North South Portland is a neighborhood-based non-fiction art project created by Justin Flood, Sarah Baugh and Nicole Lavelle. Former Portland State graphic design students developed their own cultural invesitgation, exhibition space, talks and workshops. Here is a cultural project idea realized, out in the wild. Consider that your ideas for events could take root and be realized.
North South Portland is an investigation into place. The exhibition and event series explores the effects of urban renewal on the South Portland neighborhood, in the form of a public window installation and a series of public events, workshops, screenings and lectures.
North South Portland aims to generate interest in the area surrounding the Field Work space through the exploration of urban history and neighborhood conversation. Through direct engagement with neighborhood residents, Portland State University students, urban scholars and oral historians, the artists wish to instill a sense of local identity and open a dialogue about contemporary issues surrounding land-use planning, public policy, and neighborhood engagement.
The exhibition explores such topics as Portland history, immigrant communities in the Pacific Northwest, memory, nostalgia, urban renewal, city politics, grassroots activism and oral histories.
As part of their work at Field Work, Sarah, Justin & Nicole created a series of workshops and talks. Below are images from their Protest Sign Workshop.
Sign from the workshop by Jennifer DeLos Reyes