Plaza Portraits is a series of free creative activities taking place at Rainbow Road Plaza focused on creating and viewing portraits of our community. Each activity is an opportunity to look more closely at ourselves and the people around us.
This project is a public art commission of the City of Portland Office of Arts & Culture and Bureau of Transportation. All aspects of the project are designed and facilitated by Artist in Residence, Arcadia Trueheart.
Join The Crowd Mural
Add a face to this mural which doubles as a face-in-hole board for fun photos. You can borrow a sharpie from participating businesses in the plaza: Saint Burrito, Gorges Beer, and Crema Coffee + Bakery.
Puzzle Portraits
In this free workshop, participants painted large images based on photos that Arcadia Trueheart took of neighbors’ faces. The paintings were then collaged together to create giant composite portraits of the neighborhood community.
Faces of Resistance
In collaboration with Defend Migrants Alliance (DMA), participants worked to create 2000 cloth flags representing the faces of Trump’s 2000-a-day ICE detention quota. Members of DMA and University of Portland’s Social Justice club shared information about the struggles and resistance of local migrant leaders during the public crafting workshop.
Make a Mark!
Neighbors gathered to sit across from one another and draw each other’s portraits. In this free workshop, I taught fun sketching exercises to create a light-hearted atmosphere of shared play and experimentation. I used participants’ drawings to design a permanent mural which I painted on the giant plaza chairs.
