Enjoy Friday summer evenings starting July 6th in Fernhill Park. Concerts start at 6:30pm.
July 6
Dirty Syncopators (Funk For the People)
July 13
Dina Y Bamba Su Pilon D’Azucar (Incendiary Havana Salsa)
July 20
Stumptown Aces (Authentic Quebecois Cajun)
July 27
Kevin Selfe and the Tornadoes (Irresistible Original Blues)
Aug 7
Tuesday National Night Out
The Underscore Orkestra (Balkan & Gypsy-Inspired Shenanigans)
Get Involved!
Alberta Main Street depends on volunteers. If you have time and interest, we’d love to have you join our efforts. Volunteers are needed on our four committees, each with 3-4 projects. Below, please find a sample list of projects our committees will be working on in 2012. You can find more information about the committees here.
Promotions Committee
Host Earth Day District Clean Up (April) – Alberta Street Fair (August) – Holiday Promotion (December) – Manage Coop Advertising Opportunities & other Promotions
Business Development Committee
Create & Host Small Business Seminar Series – Conduct Building & Business Inventory – Develop Alberta Street Market Analysis
Organization Committee
Create and Implement a Volunteer Program – Develop & Implement Fundraising Activities & Events – Create and Implement a Communication Plan
Design Committee
Create a District Design Plan – Draft the Alberta Appendix to the Portland Main Street Design Guidelines – Design and Implement a District Improvement Project(s)
Office Management – Help in the office on a regulary & ongoing basis. If you are ready to volunteer your time and energy, please complete our online sign up or contact Sara at 503-683-3252.
Get involved in Portland’s hyper local arts focused community! Join Art on Alberta’s small but mighty all-volunteer board. The community art-focused nonprofit is currently calling for volunteers for two board positions: Secretary, and Education Outreach Coordinator.
Art on Alberta is accepting letters of interest, resumes, and three references for each board position immediately. Each position is open until filled. Screened applicants can expect an in-person interview with Art on Alberta board members. Please submit your materials electronically to: president at artonalberta.org or in paper form to: Art on Alberta, 1526 NE Alberta Street #101, Portland, OR 97211. Please click here to download information about the positions and Art on Alberta‘s promotion of the Alberta Art District’s distinct cultural identity through art and educational activities.
Photos: Courtesy the Cully Neighborhoood Association
A new mural is appearing at the intersection of NE 42nd Avenue and Alberta Court. But this is no ordinary mural thanks to the creativity of resident artist Loey Hargrove, the support of local property owners of the Morel Ink building (Bill Dickey and Matt Witham) and Doggy Business (Doug Duncan and Meredith Wilson), funding from the Regional Arts and Culture Council and the handwork of local volunteers, the image of a tree appears as two interconnected wall mural along this historic commercial corridor between Concordia and Cully.
The image is based on curved forms, creating a highly abstracted landscape of geometric pattern. The two murals reach across the intersection, where the flowing tree giving a sense of movement.
“The mural aspires to invoke community through its ‘Tree of Life’ theme. It symbolizes process, change, the continuity and connectivity of life.” writes Hargrove. This is a fitting dynamic for the community and nod to decades of transformation.
In addition to the image, the mural incorporates words inspired by the theme and location. The inclusion of words, generated and painted by members of the surrounding neighborhoods, reinforce the symbiotic relationship between the commercial district & area residents.
Do you have a word you’d like to add to the mural?
If you have a word you believe reflects the theme and aspiration of this work, submit your suggestions for consideration. Words for the murals will be selected by drawing from the pool of entries. Applications are being accepted through September 30th. For details, contact Bob Granger at robert@g2online.org or 503 771-3916.
On Tuesday, January 18, 2011, the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods (NECN) Board of Directors approved grant funding of $14,597 for a total of eleven community projects as recommended by the Neighborhood Small Grants Community Committee.
The overall goal of this grant program is to provide neighborhood and community-based organizations the opportunity to build community, attract new and diverse members and sustain current membership. This year’s program offered two funding categories: Neighborhood Small Grants as well as dedicated funding for Graffiti Abatement Projects.
The following projects are excellent examples of how people in inner north and northeast Portland are working together to improve the quality of our neighborhoods by building community, increasing volunteer capacity and forging new organizational partnerships (listed alphabetically):
Neighborhood Small Grants
2011 Summer’s Here Walk/Run
Step It Up Granted $1,000
On June 26, 2011, Step It Up will host a community 5k walk/run at Irving Park to celebrate our community’s youth, families and teens, encourage healthy lifestyles through exercise and good health and provide opportunities for organizations to share information with community members.
Chess for Success After-School Programs
Chess for Success Granted $1,000
Chess for Success will provide after-school chess clubs in three schools in Northeast Portland: Faubion, Vernon and Woodlawn, teaching and training community volunteers to assist in the clubs. Chess for Success brings together diverse students, teachers and volunteers, providing a safe haven for students after school.
Eliot Oral History Project Website & Community Listening Celebration
Eliot Neighborhood Association Granted $600
The Eliot Oral History Project will create a website for community members, including students at Boise Eliot Elementary, to use as a resource for learning about their neighbor-hood’s history. The group will also celebrate these histories at “The Gathering” an annual event at the end of August 2011 where people who grew up in Eliot reunite at Dawson Park to share stories and reconnect.
Emerson Street Project
Emerson Working Group Granted $1,000
A property at NE 8th and Emerson in the King Neighborhood will be transformed into an accessible, sustainable community garden and public space that facilitates ongoing community events and celebrates neighborhood history and culture. Project leaders will lead arts-based workshops, tours, local events and presentations with and for local residents, public schools, service organizations, students and parents.
Good in the Neighborhood Multicultural Music & Food Festival
Good in the Neighborhood Planning Council Granted $1,000
Funding will support the 19th annual Good in the Neighborhood Festival, an event that brings together neighbors at King School Park with two musical stages, food and craft vendors, twenty-two community resource tables and a parade. This grant funding will offset the cost of the annual park fee.
Healthy Homes, Healthy Kids
Josiah Hill III Clinic Granted $2,000
Healthy Homes, Healthy Kids will provide families with information and resources to address and prevent health hazards commonly found in homes. The Clinic is particularly concerned for children and families living in substandard housing, as low quality housing has been linked to a myriad of poor health outcomes including asthma, allergies, respiratory diseases, lead poisoning, unintentional injuries, infectious diseases, headaches and nausea.
Student-Led Solutions to Single-Use Plastic
Create Plenty Granted $1,000
Third-, fourth- and fifth-grade students at King Elementary School will engage in a research project about the effects of plastic on ecosystems, collect plastic from the waste stream at school and design 12” squares to display during the Last Thursday art walk on Alberta. Create Plenty will work with students to develop a presentation for the King Neighborhood Association highlighting solutions to single-use plastic based upon their research and experiences.
The Boise-Eliot Open Markets
Spencer Burton Granted $1,780
The Boise-Eliot Market brings together old and new residents from diverse ethnic backgrounds to buy, sell and trade locally made products at the busy intersection of Fremont and Williams in north Portland. With the hope of spurring the local economy by providing a launching ground for minority and women-owned start-up businesses, the Market will use funds to attract community members through live music, murals, a website and banners.
Graffiti Abatement Grants
Alameda Kinderpainters Mural Project
Alameda Neighborhood Association Granted $1,672
Muralists, property owners, PTA members, teachers, kindergarteners and their parents will team up to plan and paint murals on frequently graffitied retaining walls near Alameda Elementary School.
Mississippi Mural Project
Spencer Burton and Joanne Oleksiak Granted $1,945
Artists along with staff and students at Albina Youth Opportunity School, Our United Villages and Oregon UZN youth group will work with community members to develop a mural for the Albina Yard Facility, a maintenance building owned by the City of Portland on Mississippi Avenue.
One Stop Records Mural Project
Oregon Universal Zulu Nation Granted $1,600
Oregon Universal Zulu Nation (Oregon Universal) will work with youth from Outside In and the Vernon Neighborhood Association to design and install a mural on the west-facing wall of One Stop Records on the corner of NE 16th and Killingsworth. The project brings several accomplished muralists, Dylan Freeman, Levi Banner and Brooke Stein to the area and culminates with a community celebration with live music, guest speakers and a meal.
A selection committee, comprised of 10 community members, met in December 2010 to review the scores and discuss each proposal in-depth. Twenty-four grant proposals were received this year requesting a total of $40,209. With the total amount of requested funds at approximately $25,000 over the grant funds available, the committee decided on an evaluation method that ranked projects based on which had potential to have the broadest impact in the community. After much deliberation, the grant selection committee unanimously decided to recommend that the NECN Board of Directors fund the above projects, believing that the Neighborhood Small Grant Program adds great value to the community and to the neighborhood associations within our coalition area.
Funds for this granting program were allocated from the City of Portland’s Office of Neighborhood Involvement to the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods for the 2011 Neighborhood Small Grant Program granting cycle. Businesses and individuals interested in further supporting community-based projects such as those listed above may make donations of any amount to the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods’ Community Fund. The Community Fund provides essential seed money to valuable projects organized by neighbors, neighborhood associations and community organizations to meet community needs.
As a core part of the Portland Community Engagement System, NECN serves as one of seven district coalitions advancing neighborhood livability in Portland through highly inclusive civic engagement. We believe in creating healthy communities by engaging citizens to become directly involved in determining how their neighborhood evolves. NECN fulfills numerous functions: gathering place, idea and project incubator, and outreach service provider connecting community members to resources from agencies and organizations. Our 12 neighborhoods are: Alameda, Boise, Concordia, Eliot, Grant Park, Humboldt, Irvington, King, Sabin, Sullivan’s Gulch, Vernon and Woodlawn. For more information, please visit the Coalition’s website at necoalition.org.
A Benefit at the Curious Comedy Theater for the Alberta Main Street Project
January 8, 2011
Curious Comedy Theater
5225 NE M L King Blvd
Portland, OR 97211
Show is at 8pm, doors open at 7:15pm. Tickets are $15 at the door, or $12 on-line in advance.
Check out our new website: www.albertamainst.org
Join us for ECOPALOOZA
www.econw.org
An intensive Spanish study program will be offered summer mornings, twice weekly in five week sessions for both Beginner and Intermediate Spanish students at NE Portland’s Spanish Language and Latin American Cultural Center, Tierra Educational Center.
Now entering its second year, the local language school strives to create the intensive and cultural study experience found abroad, right here in Portland. In addition to providing language foundations, all courses integrate cultural lessons into the curriculum to offer a more holistic and complete education. Weekly evening classes are also available for all levels of Spanish language learners. Classes are small group, only 3-8 students, offering a more personalized and community-based atmosphere.
Gain professional development, improved travel experiences, or the ability to communicate with your clients, patients, students, or friends through structured and dynamic Spanish classes at Tierra Educational Center.
Visit www.tierracenter.com or call 503-213-3677 for more information.
Writer, Poet Nabeeh Mustafa and Producer/Director Floyd Cruse will reproduce their 2005 production of On Life’s Term: The Middle Passage at The Miracles Club with four performances, March 27-March 28 and April 3-April 4. This dramatic play parallels slavery and addiction, bringing awareness about the issues of addiction and recovery and the affects it has on individuals, families and the community.
The Middle Passage was adapted directed and produced by Floyd Cruse in 2005 from On Life’s Terms a play by Portland writer and poet Nabeeh Mustafa. On Life’s Terms: The Middle Passage, parallels slavery and addiction. The Middle Passage is the Atlantic slave trade, the triangular route from Europe to Africa to the New World. This play tells the realistic and powerful stories of people who have taken the journey or middle passage from drugs and alcohol to recovery. This play highlights the affect addiction and recovery has on us all, bringing awareness about the challenges and struggles individuals, families, and communities face. It also emphasizes the important role and influence, individuals and organizations can have in supporting recovery.
Miracles Club was established in 1992 by African Americans so that all people in recovery in North/Northeast Portland would have a sanctuary where they could maintain their sobriety with culturally specific support and encouragement. A nonprofit 501c3 organization, credentialed by AMH to provide multi-cultural peer delivered trainings, has operated with an all volunteer team, offering a variety of clean and sober social activities and educational forums, which has provided community outreach to more than 15,000 individuals and families since its inception. Miracles also conducts thousands of hours of peer services, health presentations, statewide summits and facilitates 23 twelve-step meetings per week to the people it serves. Currently Miracles is seeking additional funding to expand programming and services.
The play will be shown during two weekends Fri-Sat March 27-28 and Aril 3-4. All showings start at 7:00 at Miracles Club, 4069 NE M L King Blvd, Portland, 97212. Tickets can purchased at Elevator Coffee, Christopher’s, Geneva’s, One Stop Record, Reflections, and Miracles Club.
For more information contact: Floyd Cruse (503) 284-0985 Email: f.cruse@comcast.net
The Emmaus Church will be putting on a live concert of positive and clean hip-hop music as a community building service to the neighborhood. “Hip Hop in the Park” will be held Sunday, August 30th at Fernhill Park between 5pm and 7pm.
For more information contact Cole Brown, Pastor of Emmaus Church, at 871-219-7879 or info [at] redseaportland.com
