September 5, 2018
Page 3
INSIDE
The
Week in Review
This page
Sponsored by:
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photo by D anny p eterson /t he p ortlanD o bserver
10 year-old Dominique Stewart (left) and Tryston Birdges, 12, help build flower and vegetable planters
along the North Williams and Russell Street corridors as part of an Urban League of Portland project
to celebrate the historic community contributions of African Americans in Portland. The project was
made possible by a grant and partnership from the Portland Bureau of Transportation.
pages 7-11
Black is Beautiful
Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
Public art project draws on positive messages
D anny p eterson
t he p ortlanD o bserver
The historic heart of Portland’s
black community is receiving the
finishing touches of a new urban
beautification project that cele-
brates the contributions of African
Americas to the city.
Black kids from the commu-
nity, graduate art students and
local seniors worked to create art-
by
page 9
M ETRO
ful benches, decorative tiles and
planters for flowers and vegetation
as part of a project spearheaded by
the Urban League of Portland and
aimed in part to combat the dis-
placement of public art by African
Americans in the wake of gentri-
fication. A grant from Portland’s
Bureau of Transportation (PBOT)
helped fund the effort.
Many community partnerships
coalesced to make the project a
success, including the black-led
nonprofit housing provider Port-
land Community Reinvestment
Initiatives (PCRI) and two Port-
land art schools, the Pacific North-
west College of Art and the Ore-
gon College of Arts and Crafts.
Graduate art students held
C ontinueD on p age 14
pages 12-13
O PINION
C LASSIFIEDS
page 16
F OOD
pages 14
photo by D anny p eterson /t he p ortlanD o bserver
Decorative tiles that reflect positive messages on the black community were hand painted by
Portland kids of color and residents of a local senior center for an Urban League of Portland’s
beautification Project. Graduate art students helped facilitate the completion of the project.