September 10: Hawthorne Centennial Calendar and PDX Bridge Festival Launch
Hawthorne Centennial Calendar and PDX Bridge Festival Launch set for September 10th, 2009
A calendar launch and gallery viewing of selected works from the calendar is scheduled for Thursday, September 10, 2009, 4-7pm in a historic trolley barn under the east end of the Hawthorne Bridge.
The trolley barn, at 1403 S.E. Water Avenue, is now the County's Bridge Maintenance headquarters. (The County owns and maintains the Broadway, Burnside, Morrison, and Hawthorne bridges across the downtown Willamette River.) The launch, sponsored by the Friends of Willamette River Bridges, in cooperation with Multnomah County, is open to the public. All ages are invited. Free parking is available, and the area is well served by TriMet #14 and #33 buses. (The entrance to the trolley barn is on S.E. Madison.)
Related: Portland EVENTSÂ LISTINGS
Program of events
* Ted Wheeler, Chair of the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners, will make brief introductory remarks about the Hawthorne Bridge and the 2010 PDX Bridge Festival.
* Curated by PCC art history instructor JulieAnne Poncet, the accompanying exhibit will feature works of art from the calendar with all 49 of the artists invited to attend. (There will be additional exhibits during the celebration period in 2010.)
* Poet Paulann Petersen will read "The Willamette Calendar," featured in the calendar. Blues heroine Mary Flower (www.maryflower.com) will perform from her CDÂ "Bridges," the #2 top seller for Music Millennium for the week of Nov. 9, 2008.
* There will be guided walks to the Eastbank Esplanade to point out the Hawthorne Bridge's historic movable features and a tour of the County's bridge facilities. The County owns several historic bridge artifacts, including the Hawthorne's 100-year-old ink-on-linen engineering drawings that will be available for viewing.
* Employees of the County's Bridge Section will model the new Hawthorne Bridge Centennial T-shirt. The front features Craig Conahan's art from the calendar's centerfold, while the back quotes, ODOT engineer Tova Peltz, "Know your infrastructure, love your infrastructure."
The shirts (available in both 100 percent cotton and organic cotton) can be purchased. Attendees will also be able to place orders for the Hawthorne Bridge Chocolate Bar, from JaCiva's Chocolates; a Hawthorne Bridge umbrella, made by the Shedrain Company of Portland; and Hawthorne Vertical Lift-brand coffee, packaged by Mt. Hood Roasters especially for this event. Proceeds from all items go toward the centennial celebration.
Proceeds from the sale of the calendar will be used to fund activities for the first annual PDX Bridge Festival, an all-city celebration of Hawthorne's 100th birthday. The festival celebrates the bridges on a historical level, while drawing on wide creative talents to bring people of all ages together in a spirit of civic pride, aesthetic wonder, and community engagement.
Opened in 1910, the Hawthorne Bridge is the oldest vertical lift bridge in the U.S., likely the world. With next year's 100th anniversary in mind, the Friends of the Willamette River Bridges has produced The Hawthorne Bridge 2010 Centennial Calendar, a 12-month, 26-page, full-color booklet. It retails for $10 and features the work of 49 artists who pay homage to one of our most treasured and traveled icons through oil paintings, watercolors, woodblock prints, tapestry, photographs, digital art, metalwork, silk screen, and sculpture. The oil painting on the cover is by long-time Portland artist, Sidonie Caron (see accompanying image). To see a complete list of the artists, see the back cover of the calendar or visit www.pdxbridgefestival.org.
