Milepost 5 Announces Its Final Completion
With A Grand Opening Celebration
Milepost 5, a community for creatives and artists, located in Portland’s Montavilla neighborhood, will host a weekend-long Grand Opening Festival, April 8 to 10, 2011 to celebrate the final completion of its long-awaited phase 2, The Studios building. The end to major construction marks the official opening of the largest live/work community for artists and creatives in the Northwest.
The festival begins Friday, April 8, at 7 p.m. with a traditional Feng Shui Red Rice Blessing Ceremony, followed by a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 8 p.m. with Portland Mayor Sam Adams and principal developer Brad Malsin of Beam Development. The weekend-long festival includes art exhibits in The Lofts lobby gallery and in The Studios building’s two new art galleries. Artwork by the new residents of Milepost 5 will also be on display throughout the second and third floor hallways of The Studios building. The festival continues throughout the three days with music, food and a beer garden in the restaurant and performance space E.A.T., new businesses in the retail wing opening, demonstrations and presentations by Milepost 5 residents, guided tours of the property including on-going tours of the Lofts building by Realty Trust Group, literary readings, a city-sponsored panel discussion, film screenings, and a Bollywood/Bhangra dance party.
What: Milepost 5 Grand Opening Celebration
When: April 8-10, 2011
Where: 850 (The Studios) and 900 (The Lofts), N.E. 81st Ave, Portland, Oregon 97213
*This is a free event and open to all ages
**On street parking—Please respect our neighbors and do not block driveways!
Schedule of Events
Friday, April 8th
- 7 pm: Doors Open
- 8 pm: Ribbon-Cutting ceremony with Portland Mayor Sam Adams and principal MP5 developer Brad Malsin, Beam Development and Red Rice Blessing Ceremony by Milepost 5 resident Caroline Patrick, Feng Shui Master.
- 9 pm: A Simple Colony, jazz, http://www.myspace.com/asimplecolony
- 10 pm to Midnight: DJ Prashant and Bollywood/Bhangra Dance party
- 7 pm to 10 pm: Art receptions in galleries, Open Studios 2nd and 3rd floor of Studios building.
Saturday, April 9th
- 10 am to 3 pm: Brunch at E.A.T.
- 11 am: Jessie Dettwiler, cello
- 12 pm: Tour of the Lofts building by Realty Trust Group, tour starts in Lofts lobby.
- 12 pm to 2 pm: Small Metal Sculpture Demonstration by MP5 resident Kimberli Matin in Shop space. Using a hand-held plasma cutter and repurposed steel, you will be able to create your own refrigerator magnets, wall art, garden art, wall hooks, bookends….the possibilities are endless. A $5-$10 donation for larger items to cover costs of materials is appreciate.
- 1 pm: Guided tours of Milepost 5 buildings and grounds with developers Brad Malsin and Ted Gilbert, and creative director Gavin Shettler
- 1 pm: Alameda, folk/rock
- 2 pm: Green Spaces as Public Art–Presentation is by MP5 resident and landscape architect, Hui Ward. Two public art projects in St. Paul, MN and Portland, OR, the most livable cities in America, will be presented as eco-district making strategies in retrofitting existing buildings and infrastructure for meeting global environmental standards, living building challenges, and watershed health objectives. By harnessing the transformative power of nature and art, public art not only serves as decentralized green infrastructure to facilitate net-zero design and community-based self-sufficiency but also creates place identity in the public realm through the making of pilgrimage destinations and event spaces.
- 3 pm: Tour of the Lofts building by Realty Trust Group, tour starts in Lofts lobby.
- 3:30 pm: Artist Housing Panel Discussions: The Art of Community—a panel discussion with managers and residents of arts-focused live/work spaces in the Northwest, discussing the successes and struggles of organizing, developing and living in an intentional community. Communities represented include Everett Station Lofts, Milepost 5, Falcon Art Community, The Artistery, and the Department of Safety.
- 4:30 pm: Artists Can Own Too!—presentation of affordable housing and ownership opportunities for artists and creatives by Portland Housing Center, Proud Ground, and Milepost 5 Lofts.
**Panel Discussions Sponsored by Regional Arts and Culture Council and the Office of the Mayor of Portland.
- 6 pm: Theo Danger’s Noir Cabaret,
- 8 pm: Autry! www.myspace.com/autrysmusic
- 9 pm to Midnight: Artists of Milepost 5, a showcase of music and spoken word by Milepost 5 residents
- 10 am to 10 pm: Art receptions in galleries, Open Studios 2nd and 3rd floor of Studios building.
Sunday, April 10th
- 10 am to 3 pm: Brunch at E.A.T.
- 12 pm: Tour of the Lofts building by Realty Trust Group, tour starts in Lofts lobby.
- 12 pm to 2 pm: Small Metal Sculpture Demonstration by MP5 resident Kimberli Matin in Shop space. Using a hand-held plasma cutter and repurposed steel, you will be able to create your own refrigerator magnets, wall art, garden art, wall hooks, bookends….the possibilities are endless. A $5-$10 donation for larger items to cover costs of materials is appreciate.
- 1 pm: Outside Voices, alt blues/rock
- 1 pm: Guided tours of Milepost 5 buildings and grounds with developers and creative director
- 2 pm: Post 5 Theater Group performance and talk, two scenes from Romeo and Juliette performed, followed by discussion, http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=152682311462325
- 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.: Encaustic Workshop with MP5 resident Manuela M Kalestiantz in Studios Shop space. Come and learn how to paint in this wax-based medium.
- 3 pm: Tour of the Lofts building by Realty Trust Group, tour starts in Lofts lobby.
- 3 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.: Free-writing workshop with The Writers’ Group.
- 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm: Literary reading presented by Crow Arts Manor, www.crowmanor.org
- 6 pm: Outside Voices, alt blues/rock
- 7 pm: Film screenings
- 10 am to 6 pm: Art receptions in galleries, Open Studios 2nd and 3rd floor of Studios building.
Festival Visual Arts Exhibits in the Milepost 5 galleries include:
Milepost 5 Denizen Gallery, The Studios building
Meet the Neighbors
This group exhibition showcases the breadth and variety of creative pursuits of the residents at Milepost 5. Each resident of the The Studios and The Lofts buildings (37 Loft residents and 84 Studio residents) has a 14”x14” space to exhibit their creative expression: painting, comics, sculpture, music, writing, photography, textiles, etc. Viewers will move through the gallery exploring the inhabitants of Milepost 5’s buildings. The show is a chance for the not only the public to meet the residents of Milepost 5, but also a chance for the residents themselves to meet their neighbors.
Gallery 5, The Studios building
Pushing the Self Portrait: Shayne Oanes and Tamera Bremer
Curated by Cris Moss
This work in this exhibition highlights two diverse introspective approaches employed for self-reflection.
Using a slide carousel to project her photographs, Shayne Oanes creates a stop-frame dialogue that examines the role of the female and related personal expectations in her native country of Iran.
Tamera Bremer’s work explores the craft of hand crocheting. While enduring exhausting and solitary time spent crocheting life size self portraits, Bremer reflects upon her own persona and physical constraints.
Cris Moss, multi-media artist and curator is based in Portland, Oregon. He is currently curator/instructor, Linfield College, Mr. Moss curated the Oregon Biennial 2010, produced by Disjecta Interdisciplinary Art Center.
MP5³, Lobby Gallery, The Lofts building
Abstract Paintings by Studios resident Shannon Lewis
Shannon Lewis is an accomplished painter living at Milepost 5, The Studios in Portland, Oregon.
Businesses opening in The Studios include:
- E.A.T.: Eat. Art. Theater—a restaurant/café with a 100-seat performance space, www.eatarttheater.com
- Muse Art and Design—art supply store, www.museartanddesign.com
- Field Work—handmade objects and jewelry, www.fieldworkpdx.com
- Just the Good Stuff—writing and gift boutique, www.justthegoodstuff.net
- The Stone Muse–stone work jewelry, www.josephinemariedesigns.com
- I’klek-tik—art gallery featuring local and regional art, www.shannonlewis.net
- Crow Arts Manor—a nonprofit arts and writing center, www.crowmanor.org
Arts galleries in the Studios building include:
- Milepost 5 Residents Gallery—A new gallery space dedicated to showcasing artwork by Milepost 5 residents through individual, group, and curated shows. Shows will hang monthly, with opening receptions every First Friday. The Residents Gallery is curated by the Milepost 5 Arts Coordination Committee.
- Gallery 5—Gallery space dedicated to showing work by artists outside the Milepost 5 community. Art shows will be rotated bi-monthly and curated by Milepost 5 creative director, Gavin Shettler.
- Open Studios—Every 1st Friday, from 6-10pm, the public is invited to tour the 1st, 2nd and 3rd floor studios and hallways of The Studio building: artwork, crafts, and handmade objects, all on display for enjoyment and purchase. E.A.T. features live music, food and drinks and 1st floor businesses are open.
Art programs in Lofts building:
- Artist-in-residency—The program consists of two-month long residencies for artists in a variety of disciplines. The application process for 2011-12 begins April 1st, 2011. Past resident artists included installation artists, a performance artist, a poet, a photographer, and a painter. Selections are made by a committee of The Lofts residents. Milepost 5 will be hosting an artist-in-residence in conjunction with New Space: Center for Photography in May, 2011.
- MP5³—Lobby Gallery is a dedicated exhibition space for the artists-in-residence program and other programming created by The Lofts residents. Work changes bi-monthly.
Background and History of the Project:
Artplace Development—comprising Brad Malsin of Beam Development and Ted Gilbert of Portland Affordable Housing Preservation Trust—finishes the five-year development of Milepost 5. The Milepost 5 mission is to provide affordable residential and commercial live/work spaces for creatives and artists in a supportive, community environment.
Formerly the Baptist Manor, a longtime convalescent home in northeast Portland, Milepost 5 includes The Lofts, 54-live/work condominiums completed in the summer of 2008; and The Studios, home to 96 live/work rental units, 15 retail/commercial/work spaces, a restaurant/performance space, two community kitchens, two community garden spaces, a community internet station with service provided by Stephouse Networks, a multi-use community room, a shared shop space and tool library, and two, dedicated art galleries for the community.
As of early 2011, all of The Studios building spaces are leased and occupied, with a waiting list to get into the building, and The Lofts building is 60 percent occupied. The Milepost 5 buildings are full of artists of all types: writers, painters, musicians, graphic and web designers, actors, fabric and textiles, sound artists, photographers and film makers.
A special thanks to Portland Mayor Sam Adams, who has been a supportive part of Milepost 5, sense its beginning. As city commissioner in 2006, he originated the idea of creating affordable live/work space for artists and creatives. Adams introduced the development partners that went on to create Milepost 5
Contact: Gavin Shettler, Creative Director
cel: 503-481-7450 office: 503-729-3223, gavin@milepostfive.com
Office: Milepost 5, The Lofts 900 NE 81st Avenue #112
Portland, Oregon 97213
Office hours: 9-5 Weekdays
MP5 Lofts open house: 1-3 Saturdays and Sundays
