Native Portland Series, 10: Tri-Met Public Art and Chief Joseph Elementary

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Tri-Met Public Art

Portland is blessed with a progressive public transit authority representing three different counties which make up the Portland area, thus:  Tri-Met.  Along some of the Tri-Met light-rail lines can be found some very interesting public art, including two installations along the Yellow line which extends into North Portland.

The first is a tiny strip of grass at the corner of N. Interstate Ave and N. Ainsworth Streets, easy to pass by if you're not looking for it.  Called the Ainsworth Greenspace, it features three totem heads atop 12-foot tall sculptures:  "She Who Watches," from a Columbia River petroglyph, by Lillian Pitt; "Salmon," by Native American artist Ken MacKintosh, and "Crow," by Yurok and Wiyak artist Rick Bartow.  They face inward, forming a little plaza with a spiral inset in the center, and the plaques feature poetry by Ockley Green Middle School students.

 

Rosa Parks Station 

Just a block or two further north on Interstate Ave at Rosa Parks Way is this interesting art at the Tri-Met station, a collaboration of artists we have seen elsewhere:  Lillian Pitt, Gail Tremblay, and Rick MacKintosh. Steel column wraps were inspired by petroglyphs in the Columbia River Gorge; the platform pavers feature a traditional Klikitat basket weave pattern, and note also the guardrail panels and sculptures at the ends of shelter canopies.  I wonder how many riders on this  busy yellow line have stopped to contemplate this art?

 

Chief Joseph Elementary School Mural

Just a few blocks northwest of the Tri-Met station is Chief Joseph Elementary School, at the end of N. Saratoga Ave., and its beautiful mural.  Painted by Yakima artist Toma Villa, the mural was installed in May, 2013, to honor the Nez Perce leader whose people were exiled from their land in the beautiful Wallowas of Eastern Oregon and Western Idaho.  The Native American Youth and Family Center helped dedicate the mural; the ceremony included Beth Britton, the great-granddaughter of Chief Joseph, and featured Native American drumming.  Near the mural is the Nez Perce Garden.  It's a pretty cool mural, don't you think?

P.S.  Read a little bit about efforts to restore sacred lands to the Nez Perce people here.