When we moved to Portland in 2007, my husband I rented a place in the South Waterfront area where an environmental brownfield had been replaced with LEED-certified condo highrises, a streetcar line, and a brand new neighborhood where there had been nothing. I joined the Art, Culture, and Science neighborhood committee to become connected to my new neighbors and see how I could participate in the cultural growth of this emerging area.

I ended up initiating a project that would partner the University of Oregon with the neighborhood by inviting a member of the faculty to live on-site as an artist in residence, creating and displaying work to provide vital visual energy and a street-level presence in the neighborhood.The artist was given a condo in the John Ross building and worked out of a studio on the ground floor of the building.

The program ran 2009-2010. Artists included Michael Salter, Colin Ives, Kartz Ucci, and Craig Hickman.

I also conducted a series of interviews with creative people already living in the neighborhood, which can be found here, here, and here.