TriMet – Public Art and Architecture from Around the World

The Responsibility of Raising a Child

Posted by Cindy on October 20, 2014

Oct 202014

5th Avenue between Yamhill and Taylor Streets
Portland, OR

Along the TriMet route you will find this 2004 bronze buy Rick Bartow. Rick Bartow weaves Native American symbols of parenting and life cycles throughout The Responsibility of Raising a Child. The sculpture started out expressing the difficult circumstances of single parents, but by placing the infant in the basket it becomes a hopeful, encouraging and optimistic work.

Rick Bartow was born in 1946 in Newport, Oregon to a Yurok and Wiyot father who relocated to Oregon for work and married Bartow’s Euro-American mother. His artwork is influenced not only by his Native American heritage, but also by the effects of a thirteen-month tour of duty in Vietnam. He graduated from Western Oregon University in 1969 with a degree in Secondary Art Education, prior to being drafted into the Army.

Bartow is highly prolific working in sculpture, print, etching, monotype, ceramics, mixed media, and painting.

Bartow is currently working on a permanent outdoor installation for the Smithsonian Institute-National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC.

Burls will be Burls

Posted by Cindy on October 20, 2014

Oct 202014

6th Avenue between Burnside and Ash
Portland, OR

According to the TriMet website:

Burls Will be Burls, by Bruce Conkle, is a tribute to snowmen and to the forests of the Pacific Northwest. The cast bronze figures of Burls Will be Burls represent what might happen when a snowman melts and nourishes a living tree—water is absorbed by the roots and carries the spirit of the snowman up into the tree where it manifests itself as burls.

According to Conkle’s own website:

Bruce Conkle declares an affinity for mysterious natural phenomenon such as snow, crystals, volcanos, rainbows, fire, tree burls, and meteorites. His work combines art and humor to address contemporary attitudes toward nature and the environment, including deforestation and climate change. Conkle’s work often deals with man’s place within nature, and frequently examines what he calls the “misfit quotient” at the crossroads. His work has shown around the world, including Reykjavik, Ulaanbaatar, Rio De Janeiro, New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, Seattle, and Portland. Recent projects include public art commissions for the Oregon Department of Transportation, TriMet/MAX Light Rail, and Portland State University’s Smith Memorial Student Union Public Art + Residency. In 2011 Bruce received a Hallie Ford Fellowship and in 2010 and an Oregon Arts Commission Artist Fellowship. His 2012 show Tree Clouds was awarded a project grant from the Regional Arts and Culture Council.

Talos Number 2

Posted by Cindy on October 20, 2014

Oct 202014

Southwest 6th Avenue and Stark
Portland, OR

Titled Talos Number 2 this bronze sculpture is by James Lee Hanson.

“Talos No. 2 is part of the Portland Transit Mall. It was completed during 1959–1977, and was funded by TriMet and the United States Department of Transportation. The abstract sculpture depicts Talos, the giant man of bronze in Greek mythology who protected Crete from invaders. The piece is 7 feet tall and is administered by the Regional Arts & Culture Council, which offers the following description of Talos and the sculpture he inspired:

“He had one vain running from his neck to his ankle which flowed with lead, a sacred fluid believed to be the blood of the gods. This sculpture transforms the mythic figure into an abstracted form. Rather than mimicking the monumentality of the character, Kelly invokes him though this vaguely human but altogether otherworldly creature that seems to take in its surroundings from three directions at once, acting as a guardian to those who pass by”

James Lee Hansen was born in 1925 and graduated from the Portland Art Museum School in 1950. He has spent a great time of his adult life as a teacher of Sculpture:
1964-1990 Professor in Sculpture, Portland State University, Portland, OR
1967 Instructor in Sculpture, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
1958-196 Fine Arts Collaborative, architectural art and art in public places
1958 Instructor in Sculpture, University of California, Berkeley
1957-1958 Instructor in Sculpture, Oregon State University, Corvallis