Pioneer Statue

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In Portland Oregon, I sketched the pioneer sculpture which reminded me of my first ancestor who settled in Grand Island Nebraska in the 1950’s named Augustus Thorspecken. He thought that Grand Island, Nebraska would likely become the nations capital since it was in the center of the country.

Augustus came to America in his 20s, studied to be a doctor in Saint Louis and met his future wife, Lucinda in Iowa. The town he met her in flooded when the river changed course. He was a founding member of a German singing society in Grand Island and he is mentioned often in the town newspaper.

The tongue in cheek stories are fun and not always factual. In one, the doctor found a man sawed in half in his saw mill. Augustus  assessed the situation and simply sewed the man back together. He was described as a man who offered advice but that advice would often do more harm than good. He died in his early 40s, likely from an airborne virus he picked up from a patient. He gave a lecture on virology to local doctors at a conference, but masking was just not a thing that was practiced in those days.

The Elk

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The Elk Fountain is located  in Portland Oregon. The Elk, is a  bronze sculpture by American artist Roland Hinton Perry. The fountain and bronze sculpture was donated by former Portland mayor David P. Thompson in 1900 to commemorate the elk that once lived in the area.

Originally a drinking fountain. The top section served humans, and the lower troughs were for horses, dogs, and goats. The unveiling of the sculpture was met with some controversy. “The Elks [Lodge] refused to come to the dedication because they thought the sculpture was a monstrosity of nature,” said Kendellen. The elk is disproportionate. The body, in relation to the head and gigantic antlers, is much smaller and skinnier than a real elk.

In 1974, Thompson’s Elk and the Plaza Blocks were designated as Historic Landmarks by the city’s Historic Landmarks Commission, under the name David P. Thompson Fountain.

Over the years, the statue has been vandalized many times. The elk was vandalized during the Occupy Portland protests (2011), and had the antlers repaired in early 2012. The statue was tagged with anti-Trump messages in 2016.

The monument became a gathering place for demonstrations by George Floyd protesters, who lit several fires in the troughs along the base in July 2020. The damaged bronze elk statue was removed for cleaning and safekeeping on July 2, 2020. The stone fountain was removed on July 17, 2020, after it was determined that there was severe damage to the stone and basin of the fountain. In 2024, the elk statue was repaired and construction on the fountain’s replacement is set to begin in this year.

 

 

Preservation Partnership

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On a trip to Portland Oregon, I sketched this sweet historic brownstone. For hundreds of years my family on my mothers side lived in old brownstones in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Therefor these old building hold a sweet spot in my heart.

Time was limited, so I dashed off the sketch rather quickly. I recall that downtown Portland had quite a few of these types of historic gems.

I love traveling and exploring a new city with my sketchbook. I thought I might be exploring quite a few cities when my film COVID Dystopia did it’s round in the film festival circuit, but lets face it, no one wants to be reminded of the pandemic. Certainly no one wants to be told the virus is still circulating and causing incurable long COVID symptoms.

Exploring new places is a joy with a sketchbook in hand. I will continue to explore Yalaha after I finish up the series of theater posters I am now working on.

 

 

 

Old Church: Portland Oregon

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While in Portland Oregon I sketched The Old Church (1422 SW 11th Ave, Portland, OR).

While living in NYC, I sketched the 50 oldest churches in the 5 boroughs, so of course I would have to sketch a church called simply, “The Old Church.”

It isn’t actually a church anymore, but, a  performance venue in a Gothic, former church with a pipe organ and stained-glass windows. It was built in 1883. It is also knows as the Sanctuary of Sound. It was, saved from demolition by community activists and volunteers in 1967. Concerts are a mix of musical performances, including rare opportunities to see groundbreaking national and international artists, in an intimate setting. They also produce and host free Summer Concerts and monthly Lunchtime Concerts, community social justice conversations (through We Can Listen), and ambient music concerts during new and full moons. If I lived in Portland, I know this would be one of my regular venues to sketch. It has a welcoming vibe. I was immediately drawn to it.

Teddy

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On a trip to Portland Oregon I took a stolen moment to sketch the Theodore Roosevelt, Rough Rider Statue. is a bronze sculpture by American artist Alexander Phimister Proctor.

The equestrian statue was completed in 1922 and depicts Theodore Roosevelt as the leader of the cavalry regiment that fought during the Spanish–American War called the Rough Riders. The sculpture was cast in Brooklyn, New York, and was shipped by sea via the Panama Canal to avoid cutting the work into pieces.It was toppled by demonstrators during the Indigenous Peoples Day of Rage in October 2020. The statue is set to be restored and re-installed at a yet to be determined date.

The creation of the statue was documented by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in its 1922 film, The Making of a Bronze Statue.

Portland

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NPR reported, Portland Oregon state and local officials are demanding that Federal Agents leave. Protesters have demonstrated in the city’s downtown for more than 50 nights since George Floyd died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck, sophisticating him to death.

“There’s absolutely no question that by having the presence of federal officers here, it’s simply like adding gasoline to a fire,” Oregon Governor Kate Brown said. On Sunday July 19, 2020, a video went viral 53-year-old Navy veteran Christopher David being struck repeatedly with a baton wielded by a federal law enforcement officer. Christopher had yelled at the officers, “Why are you not honoring your oath to the Constitution?”

Oregon Public Broadcasting reported Friday that federal law enforcement officers have been using unmarked vehicles in downtown Portland to grab and detain protesters. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler blamed the federal government for making things worse in the city. “We have an already heightened situation. It’s already tense,” Wheeler said. “But after nearly five weeks of demonstrations, we are starting to see that small handful of people who were engaged in criminal activity — it was dissipating. It was calming down. We believed a week ago it would be over by this weekend. But what happened instead is the feds stepped in with a very heavy-handed approach, and it blew the lid off the whole thing.”

“With the federal government, they won’t even identify who they are,” Wheeler said. “We don’t know why they’re here. We don’t know the circumstances under which they’re making arrests. We don’t know what their policies are or what accountability mechanisms there are, to the point where even the U.S. attorney here in the state of Oregon is calling for an investigation, wondering, where was the probable cause to pull these people off the streets into unmarked cars?”

On Friday, the U.S. senators from Oregon, asked the Justice Department and DHS to investigate “the unrequested presence and violent actions of federal forces in Portland.” Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum filed a lawsuit Friday against the DHS and other federal agencies and alleged that they have “engaged in unlawful law enforcement in violation of the civil rights of Oregonians by seizing and detaining them without probable cause.”

“The federal administration has chosen Portland to use their scare tactics to stop our residents from protesting police brutality and from supporting the Black Lives Matter movement,” Rosenblum said in a statement. “Every American should be repulsed when they see this happening. If this can happen here in Portland, it can happen anywhere.”

Trump is now threatening to send more Federal Officers to more US cities to stop protests in the Black lives Matter protests. He specifically named New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Baltimore and Oakland in discussing problems with violence. To him it seems to be a war on “liberal Democrats.” He is at war with free speech and the free press. I just wish he could focus instead on the real war , COVID-19.

Loon

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Wonderheads from Portand, Oregon brought “Loon” to this years Fringe.  This life sized puppet acted out every scene in mime. A sad faced aging man stood at the beach with his mothers remains in a jar. He went to scatter the ashes and just got his hands and clothes covered in ash. He is faced with dating and when asked about his favorite person he wrote mom. There was a collective awww… from the audience.

Things look up for him when he falls in love with the moon. He pursues the moon with a child like ambition.  There is one magical moment where he has the moon cupped in his hands and his hands spread apart leaving the glowing orb floating in space between his hands. I still don’t know how it was done. I haven’t experienced that type of wonder and amazement since I saw a planetarium show about beings of light as a child.

Loon was the well deserved patron’s pick for the green venue. It was funny, touching and heart breaking. When the actors came out for a bow after the show, I was surprised to discover that the old man was played by a young woman.