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Enjoy!

Woodlawn Neighborhood Association and Woodlawn Elementary School are slated to celebrate National Night Out on Tuesday, August 4, 2009, starting at 4pm, in Woodlawn Park. An all-ages event, it will feature fun activities, local music, and educational programs. The grand finale of the event will be a screening of the 1970’s classic, “The Wiz” starring Diana Ross and the late Michael Jackson in the park’s amphitheater, courtesy of Portland Parks and Recreations Movies in the Park program.

“The event promises to be a great time, and a wonderful opportunity for Woodlawn residents to get to know each other and the local artists, musicians, and businesses in the area,” states one of the event’s organizers, Melinda Brummett.

National Night Out is a campaign from the non-profit organization The National Association of Town Watch (NATW) that brings people together to build crime prevention awareness, support local anti-crime programs, strengthen positive spirit in the neighborhood, and create partnerships between law enforcement and members of the community. Most of all, National Night Out sends the strong message to criminals – “this community is organized and fighting back!” Food vendors, volunteers, and sponsors are still being sought. Please contact Melinda Brummett: Telephone Number: 503-442-3632 Email address:sixbrummetts //at// gmail.com Website: www.gowoodlawn.com

SCHEDULE: July 6-9, 1-4pm (Sliding scale $55-$135 or $15-$35 per day)

Workshop topics include learning basic woodworking skills; create one of a kind curio cabinet; transforming salvaged materials into works of art; designing and creating a coat rack and a clock from recycled wood and hooks, knobs and all kinds of miscellaneous objects; crafting a racecar and other mobiles; learning to make curves on the bandsaw and how to shape wood by hand; and much more.  The workshops focus on using found and salvaged objects available at the ReBuilding center

To register and for more information, see the ReBuilding Center website.

WHERE: The park at Holman, 13th and Durham
WHEN: Saturday, April 25th, 11am to 1pm

Happy holidays!

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Please add your photos to our group (you’ll need a free Flickr account first). And we’re not just talking snow photos; we’d love a glimpse at what you are seeing in the neighborhood, what catches your eye and what strikes you.

// View our slide show >>

// View our GoWoodlawn photo group >>

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Last week, a group of about 20 Woodlawn residents got together to discuss the possibility of working with City Repair to enhance one of our intersections and create a  multi-purpose gathering place that engages our neighbors.  Several other neighborhoods in Portland have created similar projects with City Repair, a non-profit organization that educates and inspires communities and individuals to creatively transform the places where they live.

While this spot doesn’t have to be the final project location, the intersection that is at the top of the list right now is the odd corner where Durham, Holman, and 13th all merge together. There is a small, under-utilized park that could be re-purposed as part of the project. Rich Mackin, a Woodlawn resident, has also proposed a project to designate the intersection of Rose Parks and MLK as a Civil Rights Square, which could be the location where our City Repair project takes place.  Or maybe we can do both!

A lot ideas were generated at the meeting including:

Play area, play house and/or play structure
Food/harvest box
Free bin
Book exchange box
A fabulous light
A street mural
Road curves
Sheet mulch

Pavers and/or bricks
A bench
Chess table
Tea house
Big community table
Skateboard rail
Oven and/or grill
Kiosk and/or information board

Edible plants
Pee pit
Fire pit
Sand box

Our goal would be that any of these features added would be accessible to neighbors with disabilities and our elderly neighbors.  The next step in the process is to hold a meeting with neighbors to further hone our ideas.   For the project to be successful we need input from a representation of all members of our diverse neighborhood. The more, the merrier!

If you are interested, please join us at the next general meeting on December 2nd at Gregg and Nikki’s house, the big green house at the corner of Highland and Durham.  Potluck food will be enjoyed from 6:45-7:15 and the meeting will take place from 7:15 to 8:30ish.  Please note that Gregg and Nikki have a dog, and while he is large, he is very friendly.

Please follow this website for more information and project updates. If you have any additional ideas for the project please comment below or email Alan at StrongWorkArch //at// Gmail.com.

// See other city repair projects here.

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I’ve been painting as a career artist for 20 years. There have been moments when I didn’t have the time or space to paint. Now the studio is adjacent to my home. A new understanding of what community support can look like, how much I need it, where it comes from and how accessible it is has become clearer to me. Connections made over an extended amount of time after true integrity and character have been established is something I am no longer afraid to commit to.

Opening my studio here in Woodlawn has made me realize how much of an influence community development and empowerment has on my work. The neighbors I meet outside my studio walls are faces that I see on a regular basis. I have more than one opportunity to make a connection with the people that live close to me because (compared to where I have just come from) people don’t move far away from each other as often. Living in a big city among thousands of different faces I may never see again, has become a point of reference.

Woodlawn is the first root I’ve ever planted. With the exception of my long-term friendships and the love of my life, I’ve always been transient living among transients. For me, living in a big city meant, in the very least, many more shallow connections than substantial ones. I have happily begun a settling down process in a “big town/small city.” I’m motivated, inspired, and am on the verge of creating best work of my life here in my Woodlawn studio.

// View Nikki’s work