When the call for help came this year, as it did in 2023, Beaumont Middle School teacher Lauren Epifano again challenged her 8th grade art students to participate in a BWNA beautification project. The mission: to develop Oregon-themed artwork for the second phase of the Fremont Street Painting Project.
Last summer, the chosen submissions were duplicated by volunteers onto the bump-out areas of Fremont at NE 44th and 46th avenues. This year’s street painting starts at 9 a.m. on July 19 and 20 and will take place at the bump-out areas in front of Amalfi’s at NE 47th Avenue.
“The student groups that worked together on this showed varied and unique interpretations, making the final choices challenging,” said John Sandie, BWNA board member and project leader.
The chosen images will be duplicated onto the bump-out area by volunteers in a short period of time, a task that played into the final choices.
“We were concerned the more complex images would take longer to complete than time allows,” John said. “We had to make tough choices from the art pieces we received from many talented students.”
A second section of the large bump-out area will include a faux stream background replete with salmon custom-colored by students who used a template provided by Sandie. Individual students from the BMS art class and younger neighborhood children submitted images to BWNA.
Get Messy! A “Hands on” Opportunity July 20
The third and smaller section of the bump-out area has been carved out for those who are game to get messy. On Saturday, July 20, all comers can put their hands in paint and pat them on the designated area to create a “hands across the neighborhood” display of handprints in vivid colors.
So mark your calendars and come to Fremont Street to observe the transformations and cheer on the creative local volunteers working on this neighborhood beautification project.
“And,” said John, “maybe get directly involved by offering a ‘hand.’”
He notes that a few more volunteer artists are needed to help transfer student images to the street. Email John at SandieFam@gmail.com for more info.
Susan Trabucco is the volunteer editor of this newsletter. She was the founder, editor and publisher of a regional business journal and former editor/managing editor of Concordia News. Susan and her husband have called B-W home since 2012, where she practices zonal denial in her tropical-ish garden. Reach her by emailing Editor@BWNApdx.org.