see the effects of working to make my neighborhood a better place

We had our first meeting last week with the new board—what a bunch of talented people we got to help make things happen. I seriously don’t think that we’ve ever had as much effort behind Art on Alberta before and I hope that in the next year we will be able to attain the goals we set for ourselves. I think our goals are definitely attainable, but still don’t know how the new group will work together. Time will tell…..but I know it’s gotta be better than it has been.

The Regional Arts Council made this lovely “dress” for the damaged piece of public art just in time for our Art Hop. They are still determining whether to repair or decommission the original piece, but it was really nice of them to do this in response to my report to them about the unsightly state of affairs.

The dress is made of canvas (by local business) and painted by one of their artists!

ps. our Art Hop was great, although it was hotter than …...not sure if that helped or hindered us, but the event went off and was a blast!

We’re putting on a massive art celebration tomorrow. It’s taken an enormous amount of time and effort but I think it’s gonna be really successful. More later, but I will just report that in the past month or so since I’ve become President, I feel like we are making great strides. Thanks for all the cheers!

I just became president of the little arts nonprofit in my neighborhood that I’ve volunteered for for the past two years. A few weeks ago I gathered the existing board members together to redefine our goals and recruit specifically targeted new members to help us achieve them. It took me a long time to decide to take leadership because I feel like I have so much on my plate, but recently it occurred to me that it might be a good lesson for me in learning how to delegate tasks. With that in mind, here I go!!!

There is a piece of public art in my neighborhood that has been in disrepair for many years. The regional arts council who facilitated it says there are bad structural problems and that it’s not an easy thing to fix. I have decided to take it upon myself to try to get the thing removed and raise funds or help get a new piece for that spot that won’t have to be constantly shrinkwrapped because the tiles are falling off! I wrote a letter to the council this morning….hopefully we will get a positive response and can move forward with this eyesore!

I don’t know how I’ll exactly see any positive effects from this, but I organized a great event this year—Tannenbaum Madness, where businesses up and down Alberta Street each create their own unique holiday theme. There are some great ones this year. It was a lot of work, but it’s such a creative event, I can’t resist making it happen every year. My favorites were “Christmas on Mars” and “Glitter Dolls Tree” and the “Silly Faces Tree” and Haute Hanukkah. If you’re in Portland, OR reading this, come check it out before the end of 2007!

for more information, visit www.artonalberta.org and click the Tannenbaum Madness links.

I moved into this neighborhood five years ago. I really love it here. It reminds me in many ways of Eugene, the town I grew up in 100 miles south of here. I am active in my neighborhood to make arts events happen. We have been having a lot of problems with racial tensions and revelers who show up for our events and don’t recognize that there’s a neighborhood here, not a monthly Mardi Gras reenactment ritual. We want to make this a place for everyone to enjoy. I have never been so involved with my neighborhood before and hope that we can surmount our problems and make this a place that’s as happy for its residents as it is for the people who love to come visit us because we are a really special part of Portland.