picking up trash, clean
ing graffiti and rem oving street
debris, the volunteers will pro
vide a public dem onstration o f
the pride felt for this avenue
w here people work, shop, eat,
and live.
T he v o lu n te ers w ill re g is
ter and have free co ffee and
p astries at F rien d s o f T rees,
3117 N.E. M artin L uther King
Jr. B lvd., startin g at 8 :30 a.m .
Church
Hosts Spring
Musical
G IV E Y O U R H O M E A N E N E R G Y E F F IC IE N C Y
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PACIFIC TO W E R
Let’s turn the answers on.
A t 12 p .m ., they w ill w rap up
an d h e a d b ack fo r a ‘th a n k
y o u ’ lunch and bag o f c o u
pons and d raw in g s.
In terested p articip an ts can
also register online a, solv.org
or call SOLV at 5 0 3-844-9571.
T he v o lu n te ers are ask ed to
bring broom s and rakes with
them to the
"Hope for Today, Eternity for Tomorrow"
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