CommissionerSam.com - Events

Art in Our Future: Youth Art Show at City Hall!

Pollyanne Birge — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:17:18 -0700

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Art in our Future:

City Hall Youth Art Show

Thursday May 1st 5-7pm

City Hall 1221 SW 4th

FREE and Open to the Public

Featuring work from:

* Buckman Arts Focus School

* The Children's Healing Art Project

* Young, Gifted, and Black Art Competition in collaboration with the African American Visual Arts Scholarship project.

Performances by:

* Buckman Chorus
* Buckman Marimba Ensemble
* Boys Dance Group, (led by Keith Goodman)

From painting and drawing to sculpture and performance, the night's spotlight will be firmly focused on the rich talent of Portland's young artists. City Hall is excited to open its gallery space for the next generation of creative thinkers to exhibit their amazing work!

Free refreshments, delicious food, youth produced art and great performance-be sure not to miss this event!

Partner Descriptions:

* Buckman Elementary School Arts Focus, a Portland Public School located in inner Southeast Portland, offers an innovative arts-integrated academic curriculum, in addition to intensive arts classes in dance, drama and music, and visual art. At Buckman, Portland's premier arts elementary school, students internalize their academic learning through these varied forms of creative self-expression, resulting in increased self-esteem, absorption of academic material, creative thinking, and understanding and acceptance of the self. Combining a love of the arts with high academic achievement, Buckman is both a neighborhood school and arts focus option program that is open for admission to all elementary students in Portland. Buckman was recently given the Creative Ticket School of Excellence Award by the Oregon Alliance for Arts Education in conjunction with the Kennedy Center Alliance for Arts Education Network.

Children's Healing Art Project (CHAP) brings the healing power of art to children in crisis and their families with a mobile team of teaching artists working in Portland's children's hospitals.

CHAP has created art classes tailored to the needs of the children we serve in each partner facility: Doernbecher Children's Hospital, Shriners Hospital for Children, Legacy Emanuel Children's Hospital & at Art Club (CHAP's out-of-hospital art camp in our Pearl District studio). In 2007, CHAP served over 5,000 children & their families. CHAP offers one-on-one classes for children in isolation and group classes in playrooms, lobbies and waiting rooms. CHAP classes include drawing, painting, sculpture, computer animation, mask making and jewelry. CHAP classes offer a place where nervous energy is transformed into creative energy. Our common language is based in the creative process of making art, which crosses all gender, age, and cultural, religious and ethnic boundaries. CHAP classes offer an art experience that engages and inspires -- where children can be seen for their artistic talents and not for their disease, diagnosis or disability. CHAP is a 501 (c-3) non-profit.

* African American Visual Arts Scholarship:
Visual Arts express the hopes, dreams and history of a people. As guardians of memory and gatekeepers of history, artists are often silently at the heart of resistance and revolution, consciously and unconsciously responsible for changes that have shaped our world. The artist is at once a griot, a teacher, a philosopher. African American Visual Arts Scholarships was created to recognize and support developing African American artists.
www.aavas.com

Young, Gifted, and Black Art Competition:
African-American/African Diaspora high school students 14-19 years of age from the Portland Metro area in Public, Charter, Private, Alternative or Home School.
To encourage the study of a rich cultural history as a living legacy and inspire the creation of original works of art.
Throughout time, the study and knowledge of history has given artists a foundation to fashion their visions as they chronicled and interpreted past and present people, places and events.
Each entry will be accompanied by a typed 100-200 word essay/outline from readings that provide the basis for your art.

Grey to Green: A Comprehensive Approach to Clean Rivers and Watershed Health

Sam Adams — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 11:51:14 -0700

Portland is blessed with abundant rainfall. With it, our city grows lush and beautiful. But all of this rain comes with a challenge: our annual average of 37 inches creates a staggering 20 billion gallons of stormwater runoff every year.

Without proper management, stormwater runoff can damage our watersheds, rivers, and streams. The good news is that Portland is well past the days of simply funneling stormwater into pipes that release fast-moving, dirty water directly into once-pristine rivers and streams.

In 2005, City Council embraced a holistic approach to watershed health in adopting the Portland Watershed Management Plan. With this new strategy and thanks to on-going help and a steady application of pressure from organizations like the Audubon Society of Portland and the Urban Greenspaces Institute, we are ready to step up our investments in clean rivers and streams to preserve our urban watersheds for generations to come. We're calling this shift in the way we do business "Grey to Green".

Portland is at the forefront of using "green infrastructure" - sustainable stormwater management technologies that mimic natural systems. The city is dotted with parking lot swales, green streets and rain gardens that filter stormwater pollutants and allow water to soak into the ground, replenishing groundwater supplies.

But repairing our urban landscape is not enough. We also need to restore and preserve existing natural areas throughout our city, by fighting invasive weeds, restoring native plants, protecting our most critical natural land, and replacing culverts that harm fish.

These are not new approaches, but shifting our focus and resources from grey to green is a vital step toward improving the health of our watersheds and rivers. With this shift comes the added benefit that we don't get from miles of piped sewers - cleaner air and water, reduced urban temperatures, and increased and improved habitat. And, these approaches often cost less than traditional piped systems.

What excites me most is that this new approach allows every residence and business to be a part of the solution, whether it's installing an ecoroof or simply planting a tree.

Grey to Green is an investment that makes sense. And we are ready to act now.

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G2G_Council_PowerPoint.pdf	3.4 MB
G2G Benefits.xls	63.5 KB
Oregonian Opinion Page.pdf	17.01 KB
Grey to Green FINAL.pdf	2.7 MB

Ecoroof Workshops - FREE

Lisa Libby — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 18:11:49 -0700

Here is your chance to learn more about ecoroof structure, design, construction and permitting. The City of Portland's Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) will be hosting this series of free technical workshops, beginning on April 29th.

All participants will receive a certificate of completion and may be eligible to receive city funding to support ecoroof construction.

Call 503.823.7213 or e-mail sandih@bes.ci.portland.or.us to register. Advance registration is required, and space is limited, so be sure to register early... but don't worry if the workshop it full. Rumor has it that the series will be offered again in the Fall.

For more information about ecoroofs, visit the BES website.

Ecoroof Workshop Topics and Dates:

Latest Data, Information and Resources
Tuesday, April 29

Structure and Design
Tuesday, May 6

Membrane and Waterproofing
Tuesday, May 13

Plants, Growing Media, and Irrigation
Wednesday, May 21

Permitting, Construction, and Operation and Maintenance
Wednesday, June 4

Relevant Documents:

Ecoroof Seminar Brochure

Second Annual Comic and Illustration Art Show @ City Hall

Pollyanne Birge — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 14:38:28 -0700

Alan Rose

Second Annual Comic & Illustration Show!

First Thursday April 3rd 5-7pm

City Hall 1221 SW 4th

FREE and open to the public!

Portlanders are so very lucky! Our town is busting at the seam with top-notch illustrators and comic creators. Please join us at City Hall to highlight these hip Portland artists and their amazing work!

Featured Artists:

Graham Annable

Alan RoseDylan Meconis

Elana Pritchard

Patrick Hilton

MUSIC by:

Floating Point

Hymns for the Drowning

Caroyln Main

Celebrate Portland’s Newest Green Space with Us!

The Office — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:09:35 -0700

What: A press event for Portland's new bike boxes
When: Thursday, March 27 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Where: Clever Cycles, 908 SE Hawthorne Blvd.

The Bike Box celebrates its day in the limelight tomorrow, Thursday, March 27 at 10 a.m. Sam, along with State Representative Jackie Dingfelder and Metro Councilor Rex Burkholder host this press and community event.

The green bike boxes make it safer for bicycles and cars to share the roads. The green paint highlights the bike lane and the bike box, so motorists are able to see approaching and turning cyclists. A pilot program to create 14 bike boxes at targeted intersections throughout Portland was recently approved by City Council and the first bike box was just installed at SE Hawthorne and 7th Avenue. Be sure to check out the Portland Department of Transportation website for more information.

Join us in celebrating Portland's first bike box at Clever Cycles. There will be an opportunity for interviews and photos of the new bike box at the event.

Press Release - The Bike Box: Get Behind It!

PDOT Bike Box Brochure

The Silent Invasion

Sam Adams — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 16:15:47 -0700

Click for more information (PDF)

Please join me for a special screening of "the Silent Invasion".

The City of Portland, Oregon Zoo and other community partners have teamed up with Oregon Public Broadcasting to present this hour-long documentary examining Oregon's battle with invasive plants and animals. A public screening will be held Monday, April 14th at the Oregon Zoo .

The screening is FREE and open to the public, so invite your family and friends. Just remember - space is limited.

I hope to see you there.

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the_silent_invasion.pdf	108.82 KB

FREE Concert--The Great Wall Youth Orchestra @ City Hall

Pollyanne Birge — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 14:42:28 -0700

Great Wall of China Youth Orchestra

Great Wall Youth Orchestra

Wednesday March 26th 5-7pm

City Hall 1221 SW 4th Ave.

Please join us in welcoming the Great Wall of China Youth Orchestra at City Hall!

World Music with a Chinese Twist!

The Great Wall Youth Orchestra and Chorus of Laney College, in Oakland, California, will tour three Northwest cities for the first time this month, as part of a regional tour sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts. The youth orchestra brings together young people from diverse backgrounds to play both world music and classical Chinese songs on traditional Chinese instruments-including such popular Western favorites as Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer" and Johann Strass's "Radetsky March."

The Great Wall Youth Orchestra and Chorus is a program of the Purple Silk Music Education Foundation, an Oakland-based nonprofit that provides free music education to inner-city schoolchildren. The organization was founded in 1995 by Sherlyn Chew, a music instructor at Laney College and at Lincoln Elementary School, in Oakland, to help fill a gap in arts programming in the public schools.

The youth orchestra was catapulted into the public eye in 2004 by a front-page article in the Wall Street Journal, which cited it as an innovative model for music education and promoting cross-cultural understanding. The article focused on Tyler Thompson, a (then) nine-year old African American boy from the chorus who sings Chinese opera solos. As a result, Tyler and the youth orchestra have been featured on CNN, CBS Sunday Morning, and ABC Good Morning America, and received media coverage worldwide.

Last May, Tyler was invited to Washington, DC to perform at a U.S. State Department meeting between Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and China's Vice-Premier, Madame Wu Yee. The youth orchestra has just received an invitation to perform in Ireland next year, which will mark its first international tour.

Tonight! Art Spark Thursday March 20th

Pollyanne Birge — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 16:19:15 -0700

Every Third Thursday

Tonight March 20th--Join us at Art Spark!

Living Room Theaters 5-7pm

Click here to RSVP

Art Spark Mission:

A Monthly Mingling of Artists of All Sorts to Meet, Discuss, Blather, Applaud, & Plot the Growth of the Arts in Portland.

Join us for this monthly meeting to encourage conversation and advocacy in the creative community. The events are every 3rd Thursday--so if you can't make this one--put next month's on your calendar!

The Art Spark event is a way to continue the work of the Creative Capacity Strategy, which has been ramping up efforts starting with last year's Creative Capacity Town Hall, roundtable discussions, and the work of both the CC strategy and steering committees.

Living Room Theaters

Special thanks to: Courtney Spousta, Christi Denton, the Regional Arts and Cultural Council, and the Living Room Theatres who is graciously hosting the event.

PAL offers Spring Break Opportunities for Students

Jane Ames — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:44:02 -0700

PAL HOSTS SAFE HAVEN SPRING BREAK 2008

Portland, Oregon: March 24-28, 2008, the Police Activities League of Portland will be hosting Safe Haven Spring Break 2008 at the PAL Youth Center, 424 NE 172nd Ave.

Youth ages 8-17 are encouraged to participate in this week-long event. Activities will include basketball tournaments, soccer clinics, art projects, field trips and a closing barbecue. Several sponsors are supporting the camp including the Trail Blazers, Portland Police Bureau, Boy Scouts, Villa De Clara Vista, Clear Creek Community Church, Sunshine Division, Safeway Foundation and Rockwood Weed & Seed.

Funds are still needed for transportation expenses.

Registration forms are available at the PAL Youth Center, or PAL's main office at 449 NE Emerson. Permission slips for field trips will be made available on Monday March 17, 2008.

For more info, contact PAL Youth Center Program Director Mike Jezewski at 503-256-3479 or mike@palkids.org.

PAL is a non-profit agency building partnerships between youth, police and the community through recreational, athletic and educational programs designed to develop and encourage good citizenship and improve the quality of life in the Portland Metro area.

The PAL of Greater Portland Youth Center accepts new youth members year round. PAL is open Monday-Friday, 2:30-7:00 p.m., after school, with extended time during school holidays. Spring Break (March 24-28) hours are 10:30am-5:30pm Monday-Thursday and 10:30am-3:30pm on Friday, with some earlier starting times for field trips. Youth membership fees are $50 for the year or $25 for families that qualify for school reduced lunch. There is a one-time cost of $5 for Spring Break only. See the web page at www.palkids.org.

The Beaverton PAL program, located at 12500 S.W. Allen Blvd, is also offering a Spring Break camp, March 24-28, from 8am-6pm. The cost is $50 for the week. Special activities will include field trips to Beaverton Swimming Pool, Beaverton Library, Nickel Arcade, and Barbecue (weather permitting) on Friday. Drop in activities will also be available to Center members in the afternoon including movies, pool tournaments, ping pong, foosball, art, and video games. The Intel Computer Clubhouse is fully operational with exciting projects now including Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, web page design and flash video game creation. For more information, contact Jocelyn Taylor or Scott Hollingsworth at 503-469-9137 or hollingsworthscott@gmail.com.

Molalla PAL, located at 209 Kennel, will offer daily Spring Break activities, March 24-28, 10:00am-5:00pm. Activities will include arts and craft projects, video game tournaments, movies, outdoor games, board game tournaments, and much more. Cost for non-PAL members is $5 for the week. For more information, contact Nick Itami, 503-759-3300 or nick_itami@yahoo.com.

PAL recruits for volunteers year-round, and is looking for college interns to be based in all Oregon locations. Call 503-823-0250 for an internship or volunteer packet or email PAL, info@palkids.org .

Local Downtown Retailer Celebrates New Home

Kimberly Schneider — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 10:37:37 -0700

Congratulating the TeamYesterday Sam joined Victoria and Mayor Potter for the opening of the Mercantile's new location downtown at the corner of 7th and Alder. Owner of the Portland's own classic specialty boutique, Victoria, thanked PDC for the storefront improvement funds she received and applauded Sam for being the City's champion for small businesses: "I'm a beneficiary of Sam's support - and the store's a testament to it." Sam commended Victoria and her team for taking on a location that required serious seismic upgrades and their commitment to remaining in the heart of Portland.

The beautiful new location, immediately off Broadway, features cutting edge and classic fashion choices for women. Go check out this great example of a local small business that represents the best in local retailing and world-class architecture and design. Whether you are shopping for hip, sophisticated, fun, or special occasion dressing, you will undoubtedly discover something special at Mercantile!

Celebrating Green Streets for St. Patrick's Day

Lisa Libby — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 11:50:27 -0700

Clay Street Flyer

Join the City of Portland in celebrating our newest Green Street. The festivities begin with YOU. Help Portland kick off the design phase for the Green Street project on SE Clay Street from the Willamette River to SE 12th Avenue. It's St. Patrick's Day, so wear green and celebrate the greening of our city.

What: SE Clay Green Street Project Open House
When: Monday, March 17 from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
Where: SE 12th and SE Clay Street, in the Burgerville parking lot
Why: Green Streets make Portland more beautiful, more liveable, and more environmentally and economically sustainable.
Why else: Free food!

The SE Clay Green Street Project will sustainably manage stormwater and includes design elements to ehance pedestrian, bicycle and motorist safety. As with other Green Street Projects around the city, the SE Clay proposal adds these needed street features while continuing to serve the business and freight traffic needs of the Central Eastside Industrial District.

Green streets are swales along roadways that capture stormwater runoff and allow it to soak into the ground rather than filling up the storm drains and polluting our rivers. Swales give relief to our city sewer system while refreshing groundwater supplies and adding green space!

The Clay Green Street Project will be an urban greenway to connect neighborhoods to the business district and the river and improve livability for all Portland residents.

We hope to see you on St. Patricks Day while we celebrate one of the features that helps make Portland the most liveable and green city in the United States!

KEEP PDX WEIRD Art Show March 6th

Pollyanne Birge — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:38:12 -0800

Gwenn Seemel Keep Portland Weird Art Show!

March 6th 5-7pm

City Hall 1221 SW 4th

FREE and Open to the Public

A fun mix of what makes Portland unique, this show offers the sights and sounds of our city's finest weirdos. Featuring great local art, music, interactive sculpture, performance and voodoo doughnuts!

Alan Mevis

Featured Artists:

Extremo the Clown
Pasha Productions
Bryan Grimes
Gwen Seemel

Alan MevisRichard Schemmerer

Sarah Henderson
Pat Bognar
PM Shore
Addie Boswell

Nance Paternoster PM Shore

Performance by:

Trashcan Joe

Batty's Hippodrome

Mr. Statue

Refreshments by:

Voodoo Doughnuts
Bridgeport Brewing Company

Come by to get your Keep Portland Weird shirts, stickers and more!

Addie Boswell

pashaproductions.com

A Healthy Urban Watershed Starts With You.

Lisa Libby — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:48:26 -0800

What could you do to improve your watershed?

The Community Watershed Stewardship Program is offering grants up to $10,000.00 for community groups and organizations to improve their watershed.

Past projects have included native tree planting, restoration of upland and riparian habitat, stream enhancement, naturescaping, as well as ecoroof and bioswale projects.

Attend a free workshop to learn more about Stewardship grants available from Portland's Bureau of Environmental Services , including information on:

Creating budgets
Creating partnerships
Understanding grant guidelines

Workshops will be held:

Tuesday, February 19, 6 pm-7:30 pm
Multnomah County Central Library, 801 SW 10th Ave.

Tuesday, February 26, 6 pm-7:30 pm
Historic Kenton Firehouse, 8105 N Brandon Ave.

Grant applications are due Friday, April 4, 2008

For more information call Steve Shackman at 503-823-7917
or visit www.portlandonline.com/bes/stewardship

Will You Be My Valentine? The New Oregon Domestic Partnership Law

The Office — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 15:12:07 -0800

Portland State University, SMSU 298, 1825 SW Broadway
Thursday, February 14, 2008, Free and open to the public

Student Legal and Mediation Services (SLMS) at Portland State University, in partnership with the Queer Resource Center (QRC), proudly presents "Will You Be My Valentine? The New Oregon Domestic Partnership Law" workshop featuring Attorney Beth A. Allen of Allen2 Law. This event will take place in the SMSU 298 at 1825 SW Broadway, on Thursday, February 14, 2008 from 12:00-1:00pm. This workshop is free of charge and open to the public. Light refreshments will be provided.

Beth A. Allen attended Willamette University College of Law, where she graduated Cum Laude in 1996. She clerked for Chief Judge of the Oregon Court of Appeals Mary Deits. She is a partner at Allen² Law, a firm she opened with her sister in January 2006. Beth has been a vocal advocate for gay and lesbian rights for decades, and has won several awards for her involvement in protecting this community. She focuses her practice on adoptions, donor and surrogacy agreements, partnership agreements, and other family law matters of particular importance to the GLBT community. She also represents employees and employers in employment matters.

About SLMS & QRC

SLMS provides confidential and professional assistance to students on a wide range of legal issues. Funded by student fees, these services are available to PSU students who are currently enrolled for 4 or more undergraduate credits or 3 or more graduate credits at PSU. In addition to providing legal advice and mediating disputes for students, it is SLMS's objective to provide legal education of preventive nature. SLMS offers students a large supply of free literature on various legal issues. SLMS also presents workshops on legal issues for student groups or PSU classes.

QRC strives to provide a safe space for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning students, staff, faculty and their allies to be, to learn, and to work together. Located in SMSU 401, QRC has a resource hub where individuals can gather information on topics ranging from personal health and safety to local agencies serving the GLBTQ community in the greater Portland Metro area, a lounge where students can hang out, study, and get to know one another, and a library with books on a wide variety of GLBTQ related topics available for checkout.

For more information about "Will You Be My Valentine? The New Oregon Domestic Partnership Law" workshop, please contact JR Tarabocchia at 503-725-4556.

February 7th--3rd Annual Black Heritage Art Show at City Hall

Pollyanne Birge — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 00:19:08 -0800

Mother, Sister--Isaka Shamsud--DinGenerations: 3rd Annual Black Heritage Art Show

February 7th 5-7 pm

City Hall 1221 SW 4th

Free and Open to the Public

Let Us Make Man--Sunshine Dixon

City Council is excited to be celebrating Generations: The 3rd Annual Black Heritage Art Show! Please join us for great local art, free food, music and performance!

HONORED ARTIST:

Isaka Shamsud-Din

Featured Artists:

Wanda Wright

Sunshine Dixon

Christina Weber--photos of Big Brothers Big Sisters

Cascade Aids Project

Paul W. Dixon

Christina Weber--photos of Big Brothers and Sisters

Sam Macon

Kimi Arigbon

Mark Bishop

Performance:

No Kidding Choir

Film:

Local Color--Don't miss the chance to see the Portland produced documentary film focused on African American history in our region. A great mix of history, photographs and interviews of local community and political leaders -the film focuses on real estate red lining, the Vanport floods and Portland's long tradition of social activism.

Strength--Wanda Wright