For ten nights this December, the history of Portland’s Old Town will be illuminated in the windows of the long-vacant 1881 Mariner’s Building. Illumination #1, a site-specific animated work by educator and animator Rose Bond, will use the windows of the historic building as screens for still and moving images that evoke specific gestures, story fragments, and names to explore the identities of the Chinese, Japanese, Jewish, Roma, and other residents of Old Town and Chinatown. The 1881 Mariner’s Building is itself being fully transformed into the Society Hotel, European-style lodging slated to open in May 2015.
Illumination #1 op
ens on First Thursday, December 4, at 209 NW Third Avenue. The project is part of the “Illuminations Series” of the Old Town History Project, a community-based history, art and culture organization devoted to the preservation and revitalization of Portland’s oldest surviving historic district. Restore Oregon Advisor Jackie Peterson and Board member Chris D’Arcy assisted with bringing the installation to Old Town.
The public can view Bond’s installation at the intersection of NW Third and Davis Streets between 6pm and 8pm on the nights of December 4-7, 12-14, and 19-21.