Public Art on the Mall

Working in collaboration with project partners, the Regional Arts and Culture Council and the downtown community, TriMet is continuing its commitment to public art with the Portland Mall Light Rail Project.

To guide the development of the Mall art program, the Portland Mall Art Advisory Committee was established, made up of artists, community members and technical staff.

New Art

Public art is a key component in revitalizing the Portland Mall. Toward that end, approximately $750,000 has been allocated to fund the Mall art program based on 1.5 percent of eligible project costs.

North Mall

Christine Bourdette was inspired by the man-made stacks of stones that have traditionally served as landmarks for navigation and memorials to create her series of sculptures for the Union Station area. “Cairns—Marking a Path” consists of a series of five stacked-slate forms that mark the path to the light rail stations near Glisan at NW 5th and NW 6th.

Daniel Duford has created a multi-part project based on the mythology of the Green Man. Duford draws on the history of Portland to spin his own tale of this legendary forest character through two landmark sculptures at the Old Town/Chinatown stations and a series of “historic” markers along NW 5th and NW 6th.

Central Mall

Sculpture of the Northwest will be the defining characteristic of the Central Mall. Curators from around the region helped to develop a roster of the most significant Northwest sculptors of the last 30 years.

This list forms the basis for adding approximately 10 new sculptures to the Mall to create a more comprehensive collection of regional sculpture in the heart of downtown. Sculptures by Mel Katz, Rick Bartow and Patti Warashina are among those to be included.

South Mall

Fernanda D’Agostino has proposed 10 to 12 carved granite sculptures based on diatoms, microscopic organisms studied to determine the health of a water system. The over-sized “Diatoms” will be located in the infiltration strips adjacent to Portland State University in reference to TriMet’s and their shared emphasis on sustainability.

Michihiro Kosuge has developed a series of four abstract sculptures using granite removed from the project as a result of construction. Located in the area of the new 1414 Hotel, the sculptures imply motion through their changing heights as placed along the streetscape.

Mark Smith has designed a series of eight colorful, laminated-glass panels for a fence on NW 5th between Stark and Oak. The two-sided panels feature hundreds of silhouetted figures culled from newspapers and representing a wide variety of people, cultures and social behaviors.

Existing Art

Nearly all of the existing public art sculptures on the Mall have been temporarily removed to protect them during construction. The sculptures will be cleaned and refurbished, then relocated along the Central Mall at sites more congenial to viewing them in the round.

There are two sculptures that could not be relocated due to the unavailability of appropriate sites. "Soaring Stones," by John Young, was returned to its owner, General Growth, and "Tri-Met," by Robert Maki, will be reinstalled in a new location without its water feature.

For more information

For more information call Mary Priester, TriMet Public Art Manager, at 503-962-2291 or email priestem@trimet.org.