MONTGOMERY STREET PRIDE PAINTING
CLIENTS: Portland State University + Portland Bureau of Transportation
ROLES: Art Direction, Design, Volunteer Coordinator
In May of 2019, a section of Montgomery Street was closed off to traffic and turned into a public space. The street held pop-up events by various campus groups and local businesses. On May 1st, the street was painted by over 70 volunteers, including children, in honor of pride month.
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The shapes in the design represent the many unique identities of PSU’s students, faculty, and staff. The rainbow colors create a link between all the aspects of ones identity and the LGBTQIA+ community.
Rainbow = Gay Pride Flag
Blue + Pink + White = Trans Pride Flag
Black + Brown = The unique contributions and pespectives of people of color within the LGBTQIA+ community.
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The design is intenionally abstract to allow individuals to assign their own meanings to the shapes. The intention was to create meaningful dialouge on campus about how we see ourselves, our peers and colleagues, and how that impacts our lives as students and beyond.
People from all walks of life volunteered to help paint the street. Faculty, students, and staff all made an appearace. Members of the LGBTQIA+ community, people of color, preschoolers and elementary students, students with disabilities, allies, and so many more joined in.
The design became something the PSU community made their own, which added to the vision of the painting as a placemaking project.
The shapes in the design represent the many unique identities of PSU’s students, faculty, and staff. The rainbow colors create a link between all the aspects of ones identity and the LGBTQIA+ community.
Rainbow = Gay Pride Flag
Blue + Pink + White = Trans Pride Flag
Black + Brown = The unique contributions and pespectives of people of color within the LGBTQIA+ community.
The design is intenionally abstract to allow individuals to assign their own meanings to the shapes. The intention was to create meaningful dialouge on campus about how we see ourselves, our peers and colleagues, and how that impacts our lives as students and beyond.
People from all walks of life volunteered to help paint the street. Faculty, students, and staff all made an appearace. Members of the LGBTQIA+ community, people of color, preschoolers and elementary students, students with disabilities, allies, and so many more joined in.
The design became something the PSU community made their own, which added to the vision of the painting as a placemaking project.
Watch a video about this project here.
