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July 16. 2014
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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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