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New Sellwood Bridge Opening Celebration (27 February 2016)

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Multnomah County’s newest, old, bridge opens to auto traffic on March 1, 2016. Before that happens, come on out Saturday, 27 February 2016 from noon until 4 PM for the New Sellwood Bridge Opening Celebration.

The community is invited to a celebration on the new bridge on Saturday, Feb. 27. The new bridge opens for the free, family-friendly event at noon. An opening ceremony and ribbon cutting will start the celebration around 1 p.m., followed by the “Through the Decades” parade. Attendees should enter the event at S.E. Tacoma St. and S.E. 6th Ave.

Food carts, retail and non-profit booths will be located on the bridge for the party. There will be entertainment on the main stage and along the bridge, and a few surprises. The first to arrive will receive a Sellwood Bridge lapel pin to commemorate the day.

Parking is limited – take the bus, or just walk down if you’re a neighbor. More event details, including a parade map at the event page.

Stumptown Stories Presents: Postmodernism and Shanghaiing in PDX (8 September 2015)

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The Portland Building in August 1982. Photo by Steve Morgan.
“Portland Building 1982” by Steve Morgan at English Wikipedia. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

The latest Stumptown Stories show covers a couple terrible things about Portland: Postmodernism and Shanghaiing in PDX, at 7 PM on Tuesday, September 8, 2015 at Jack London bar (basement of the Rialto, SW 4th and Alder).

The speakers:

Joe Streckert (Interesting Times, Portland Mercury) will delve into why this town has one of the most-hated buildings of all time, the Portland Building. Streckert will outline how the chaotic circumstances of how the building came to be, what postmodernism even is, and the future of Portland’s eponymous municipal services building.

Finn J.D. John (Offbeat Oregon, Wicked Portland) will get into Portland’s history with Shanghaiing. No, this is not going to be about tunnels. Those are a myth. John will delve into the real history of Larry Sullivan, a man who organized local Shanghaiers into a force to be reckoned with in old Portland.

Stumptown Stories, batshit crazy stories from the murkiest, weirdest, and nuttiest corners of Portland history, takes place the second Tuesday of every month at Jack London bar (basement of the Rialto, SW 4th and Alder).

Admission is usually (including this month) free. Doors open at 7 PM, 21 and over only.

Old Town History: “Illumination #1” (4-7, 12-14, 19-21 December 2014)

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Illumination #1For three weekends in December the 1881 Mariner’s Building (209 NW 3rd) will be the location, and canvas, for Illuminations #1, a site-specific work by artist Rose Bond.

[E]ducator and animator Rose Bond, will use the windows of the historic building as screens for still and moving images that evoke specific gestures, story fragments, and names to explore the identities of the Chinese, Japanese, Jewish, Roma, and other residents of Old Town and Chinatown.

Opening night is First Thursday, December 4, 2014. The project will be displayed from 6 PM to 8 PM on December 4-7, 12-14, and 19-21. The project is part of the “Illuminations Series” of the Old Town History Project, a community-based history, art and culture organization devoted to the preservation and revitalization of Portland’s oldest surviving historic district. Visit the Restore Oregon website for more details.

Science Pub Portland: Shaping Light with Folded Surfaces (18 November 2014)

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Omsi Science PubScience Pub Portland presents Shaping Light with Folded Surfaces tonight at the Empirical Theater at OMSI (1945 SE Water Ave.).

Light reveals our visual universe. Light shapes how we perceive form and the boundaries of space. Light gives vitality to immutable form, revealing the familiar in new ways. Small adjustments in light intensity, composition and viewpoint can yield big changes in highlights and shadow patterns.

Nancy Cheng experiments with how sheet materials can be cut, creased, or crimped to generate lighting effects that change with the sun’s movement, while blocking unwanted heat and glare. Her Shaping Light project explores how physical prototyping and digital methods can be combined to foreground material properties in design. She seeks the creative possibilities that stem from a material’s stiffness, shininess, translucence or color. She has used digital modeling for geometric variations, kinetic studies and lighting simulation in both open-ended studies and interior installations.

Presenter Nancy Cheng is Portland Program Director and an Associate Professor at the University of Oregon. The program begins at 7 PM, and there’s a $5.00 suggested cover charge.

Pittock Mansion and OHS Commemorate 1962 Columbus Day Storm (October 12-31, 2012)

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Pittock Mansion in the aftermath of the Columbus Day StormThe 1962 Columbus Day Storm nearly destroyed the then privately owned Pittock Mansion. A fundraising effort by concerned citizens spurred the City of Portland to purchase the mansion in 1964 (for $225,000!). It was restored and in 1965 the historic house opened as the museum we know it as now.

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the storm this year, in partnership with Oregon Historical Society, whose exhibit, The Mightiest Wind, examines the 1962 Columbus Day Storm’s effects throughout Oregon, Pittock Mansion’s members will receive free reciprocal admission to OHS between October 12 and 31. Non-member visitors receive $2 off OHS admission and OHS visitors receive $2 off Pittock Mansion admission too (don’t forget your receipt!).