In Brooklyn neighborhood, a mural is coming to an old concrete bridge
By Steve Beaven, The Oregonian The Oregonian
In the next several days, Portland artist Lew Jones will begin work on a mural on the interior of a pedestrian/bike bridge at Southeast Ninth Avenue and Powell Boulevard.
The project was launched by Mike O’Connor, chairman of the Brooklyn Action Corps and a member of its mural committee. It’s being funded by a $2,046 grant from Portland’s Office of Neighborhood Involvement.
The mural is intended to lighten up the drab, graffiti-ridden concrete bridge that crosses Powell Boulevard.
“I live five houses up here on Ninth and I’ve been using it for the 20 years I’ve been here,” O’Connor said Wednesday afternoon. “It seemed like it was just crying out for embellishment.”
So Jones and a crew of volunteers will begin work as early as Sunday on a project that will take roughly a month to complete.
Jones said he likes the idea of taking a blank space, or a “non-thing,” and turning it into a piece of art.
Art, he said, “should be a place where people can go and take a break.”
Editor’s note: We’d like to thank Miller Paint and Metro for providing paint, Beard’s Frame Shop for providing stencil-cutting services, and all the volunteers that have made this project possible.
