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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 16, 2014)
®*t» July 16. 2014 Summer Jobs c o n tin u e d sportiani» (Observer Page 5 Celebrating Kirk Reeves A mural will pay tribute to popular bridge performer fr o m p a g e 2 W orksystem s, Inc. w hich is fi nanced in part by the U.S. D epart m ent o f Labor. T h e p ro g r a m e m p h a s iz e s underrepresented youth w ho face challenges like grow ing up in pov erty o r are at risk o f dropping out o f high school. “W e ’ve been able to grow this program at M ultnom ah C ounty since 2011 from 25 young m en and w om en to 125 this y ear,” says C o u n ty C o m m is sio n e r L o retta Smith. “This program w orks be cause it connects young people with quality jobs at good pay and provides the skills they need to m ake their lives better now and in the future.” The program w as form ed in re sponse to a persistent youth unem ployment problem in Oregon; 36,000 young people are both out o f school and out or w ork in the Portland- m etro area. Last year, only about 25 percent o f people aged 16 to 19 had a job. For young A frican-A m erican m ales, the figure w as a m ere 12 per cent. C o m m u ters going acro ss the H aw thorne B ridge in years past often got a glim pse o f K irk R eeves, playing his trum pet and perform ing m agic tricks; now the late P ortland staple will be m em orialized in paint. O ver the next tw o weeks, Portland artist Gwenn Seem el will be w orking on a m ural-sized portrait o f R eeves w ho passed aw ay in N o v em b er 2012. T he 10 by 30 foot m ural w ill show R eeves in his tradem ark w hite tux, black sparkly sw eater, his trum pet and red sequined hat. T he back ground w ill be the m usical score fo r the first few bars o f “ Som ew here O v er the R ain b o w ,” a song A 2007 portrait of street performer Kirk Reeves by Gwenn Seemel. The trademark style of Seemel's work will be part of a new mural o f the late musician being painted on the wall o f a building at Northeast Grand and Lloyd Boulevard, formerly the location o f Rich’s Deli often p layed by R eeves on his trum pet. , T he portrait is being paid for by the R egional A rts & C ulture C ouncil as part o f its public art m ural program and w ill be painted along the east Dawson Unveiling c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 3 th e re ’s new play equipm ent, new fountains, new places to sit, new law n, and sunshine. So probably now than ev er it’s going to be place fo r the n eighborhood to b e,” said A b b ate. Ju st blocks aw ay from L egacy E m anuel H ospital, the institution th a t a c c e p te d re s p o n sib ility fo r pushing m any b lack fam ilies out o f in n er north P o rtlan d about a half- c e n tu r y a g o b e c a u s e o f th e h o sp ita l’s ex p an sio n plans, the new g reen sp ace includes several nods to th e lo c a l A fric a n -A m e ric a n c o m m u n ity ’s vitality. It should be n o te d L e g a cy E m an u el d o n a ted $2 0 0 ,0 0 0 tow ards the construction o f the p a rk ’s n ew splash pad. Isaka S ham sud-S in, a b lack art ist, w as com m issio n ed through the c ity ’s R eg io n al A rts & C ultural C ouncil along w ith a design team to Portland M ayor C harlie H ales has also prioritized w orking with public and private partners to build, a m ore robust internship system for local youth, connecting Portland students to the local w orkforce, and is particularly focused on breaking dow n the disparities in education, w ork and fam ily outcom es for A fri can-A m erican men. “T here are several w ays w e as a com m unity have failed the A frican- A m erican youth — education, em p lo y m e n t, in c a rc e ra tio n ra te s ,” Hales says. “These internships help level the playing field in akey perfor m ance m easure, em ploym ent. This program provides a leg up. It’s a sm all step, but a good one.” <lp ÿlortlauh tObserUer USPS 959-680 Established 1970 design the new fence surrounding the children ’ s play area. H e’s also at w ork creating 14 tw o-sided panels depicting local black culture in north and n o rth east P o rtlan d that w ill adorn the fence. “T h is n e ig h b o rh o o d w as th e com m ercial center for the A frican A m erican c o m m u n ity w hich in cluded outlying housing projects in north, n o rth east and southeast P o rt lan d ,” Sham ud-S in said in a state m ent. “ M ost o f us shopped o r fre q u e n te d sto re s, re s ta u ra n ts an d clubs w ithin w alking distance o f the park. It’s the story o f energy and enterprise. The Portland D evelopm ent C o m m ission had the lead role in funding the im provem ent p ro ject and c o n tracting fo r construction. “T h is n e ig h b o rh o o d has long been a focus o f o ur w o rk ,” said PD C head Patrick Q uinton. In all, he said the 89 p ercen t “utilization rate” for facing wall o f a building on the so u th w est c o m e r o f N ortheast G rand A venue and L loyd B o u le vard. S eem el w rite s o n h e r b lo g , “ ...h e w as a l w ay s d re s se d to th e n in e s — w h ite tu x e d o w ith tail, sparkly b lack sw eater, M ick ey M ouse h a t...H e w as d o in g w h a t h e lo v e d an d he w as g la d fo r it.” H er m ural o f R eeves is m eant to cap ture his lively presence that w as ap p reciated by young and old alike. the project contracting through d is a d v a n ta g e d , m in o r ity - o w n e d , w om an-ow ned, and em erging sm all business, w hich he called “ alm ost u n p reced en ted ” fo r a public co n struction project and a m odel the econom ic developm ent agency is com m itted to continuing. D onny Adair, a lifelong neighbor to D aw son Park and respected leader from the A frican A m erican com m u nity, was recognized for his civil rights activism with his nam e carved into stone near the p ark ’s new splash pad. W hen touring the park, it cam e to his attention that his first nam e had been m isspelled ‘D onnie’ on the carving. He still w as happy w ith how the park had been transform ed. T h e f o r m e r B o is e - E llio t- H um boldt E lem entary (previously B oise), and Jefferson H igh School student rem em b ers kids creating their fun even back w hen the am en i ties (lik e a b a sk e tb a ll c o u rt) at D aw son Park w ere few and scarce b e tw e e n ; lik e tu r n in g th e g reenspace into a softball field, set ting up im aginary borders. “T hat gazebo over there, it w asn ’t there but w e m ade [it] hom e plate, w e played softball. A nd if you hit the building, o r w ent o v er the b u ild ing as som e o f us co u ld do, it w as a hom e run!” he said. O ther m em ories for A dair include a visit to the park by fo rm er U.S. A ttorney G eneral R obert K ennedy w ho delivered a presidential c a m paign speech at the site, ju s t days before being assassin ated in C ali fornia in 1968. A d air ex p ects the im provem ents to the park w ill g u arantee fond new m em ories fo r m any y ears to com e. “I t’s a b etter facility, one that I can bring m y g randkids to, and I say in a c o u p le o f y ears m y g reat- g randkids— because I ’m a g reat g ran d fath er n o w .” W ednesday h e ’s looking to bring his 3-year-old gran d so n to the park for the official D aw son Park D edica tion cerem ony, which will also double as a free co n cert featu rin g O cean 503. T he d ed icatio n cerem o n y and co n cert begins 6 :3 0 p.m . and is free and open to the public. 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