About Face Magazine - Issue 01 by ABOUT FACE Magazine

aBoutFaCe

spring 2011

Portland’s Interview Magazine

PINk MaRTINI’s

China ForBeS

FILM CRITIC

Shawn Levy

ENTREPRENEUR

doug LindStrom

CULINaRy aMbassadoR

JaSon FrenCh

LoCaL FashIoNIsTa

raCheL MARA

INdIGENoUs aRTIsT

mark SheLton

LoCaL hERo

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di St r

Complimentary issue

marvin mitCheLL

Photo taken at Couture Portland by Tim Sugden

COLLIER 615 sw broadway • 503.224.5473 • portland or • collierclothier.com

aBoutSCENE

couture aBoutFaCe magazine Anniversary Party

Publisher

Couture’s One Year Anniversary kicked off a week long celebration starting 2.23.11 with local DJ Gigahurtz. On Thursday Couture hosted an evening of thanks to loyal patrons, friends and family with beverages, buffet of appetizers while resident DJ SouverinT was spinning. Friday and Saturday’s party was over the top with DJ’s flown in from Las Vegas and New York to entertain the crowd.

Editor in Chief Graphic Design Managing Editor Copy Editor Staff Photographer Contributing Photographers

David Bentley Michael Sant Gary Menghini, Michael Sant DC Rahe Nina Lary Tim Sugden Jason Howd, Joe Strecker, Bill Crawford, Josh Baker, Joe Strecker, Adam Sawyer

Feature Writers Tom D’Antoni, Chris Angelus, Gary Mier

Jamie Mustard, Chris Young, Becki Singer, Mara Storm, Nina Lary

Account Executives

Ann Lucia, Tim Sugden, Kyle Collins, Lawrence Martin, Mindy Miller

Proofreader Robin Farm Cover Image

Shot by Tim Sugden, China’s dress by Erica Lurie, Make-up by Katherine Ross

WWW.ABOUTFACEMAG.COM GENERAL INQUIRIES OFFICE@ABOUTFACEMAG.COM The owners of Couture are strong believers that ‘giving back’ be a crucial part of their business. Kim Seid is a long time East Portland Rotarian and they decided to combine this celebration with one of Rotary International’s main goal, to eradicate Polio. A portion of the week’s proceeds will be donated to the Polio Plus Program.

ADVERTISING INQUIRIES SALES@ABOUTFACEMAG.COM ABOUTFACE Magazine and the entire contents of this magazine are copyright 2011 Bentley Patrick Inc., all rights reserved and may not be reproduced in any manner, in whole or part without written permission from Bentley Patrick, Inc. Printed using soy based inks. Published in PORTLAND, OR 97209.

Bentley Patrick, Inc. 503.922.2731

PUBLISHER’S NOTE Welcome to our premiere issue of ABOUTFACE magazine. From the beginning, this magazine comes from an honest place, a place of love for Portland. Our magazine is interested in the people that help make Portland a great city. Our definition of an ABOUTFACE is a moment of clarity or change. Success is rarely easy and we have all made choices that influence where we stand today. We have all had an ABOUTFACE, whether we recognize it or not. As a quarterly magazine, in a city with such a large pool of talent, deciding who to feature is no easy task. There will be people you know or want to know about, each and every issue. We will do our best to ask questions and provide answers that are thought provoking and intriguing. We would also like to hear from you, the reader. I invite you to visit us online to express your thoughts and insights. aboutfacemag.com

DJ SouverinT

Whether the topic is fashion, food, music, business, writing, design, art, science, health, or even local heroes, like Marvin Mitchell, who make our city a better place to live, the people we interview all have one thing in common: each one had an ABOUTFACE. We’re less interested in celebrity worship than we are in learning and being inspired. Our premiere cover is a perfect illustration of Portland’s talent. China Forbes is known worldwide for her musical talents as a part of the band Pink Martini. As a celebrity and true professional, China maintained a down-to-earth attitude during her interview and cover shoot. By the end of a long day together, which took us from the AFM studio to Kink’s Bing Lounge, we felt like we’d made a new friend. Oftentimes, well-known Portlanders aren’t boasting or bragging. They are even quiet or reserved. But many of us want to know more about them. ABOUTFACE magazine will help draw them out, get inside, and reveal their stories.

East Portland Rotary presidents in succession. 6

Owners Jeff and Kim Seid with manager Mark Seid

Best to you Portland, David Bentley

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aBoutFaCe magazine

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Shawn LEVY

doug LINDSTROM

CONTENTS 10| 14|

aBout FILM

Learn what Shawn Levy really thinks about cinema in Portland. “Writer. Dad. Film guy. Soccer Fan,” the Brooklyn-born Portlander has been writing for The Oregonian since 1992, and has been the film critic since 1997.

aBout BUSINESS

Former bartender, now social entrepreneur, introduces his new invention the POWR, which assists cash workers save for their future.

aBout CUISINE

JaSon FRENCH

20|

Perhaps Jason French could be Portland’s Culinary Ambassador with his East Coast sensibility, his energy, and his passion for the Portland food culture.

China FORBES

24|

According to her “Pink Martini” partner Thomas Lauderdale, “The thing about China Forbes is that she is truly a star in every scene.” She is not just the singer for “Pink Martini” she is a song writer, and a mom.

aBout MUSIC

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SPRING 2011 raCheL MARA

28|

aBout FASHION

Discover the woman behind Moulé and Rachel Mara designs. Rachel Gorenstein is the creative director of Moulé, while being the fashion designer of Rachel Mara.

aBout ART

mark SHELTON

38|

Open your eyes to what Mark Shelton sees and thinks as a Native American and working artist in Portland. As well as his experiences in New York and Santa Fe.

marvin MITCHELL

42|

Be inspired by Marvin’s Mitchell’s and the work at Julia West House. A homeless program that is showing real results in the city in need for hope and transformation.

PortLand OR

47|

Most people agree that the heart and soul of Portland is the districts. Each district has it’s own distinct personality and scene. This issue covers twelve of Portland’s business districts.

aBout HEROS

aBout DISTRICTS

photo - Tim Sugden

aBoutFILM

Shawn Levy by Chris Young

Film critic Shawn Levy explains why Portland is second best to Paris when it comes to watching movies

“When you think of Portland, Oregon, you don’t think one of the world’s great movie towns, even though I would argue that it is,” matter-of-factly states Oregonian film critic Shawn Levy. “But more from an exhibition than a production standpoint.” Portland is approaching “film museum” status, according to Levy. A land where many independent films run for weeks, even months, longer than any other national market. Self-described by his Twitter handle as: “Writer. Dad. Film guy. Soccer Fan.” the Brooklyn-born but present-day Portlander has been writing for The Oregonian since 1992 and serving as the paper’s chief Film Critic since 1997. Under the early tutelage of a father who was a comedic writer turned florist, but truly an old school film buff at heart, Levy knew that “writing was what I always wanted to do.” Publishing six entertainment-related books while working at a daily newspaper, Levy has delved into subjects like The Rat Pack, Paul Newman and Jerry Lewis and he’s currently at work on a biography of Robert De Niro, slated for tentative release in 2013. Feeling “fortunate to write about a subject that I’m passionate about and still entertained by after 25 years,” About Face asked Shawn Levy: 11

Truly the only city on earth that I can think of where there are more central city screens dedicated to alternative than mainstream film is Paris, France, which to me is the best movie city in the world. You go to Paris tonight and you can see twenty Hollywood classic films in the original English with French subtitles--Westerns and film noir and musicals and they’ll have a Peter Lorre series or Lana Turner series. It’s like the city is a film museum and Portland approaches that. The average American sees around five to eight movies in the theater per year. How many do you see per week? I see as many in a week as people see in a year. I see about 300 new movies a year--that’s an average year. Many people fantasize that watching movies all day would be a dream job, is it your dream job? Yeah, it’s a dream job, but when you wake up, the reality of the job is that it’s only partly about watching movies. The real job is writing accurately, entertainingly, and constantly on deadline. In a film market like Portland, which is pretty robust, we get about 800 new movies a year. When you start talking about 800, you’re not talking about kicking back and watching a movie. You’re talking about cobbling shoes or moving bricks from one end of the yard to the other. It just becomes like a labor at a certain level. Particularly with newspapers shrinking down, there are fewer hands on the oars, and since we’re online and in print, there’s more work to be done. I know for a fact I have a great job, but it is definitely a job; it is not a golf vacation in Hawaii. What’s your first memory of film?

photo - Tim Sugden

Why is Portland a great movie town? If you draw a line from City Hall to the Hollywood Theatre and make that the radius of a circle, in that circle you have more screens dedicated to independent, alternative, documentary, avant-garde, and experimental cinema than you do Hollywood studio films. And that is a unique situation for an American downtown. There may be more screens dedicated to those things in New York, LA, San Francisco, Chicago, but they are spread out all over the place. And in that spread they incorporate many multiplexes. We have a situation where, in that area I described, there are five commercial multiplexes but one of them is dedicated to this type of film (The Fox Tower). Then you have things like the Hollywood and the Laurelhurst and the Living Room and about a half a dozen single screen theaters. So, what happens in Portland is a picture like the Stieg Larsson movies, The Girl With the… whatever the hell she has opens at Cinema 21 and plays for a week or two and then he replaces it. But then it can play at one of these neighborhood independent theaters for weeks and weeks and months. There are movies that have lasted in Portland longer than they have played anywhere else in the country. The filmmakers come here. Last year, The Secret of Kells, the Irish animated film that was up for an Oscar, played in Portland for like five months, and at a certain point, the director [Tomm Moore along with art director Ross Steward] flew over from Ireland to come to Portland to do a Q&A at a screening because he was so overwhelmed by the support the film had here. 12

It was definitely from my dad. I don’t know what anyone was thinking, but when I was about eight or nine, In Cold Blood came on TV and they [my parents] let me watch this movie. I fell asleep before it was over so I had no idea those bastards were hung or caught and for years I had nightmares. I mean nightmares! Dick and Perry were going to come in my house. It wasn’t until [laughs] I was in college that I saw the whole movie and I was like, “You mean they’re dead!” My parents didn’t sensor what I saw. I was allowed to see a lot of things.

your whole life that you’d never had a chance to see-even in New York City where there were these great repertory cinemas that showed programs of Fellini films and film noir and all these other things--you could go ten, fifteen years waiting to see a particular film. We live in a golden age. You can watch thousands of movies without getting out of your chair. I remember it was decades before I got a chance to see [Orson Welles’] Touch of Evil. Same with The Manchurian Candidate or certain foreign films that you would read about but you just never saw [in theaters]. It was a different time and a challenge to be a film buff. Has something been lost with all this convenience? Oh, I don’t know. I suppose it winds up throwing all movies into the same pool, but I think we’re better off being able to see things. If I get interested in Carl Theodor Dreyer, or some obscure director, I can see most of his work without traveling to Denmark. It’s kind of overwhelming, but it’s definitely better. What influenced you to become a film critic? I was always steeped in journalistic writing and I always wanted to be a writer. [As a child,] The writers that drew me were columnists and opinion writers--the people who had their little picture in the paper seemed to carry more authority than the guys who just had their names. But it wasn’t until after graduate school that I started writing about film. My first gig was about 26 years ago, and it barely paid. I mean barely. I was lucky because I was in Southern California and even though I didn’t have any relevant degree or experience, there were a lot of entry-level jobs at entertainment publications. I got hired by a magazine called Boxoffice, which is a trade publication for theater owners. We wrote articles about peanut or coconut oil for popcorn. “Cup holders: Are they the new thing?” But we also reviewed every movie, including porn. How was that? Well, I didn’t do it, we had correspondents. The mail would come and the other editors and I would look at it and say, “Do we draw straws to see who touches that thing?”

In a film market like Portland, which is pretty robust, we get about 800 new movies a year. I grew up in an era when there were no VCRs, no cable TV, and if you wanted to see a movie you had to wait for it to show on television and of course it would be chopped up and in black and white on a tiny screen. But my dad was really a film buff of the classic Hollywood era, and he would lead me to different films. He’d say things like, “Why don’t you take a nap after school so you can stay up and watch On the Waterfront with me.” I have specific memories of watching things with him, but I am never sure what films they were. I know what sort of films: Bogart and John Wayne and James Cagney. It was also a time for a movie buff where you used the library. You read about movies and then you would pour over the TV Guide to see what was showing that week because you had these movies that you’d read about

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We were a very active magazine and I got to do all sorts of reporting, writing, interviewing, and reviewing. It was a real introduction to the field and within about a year and half I went to a much better magazine called American Film where I was senior editor. Before I was there, it was owned by the American Film Institute and everyone in Hollywood was a member of the AFI so they all got American Film Magazine. We would get letters, not for publication, from Charlton Heston, Gregory Peck, Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee. These people would call if they saw something they didn’t like or they would try and get things into the magazine that they were interested in.

aBoutFILM On one hand, that was a kind of pressure. On the other hand, it meant that if we wanted to send a reporter to a set or get an interview, we had a lot of good fortune. We were very successful even though we weren’t a massive magazine like Premiere or Entertainment Weekly. We were prestigious. We weren’t interested in gossip. We weren’t interested in who is making how much money. We were interested in the art of films so people felt safe talking to us. I interviewed Akira Kurosawa and Pedro Almodóvar and Wim Wenders. You could get these people on the phone because you were American Film. Give me a highlight from your time with American Film—whether it was someone you interviewed, a celebrity you met, or maybe even if Spike Lee called you to b**ch. All those things happened. I was invited to the opening gala for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Library--the people who give the Oscars. It was the most star-studded thing I have ever been to and I’ve covered the Oscars. But this was like a cocktail party and you were surrounded by legends. It was still the late ‘80s, so in the room were Elizabeth Taylor and James Stewart, Gregory Peck and Shelley Winters and lots of contemporary stars, but I saw those people all the time. These people were done making movies and you never saw them out. As I said, I got to interview Akira Kurosawa, which was a crazy interview. He was in Japan, I was in Los Angeles, and we were conducting the interview via fax. I would fax a question and he would fax an answer. He was so kind about the whole thing that afterwards, I didn’t ask for it, he sent me a copy of his autobiography in Japanese, autographed.

In Portland, the directors whose work I always look forward to include Todd Haynes, Gus Van Sant, Aaron Katz, and increasingly Kelly Reichardt. Then people like Almodóvar, Scorsese, Soderbergh, Wes Anderson, Bryan Singer, the Coen brothers, David Lynch, Sam Raimi, Spielberg. There are so many. How do you view new films? Do you physically go to a theater for a screening or do you get a lot of DVDs? Both. I would say maybe 40% of the movies that we review are from [DVD] screeners. But, the major studios do not release screener copies of their films because they are so worried about bootlegging. For studio films, we’ll see them anywhere from two weeks to three days in advance of opening day. And when you watch a screening in a theater, do you always sit in the same place? Left side aisle, about two-thirds of the way back. I’m fidgety. I am really fidgety if I don’t like the movie. What’s your best advice for aspiring writers? You can’t follow everyone out of the bookstore and explain what you meant. What you meant has to be on the page, otherwise you’re not doing your job. Publication is a form of letting go and when you let go, the words are subject to scrutiny. You may not always like what the scrutiny brings, but that’s the job. If you’re writing for readers, then readers do have the last say. www.shawnlevy.com | blog.oregonlive.com/madaboutmovies

What gets you excited in today’s film world? There are a couple of dozen filmmakers that I get excited by. Not so much actors anymore. Actors I enjoy, but actors are kind of like pitchers on a baseball team. If it’s a good baseball team, you could pitch a good game and if your team scores nine runs and doesn’t make any errors, you’re the hero. But you pitch the exact same game and you have a crappy team that doesn’t score and they keep dropping the ball, you’re gonna lose. That’s the way it is with actors.

DOUG LINDSTROM

By Jamie Mustard

An Entrepreneur Developing a Product to Make a Big Difference

oug Lindstrom a former barman, is currently doing

comprehensive testing and trials with the fourth generation of this device, the Point of Wealth Register – POWR. It is a compact and sleek machine, which has to be seen to be believed. The purpose of the POWR device is to allow

What exactly is the POWR machine or the POWR register and what does it do? It gives the cash-compensated employee the ability to harness the power of maximum daily earnings, or maximum daily cash in hand. You make cash if you are a waiter or a bartender, and at the end of the day it helps you to save some? Day laborer, taxi driver, hairstylist. Any worker that deals in cash. And it allows you to do what?

working-class people easy access to financial markets and

The genesis of the system came about from just years of experiencing my coworkers and I falling victim to the distractions that can arise when you have a pocket full of cash. It’s just very easy to spend because it’s so liquid. And there’s never been a way to instantly set some aside to make it safe, to keep it out of harm’s way.

wealth building tools.

So, you put it into the machine, where does it go?

POWR is a device about the size of a small backpack that

You sign up on our website with your account number for checking, savings and you can also top off your prepaid debit cards via our system for a lot less than you can through Wal-Mart or other situations like that.

can be mounted in almost any business location. According

You call it the Point of Wealth Register. What about wealth building?

to Doug Lindstrom the founder and president of Point of

Yeah, that was actually the genesis for the whole thing, the lightning strike, the God-smack or whatever you want to call it. It’s just a simple math of having the opportunity, or the ability to empower yourself, one shift at a time. Putting $10, $20 a shift away to the future. It can build up pretty dramatically even over a year’s time.

those of the cash economy such as service workers and other

Wealth Register – POWR, it is intended for businesses that deal in cash or have a lot of cash transactions. POWR will also enable cash workers to quickly upload money into a savings or checking account but the breakthrough is in long term savings financial products and wealth building.

So you could put it right into an IRA? Yes. That is the system that is hopefully coming out when we do our initial launch to the public, but, we still have some scenarios to work out with ING, the company that we are working with. Apparently the transactions need to be initiated from their side as a company policy, but in our situation we’re going to try to alleviate that policy because we’re so different. It sounds like a kind of reverse ATM, so my question is why would somebody use the POWR machine in their workplace rather than just crossing the street to use an ATM?

aBoutBUSINESS business

m a g a z i n e

photo - David Bentley

Well, even if there happens to be an ATM across the street which isn’t the case in many situations that I’ve been around...you still have to make it across the street. They will also and most importantly have the immediate ability to upload the money into long-term financial products, so they are not tempted to spend it the next day even if it is only five bucks. It builds and it changes your way of thinking in a very gentle, yet profound way. It makes me think about all the cash I blew when I was younger. I could have a fortune and it probably wouldn’t have changed anything I was spending my money on back then. I just wasted money as a practice. Absolutely, yeah. That reminds me of the way I was able to secure seed capital from our initial investor. For a long time I was saying to this guy, “Hey I got this great idea. All I need is a little bit of money to get it off the ground, to get the ball rolling.” He was like, “Well, I like the idea, but you know, no thanks. Not right now.” To make a long story short at the time he was being consistently pursued by an Aflac representative who wanted to offer financial training, advice and products to our investor’s employees. He has approximately 100 employees in a courier business. He didn’t want to do it. He was certain his employees didn’t want a dime more taken out of their checks. Eventually the Aflac guy was so persistent our investor said, “Hey, I’ll put a meeting together for a Saturday morning, but no one is going to show up for this.” He put the meeting together and as it turned out just about everybody in the whole company showed up and out of that 90% of the people signed up for all the services. So he said this demographic does want to, they want to make themselves better, they want wealth-building benefits. He called me that night and said, “I am going to give you your seed money.” That’s a great story. Is it true that you are a former bartender and that is what led you to develop the POWR machine? I was a full-time bartender for several years as well as a musician. I still, as it stands to this day, work one night a week in the bar. It really was being a bartender and having that loose cash that gave you the awareness that there was a need to put cash into electronic funds so that people could save it and build wealth? Exactly.

Is the primary purpose of POWR to benefit the working consumer or the financial institutions? From my perspective absolutely the working consumer. It’s going to benefit the financial institutions as well though, but my focus and the place it was born from is to help working people. Okay. Are you aware of any other product that allows cash-based workers to access financial markets or financial products? No, I’ve done a lot of research on that. And I really have not been able to find other products that kind of like extend out – like extended deposit network. Like tentacles, I guess. It just doesn’t seem to be around. How about the ability of the financial industry to sell products to working-class people? Have they had this access before? Not that I know of. Is there any financial education involved? Just today the gentleman with ING ShareBuilder says that they’ll provide access to the products, but they won’t go out and teach. They are excited to get into this market via our system, but they are apprehensive about going out and teaching or providing advice. So I think through simplicity of use, gradual natural progression and grassroots word-of-mouth we will become that education platform, as in time as people see their money grow in a non-intimidating way they will become curious about more and more options. The POWR device will come with advice and support employers can use to educate and empower their employees if they want it. But what it really comes down to is an easy way to get started. Once they get going, their responsibility and curiosity will grow for many people. As it won’t be something complex or something that only people with more resources do. Do you feel like with the lack of this machine, there just hasn’t been a way for the financial industry to connect to workers and for workers to connect to the financial industry? Absolutely. It’s that the access just hasn’t been there. And that’s what we’re the conduit to; to providing that access because I mean that’s what it is. In this demographic sector of the workforce people just haven’t had the option. Continued on page 18

“ It makes me think about all the cash I blew when I was younger. “

How big is the potential market in your eyes?

Where are you in the development and the release of the machine?

Encompassing everything that we’ve seen in interest from all the different applications for our product outside the initial focus industry is 60-70 million people. One out of every four households is unbanked or under-banked and under-served. If these people start to save, even in the smallest incremental amounts, in time we are talking hundreds of billions if not trillions of dollars.

We’ve just really intertwined the software and hardware. We have our transactions stacking beautifully on top of each other, going in and out of the sandbox, testing with our automated clearinghouse. So I mean the system works.

Okay. How many of these machines do you envision in the US market and where would they be distributed, if you are successful?

The system works. It’s ready to go. It’s just a matter of, at this point, funding. We need more. We don’t want to launch it and then have to close it down immediately because we’re running low on money. We want to have enough so we can go out, get the learning curve going, and get bullets in the gun as people use the system. So we want to have enough operating capital when we roll it out. We have made so many connections and built up so much goodwill in the marketplace that we need to have the resources to really stride down all those avenues.

I see hundreds of thousands. I see so much potential. It’s really kind of mind boggling even outside of the service industry. We’ve been approached by one of the largest national tax-preparation companies in the country. They have 12,500 locations that sit empty almost year round and they see this as a way to drive people into their property during the off-season to use a system like we have.

So, you are testing the actual prototype right now?

I really love it. Okay, well Doug this was fun. We should do it again sometime. Maybe we next time we can meet at Starbucks.

You see this as being part of the American culture? Eventually, yeah, that’s the ultimate goal for me. It’s the ultimate vision. USAA Insurance contacted us about military bases, post exchanges.

That sounds great!

Do you ever worry about being perceived as a feel good product and not being taken seriously as a business? Yeah, I mean it’s a concern. But you know, I believe in capitalism as much as anybody, but I don’t believe in manipulating capitalism for some sort of zero-sum situation. I mean, I do – I think the product is altruistic or whatever. It’s just a good part of what we’re doing. But we want to make money as much as any other business does. What has been the highlight and milestone of the process of building this business for you? There have been several. Just from the first form factor prototype to where we are now up to the fourth generation. But there are a lot of rewards that come from validation from great business minds and great technical minds like the acceptance into the DEMO Conference.

“my focus and the place it was born from is to help working people. “

What’s the DEMO Conference? It’s a technology conference that’s arguably the most prestigious technology conference in the world. It’s extremely vetted. The acceptance ratio is very low and to be accepted to that was a great highlight. When you think about some of their alumni E*TRADE, TiVo, Java, Symantec. How did it go over? It went over great. We were one of the three major featured companies. Well, they actually had five companies featured, but we are prominently featured in the front page of the USA Today “Money” section with the big picture and that was definitely like a “wow” moment. “I think we’re really on to something here.” When I hear your story it reminds me of all things of the mass proliferation of Starbucks. 20 years ago Howard Schultz in the Northwest introduced the nation to something that Europeans had known for years – that coffee could be exquisite. In a way by developing the POWR machine you’re introducing a new way of thinking to financial institutions and the working class. In other words, the mass proliferation of the POWR machine has the ability to bring about a cultural change. Indeed. I love the fact that you’re comparing us to Starbucks because I think about that actually frequently and I think of Howard Schultz who grew Starbucks in the same manner that we’re doing it with the private placement memorandum and growing it out to what it is today, just an amazing success story. And what you say about the cultural kind of iconic thing that it has become? That is what I really admire about Starbucks and I would love to see at some point this business or this system in the same light. In a way, we are doing the same thing: introducing a group of people to something that they are really going to like once they get a taste of it.

Doug Lindstrom

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aBout SCENE

onPoint Community Credit union Celebrity Spelling Bee

n January 28, 400 of Portland’s top business, community, civic and education leaders met up at the Portland Art Museum for the OnPoint Community Credit Union Celebrity Spelling Bee. Guests were greeted at the Art Museum with a cocktail reception and perused the silent auction before heading upstairs for the main event – the Celebrity Spelling Bee.

Cesar Chavez School principal Antonio Lopez speaks to the need in our local classrooms

Local celebrities put their spelling skills to the test to raise funds for Schoolhouse Supplies. Among the 15 celebs who came out to support education in our community were Portland Trail Blazer Patty Mills, Dave Dahl of Dave’s Killer Bread, Mayor Sam Adams, County Commissioner Jeff Cogen, KGW Morning meteorologist Nick Allard, and Portland Timbers mascot Timber Joey. Author and entertainer Viva Las Vegas was the big winner, beating out Willamette Week’s managing editor Hank Stern by correctly spelling “schadenfreude”.

Portland Trail Blazer Patty Mills hams it up

Guests enjoy the cocktail reception and silent auction

Schoolhouse Supplies board members, clockwise from lower left – Laura Olson, Karen Pinder, Sean Guerrero, Jim Guse, Mark Trupp, Eric Butler, David Roy, Brian Owens, Max Schwartz and Anne Mersereau

Antonio Lopez, principal at Cesar Chavez School in NE Portland spoke to the crowd about the need in our classrooms, and gifts made during a special appeal paddle raise were matched by the Fred Meyer Fund. Sponsors OnPoint Community Credit Union, Comcast, NW Natural, Knowledge Universe and US Bank helped the evening raise a record-breaking $230,000 for students in need. Schoolhouse Supplies is a non-profit organization that supports academic success by giving free school supplies to teachers and students. Visit Schoolhouse Supplies at www.schoolhousesupplies.org or look for them on Facebook, or twitter @pencilpete. Photography by Andie Petkus, Joni Shimabukuro and Paparazzi Tonight The team from Knowledge Universe with Trail Blazer Patty Mills Rob Stuart, CEO/president of OnPoint Community Credit Union, raises a paddle in support of Schoolhouse Supplies

Schoolhouse Supplies founder, Katie Gold with husband David Gold and father Red Rogers

Portland Timbers’ mascot Timber Joey and Portland’s Mayor Sam Adams take the stage

The drumline from Madison High School kicks off the trophy-winner award presentation

Schoolhouse Supplies’ Mascot, Pencil Pete awards the 2011 trophy to Viva Las Vegas

Staff of the Portland Trail Blazers enjoy the event

Dave Dahl of Dave’s Killer Bread makes an entrance

Staff of Schoolhouse Supplies at the event – left to right: Jennifer Samuels, Erin Olinghouse, Gayle Kellman, Bo Bullock, Lydia Cox, Courtney Berry

Schoolhouse Supplies Executive Director, Gayle Kellman with loyal supporters, Tobias Grazini and Michael Mathison 19

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Ja Son FrenCh by Chris Angelus

If Portland were to elect a culinary ambassador, Jason Francis French would be high in the running. He wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t necessarily be appointed for his own exceptional cooking skills, nor his notoriety as a restaurateur, but rather his belief in the energy of our city and the artisan food culture that makes Portland a primary destination for anyone who loves to eat. When I first met Jason to discuss an idea I had to promote a Portland foodbased vacation to New Yorkers and others who might enjoy the unexplored territory of the Northwest and its artisan vibe, his eyes glowed widely behind his horn-rimmed glasses, like a kid who had just discovered the coolest candy store in town and couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t wait to tell all his friends. When French and his former business partner visited a failed pizza joint that had only a wood-fired oven and no room for a stove or traditional kitchen, they decided to make it work. He planted a garden behind the space and used the produce to supplement ingredients that he sourced at local markets and farms. French recently took time out of his hectic professional and family life to talk a bit about Ned Ludd, the Food Network and his top five, ok seven, Portland food highs. 21

What drew you to Portland?

Where do you see Portland in the food universe?

So then who are the a**holes in Portland?

Yeah, the story is I was teaching culinary school in Boulder, Colorado and I was having an awesome lifestyle, but I was like itching to get back in the kitchen. You are either a cook or a chef, and I wanted to be a chef. The woman I was dating was moving out here. I had worked for a chef in D.C. He came out here, and he was like freaking out about God’s Country and the seasonal milk shakes at Burgerville, you know. So, after going through some radical food transition stuff myself – I had done vegan, I had done raw, I had done cleansing and then I get out here to visit her and I went to the Farmers Market on this rainy day in October. It was like the most transforming experience just because I realized like, oh all of this stuff is here. It’s all happening here like 70 miles, a 100 miles, a 120 miles from the city, whereas in Colorado you would talk about peaches from the west range, and that’s like four and a half hours away and lamb from Wyoming was three and a half hours away. Access here was really different. I got back in the car and I had this epiphany moment. So I moved here to be a chef with my ten-page resume because, in teaching I had done a lot of TV spots and had a lot of like newspaper articles written about me. So I had all the big spots that I knew here. And then I met Vitaly Paley at a party.

I would say ingredient-wise I’ll go to bat with any city in America. I’ll go to bat with a lot of cities with our access to high-quality ingredients. That’s all here. Wine, beer, spirits, cheese, bread, produce and meat. Here, compared to the big cities though, you probably give up polish and you give up service, and I don’t mean service in a way where like you get bad service in Portland although a lot of people complain that you do, cause there’s kind of a “holier than thou” that goes on. But great restaurants in other cities in America, the level of service is old school – as Danny Meyer points out in his book, where they genuinely care about your experience. Not that we care about your life story and your children, but like, we care about you, and we want you to have a good experience.

I’m an a**hole in Portland, if you want to know the truth (laughing). No, no, no. I’m saying that in my early days in kitchens in Portland, I was considered East Coast. And that’s slang for a**hole.

You are a marketing guy, but you don’t want to be considered a marketing guy. Yes, I’m always marketing. As a chef you don’t get into this without wanting some recognition for what you do. But the game is the game. If you get recognized in anything, you then start the game. You know there are a lot of chefs who are amazingly talented, kicking out great food and running great businesses everywhere in the USA that never get any recognition. So then the game begins and well, now it’s been put out there. Can you keep it up? I pay attention a lot to branding and marketing and I don’t think I’ve figured out a way that I want to best represent Ned Ludd yet. You wear so many hats. Doesn’t it require discipline to run a successful Portland restaurant? I was probably faking it in the kitchens where I was required to be super disciplined. I am not a great discipline person. But I’ve worked in so many kitchens, and I have been doing it for so long and have studied the masters, so I know how to be that. I can be super-focused and intense, but it’s more creative spontaneity that drives me. Who has influenced you here most as a chef? As a chef it would be Morgan [Brownlow] and Vitaly [Paley] who were the two people who I worked for. But the funny thing about Vitaly is that we didn’t really get along and we get along better now than when I was working for him. It was partially because of Vitaly’s ability to come up with a dish, whether it was influenced from outside or not, but his ideas were pretty amazing. And just the way that they ran that restaurant versus every other place in Portland – like nothing touches it. They kind of remind me of Chanterelle in New York, where I think they both worked, where it’s fine-dining and it’s like they care so f**king much. It’s almost obsessive caring about their staff and all the attention to details, that it almost shouldn’t work. And of course Vitaly’s a dreamer, a musician and very creative and so he’s like got projects and side things and self-promotion. But seeing him operate in the Northwest and the difference of like coming from New York to Portland was a very real thing and yet, then he would call me too East Coast. And then Morgan and just because Morgan’s so crazily awesome. You know he is just, he is so good. So talented. (Morgan Brownlow now co-owns Tails and Trotters, producers and suppliers of Northwestgrown hazelnut-finished pork and charcuterie). 22

“I would say ingredient-wise I’ll go to bat with any city in America.... with our access to high quality ingredients....compared to the big cities though, you probably give up polish…” But here the experience is kind of downplayed and that’s why carts are so popular. Standing in the rain and eating a burrito is not a good experience but relative to paying more, it’s not a bad experience. At a restaurant, it’s food, service, and ambiance. Those are the three things that are engaged every single time. You have a good experience that resonates with you and you have this emotional response to it, but if you are just going to eat to f**king fill your stomach, you know, what can you expect? And a lot of people do that. Welcome to the American food culture. Restaurants are a fully class-based reality. Are there poorer people living in Portland than other cities? No. Is there a creative class that also likes food? Yes. Oh, there’s the carts. How weird? How weird that that demographic is a reality in our restaurant scene. It’s not really weird. It’s basic sociology. Cuisine comes out of disposable income. If you look at the history of cuisine you know, at Ned Ludd we cook a lot of like what we call our grandmother’s cooking or peasant American food, and yet I’m French-trained so it’s sort of like this mashup of food ideologies. I want people to have an awesome experience, like they would in restaurants of old. But you know, I am not afraid to do, kind of like country cooking, but the reality of cuisine is that it is always the dominant class who created the cuisine. You know, the peasants weren’t going to the big Roman orgies and feasting, but nobody is really reading about what the peasants were eating. They were living on whatever they could scrape by on. What has the food media like the Food Network done to our culture? The studies are there. It’s entertainment. The whole thing about the Food Network and Bravo and Top Chef, like people don’t really f**king want to be a chef, they just want to see how dismal a person who wants to be a chef can be made to feel. It was born out of the cult and personality of chefs and then the focus shifted because suddenly there were celebrities, and you know, none of those top guys got to where they are because they are super nice and really thoughtful with their cooks and really committed towards being a good person. They were like brought up in a world of hardcore military-style kitchens, where you learned a ton. And if you had the passion to drive, you could be whatever you wanted. You could write your tickets from those kitchens, but like they were f**king a**holes, like straight up, you know, hard people to work for, demanding. But then that became what everybody wants to see.

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Alright, as an East Coaster myself, I have experienced that. Top five food experiences in Portland. Go. John Gorham’s duck gnocchi when he was at Tuscany Grill. Vitaly Paley’s bone marrow and escargot. Anniversary with my wife at Le Pigeon. A picnic I had in Laurelhurst Park with my wife – everything from Cheese Bar for that one. Late night alone at Biwa. Actually Troy MacLarty made a family supper, and it was the first time my wife ate chicken. He made Boudin and he just nailed it. CJ asked what was in it and at the time didn’t eat winged creatures. After that she was like a bona fide chicken fan. Those would be my top. Oh and another one! Dinner with Wille from Heart [Roasters] and his wife Rebecca and my wife at DOC was pretty f**king magical. It was amazing actually. I think that’s the jam of Portland right now. Oh my god between Austin and Tim they just they put together the experience... and you can do different wines with every course and these are wines that you will never get in any other restaurant in town. Like Austin does such an amazing job. That’s seven. How about one here at Ned Ludd? I say this past New Year’s was epic. Oh, and another one was Morgan Brownlow’s sole with tagliatelle. Morgan’s pastas at ClarkLewis were phenomenal. It’s a bummer that Morgan’s still not a chef. Think he’ll ever do it again? It’s in his blood. I asked Jason for five of his best food experiences in Portland, and apparently he just couldn’t stop. Visit Ned Ludd for the rest of the list, which, like his menu, probably changes daily. www.nedluddpdx.com Chris Angelus lives in Portland and runs an ad agency along with his new venture, Portland Food Adventures, which celebrates our community of chefs and food artisans.

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ChinaFORBES by Tom D’Antoni

Though no one would call China Forbes a diva, she’s certainly had the sort of career that produces them. Forbes and pianist Thomas Lauderdale started Pink Martini in the ‘90s and they still write most of the original songs for the Portland-based ensemble, whose shows have been applauded in all corners of the world. This year alone, they’ll play in South America, Europe (Royal Albert Hall in London), Canada and across the US, including a show at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. with President Obama in attendance.

Forbes is working on a new album which she describes as, “Carole King meets Coldplay,” and writing a musical memoir for the stage - composed entirely of songs she’s written that have no place other than to make her friends laugh. She’s also filmed a few episodes of “Someone’s In the Kitchen with China”, a talk show shot in her kitchen. Lauderdale once said about her, “The thing about China Forbes is that she is truly a star in every sense. It’s like Bette Davis or Joan Crawford found their identities on the screen and similarly China is that kind of star.” ABOUTFACEMAG.COM

aBout MUSIC Do you agree with that [Lauderdale’s statement]? I like that. I definitely didn’t feel like a star right away. I mean I’ve always had a lot of good fortune, like throughout school, both high school and college, I was really artistic. I did drama, I was in plays, I sang folk songs in coffee houses, I was in lots of singing groups, I played sports... and so I was never in one social group, in a box. I was friends with the geeks doing the tech crew for the play as well as the people in the art department, as well as the French teachers and the lacrosse coaches and the athletic people. So I’ve always really been comfortable just hanging out with anybody and because of that I have friends in so many realms. When I first came to Portland it was to sing as a favor to Thomas...and for money, a lot of money. Because at the time Thomas promised “I will pay you so much, will you please fly in from New York?” and I was like, “All right, I guess so”. I didn’t know he didn’t have that kind of money. I did not feel comfortable in this band at first, except in the beginning it was just sort of funny and campy and didn’t really matter and I could rise to the occasion. But then when it started to get more serious and

25 Flowers by Sammy’s Flowers, photo by David Bentley

we were playing with symphony orchestras and I had not really been trained, not at all... I mean, I took piano for a year when I was 13 and I am self-taught on the guitar but I just never really took voice lessons and suddenly I am fronting an orchestra and I am really insecure about these classical musicians and they must see that I am a fraud and I don’t know what I am doing. And so I had to really work through all of that and sort of find a way to occupy that space, and I figured it out finally, but it took a lot of work. It’s more psychological. I think I’ve always had a gift inside me but I can get in my own way and choke and tense up and second-guess myself and it can be obscured, but if I am really flowing and relaxed it comes out. It doesn’t always come out in front of the audience. When I sing alone at home with my piano, it’s a much different voice. Pink Martini must be like the most romantic band in the world that’s not sappy. Oh, that’s good. How do you keep from being sappy? It would be easy to jump that shark. I think there is a system of checks and balances because, well, Thomas is sort of the check and the balance, but I think we check and balance each other. If Thomas had his way, we might spin into a dream world of harps and more strings. He always says, “More strings!” and then I say “But what about the bottom line?” I am really sort of rational, straightlaced, a more mainstream economic person and he is more like, “I don’t care what it costs, it’s about the music.”

“I am my muse, my life experiences are my muse.” So I think if he had his way it might twirl off into the stratosphere and if I had my way it might be so in a box that it would be boring. But when it comes together it’s a little bit of both and it works. But the sappiness, I mean...Thomas is really the artistic director of the band, he’s the sieve through which all of the music goes and he takes all of the cheesiness out of it. The cheese sieve. It’s like whey, it’s like cheese cloth. He’s the cheese cloth. I know you’ve been working with him forever, how has that collaboration changed? Oh it’s so different. I mean when we first met in college we were 18 or 19, and it was all just dreaming about opera. I studied Italian in high school so that I could one day study opera. He said, “What do you want to sing?” He got me all of my favorite Verdi and Puccini arias and the sheet music and he accompanied me, and it was this amazing thing, because I grew up before karaoke and all I wanted to do was sing along to songs, but without the singer, you know? I recorded Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes singing “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend” from the television on my little Panasonic cassette recorder and then I would just play it back and sing along, but she was singing too, so it was my 8 year old version of karaoke. But then Thomas became the accompaniment that I never had and it was so great, like I could basically try anything.

When I first came here to Portland, it was still very campy. Thomas was just at the end of wearing cocktail dresses on stage. It was pretty much all covers, very good covers you know, like “I Dream of Jeannie,” “Moon River,” “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” “Hernando’s Hideaway.” I mean it was great songs, but totally over the top. When we recorded Sympathique, suddenly we realized campy and over-the-top doesn’t really have a broad reach and we didn’t want to be a niche band. We kind of toned down the camp and upped the classical element and got serious and then we got really serious and now we are trying to recover from that. Thomas and I totally love each other and yeah we are kind of like a dysfunctional marriage. We’ve cried a lot, we shared a hotel room in the early days. Horrible roommates. I mean he’s smoking cloves and I am trying to sleep at ten and he’s out all night... “I don’t want to be your roommate can we please have our own rooms?” That evolved to no longer bunking on tour together, but we’ve been through everything. Both of us have had incredible personal losses, family issues, personal crises throughout this twenty-year relationship and as much as we might, you know, have certain patterns that don’t really always work seamlessly, we are working on kind of undoing that right now and trying to get to another level with our relationship. I think that our collaboration could be a lot stronger if we get through that. Do you bring a song to him fully formed as far as you are concerned? Well I do, yes. He doesn’t like that. I have a lot of ideas but when I finish the song by myself then he doesn’t really have a way to participate. My problem is I have the whole thing in my head and it’s hard for me to just say, “here’s an idea,” and see what he does with

photo - Autumn de Wilde

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photo - James WilderHancock

it, because sometimes he runs away with and its like, “whoa! I don’t really know what happened to my idea.” We really have to trust each other to respect each other’s vision. It’s hard. We have to get to that place of trust where it’s sort of like, “okay we know that this is a germ of an idea that we are going to work on together.”

Do you believe in having a muse or are you too realistic for that? I am not that realistic! I mean, I am sensible, I am a sensible unrealist. My muse is me. I am my muse. My life experiences are my muse. It’s quite a leap from making out in the elevator with Eugene to…

Do you still write at the piano? How do you know that happened? Oh yeah all the time. But when my son was just becoming a toddler, he would run over and pull my hands off the keys whenever I tried to play and say, “my piano!” I think it stresses him out when I play because it’s sort of like Mommy’s job takes her away, you know? So he associated me playing music with absence, and it was really hard. Then when he would take a nap, I didn’t want to wake him up, so I never got to play the piano. Now he goes to school and so I have the morning alone and I play all the time. Do you still keep pictures of your family on the piano? Oh yeah, I have a couple of pictures on the piano but the walls are just covered with family pictures. My Dad’s a huge inspiration to me, especially, and my mom too. But my Dad was wild. Do they serve as a muse for you? More kind of just remembering where I come from and parts of my life that I think I might forget if I didn’t see the pictures.

I heard “Hey Eugene!” your song. The song. Oh (laughing). Am I too confessional? From that to “Over the Valley.” That’s another one of your songs. That’s interesting; I never really thought of it that way. Well, I mean at 25 in New York City, it’s a different kind of lifestyle. In your 30s in Portland? A little more contemplative, you know? I am not having that kind of adventure anymore. My adventure now is making my house as cozy as I can possibly get it. Don’t you have any adventures when you go all over the world? Yeah, but I am married, and I have a baby. I am the one who goes to bed right after the show; I am not hanging out with the guys all night. Purple dress: Catherine Malandrino, NYC Black dress: Catherine Malandrino, NYC Necklace: ten thousand things, NYC Earrings by China Forbes Bracelets: China’s own Flowers by Sammy’s Flowers photo - Tim Sugden

R Two-Timing:

Portland local rachel Gorenstein does double-duty as creative director of Moulé and desiGner of rachel Mara. by becki J. sinGer

When interviewing a fashion designer, particularly one whose style you admire to an embarrassing degree, the questions are the easy part. The real challenge is figuring out what to wear. And so, on the day I met with Rachel Gorenstein, who is both the chic and impossibly savvy brain behind Rachel Mara, and the creative director of Moulé, I’d be remiss if I didn’t admit to going through several wardrobe changes in preparation. In the end, I settled on one of two Rachel Mara pieces I own, and it worked out well: Rachel showed up wearing the other piece. Fashion kismet? I like to think so.

But then, Gorenstein is used to that sort of thing. She’s led something of a charmed life when it comes to fashion. Her mother, Beverley Gorenstein, is a consummate collector of vintage fashion and objéts, who started Moulé back in the late 1980s as a way to showcase some of her eclectic finds from travels to Morocco. After years of marinating in her mom’s inimitable style and watching Moulé take shape, Gorenstein was invited along on a trip to her mom’s beloved Morocco to lend ABOUTFACEMAG.COM

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her critical eye to a collection on which her mom and brother were collaborating. The trip proved to be transformative. Gorenstein joined Moulé, turning it into a true family business, and began work on a clothing line of her own. In spring 2001, she showed her first Rachel Mara collection during Fashion Week in Los Angeles, where it was promptly snatched up by the likes of Fred Segal, Saks, and a bevy of other high-end boutiques. Clearly, Gorenstein was onto something. Now, she does double duty, designing each and every piece that comes out of her increasingly successful atelier, but also managing all of the buying, marketing and every creative endeavor for Moulé, ensuring everything that comes in or goes out has that unique, eclectic, and infinitely stylish vibe on which we’ve come to rely. And somehow, she does it all with style, grace and just the right amount of edge…which, after all, seems to run in the family. So, Rachel, you essentially have two different jobs, with both Moulé and Rachel Mara. Can you give us more detail on your roles? Sure. With Moulé, I’m the Buyer of men’s and women’s clothing and accessories. And Creative Director of the brand, which encompasses everything from visual merchandising to window displays to brand campaigns, holiday campaigns, internet growth. So you get all the fun jobs. It’s quite fun, yes. That’s what happens when you design your own job.

And what about with Rachel Mara? You run everything, right? I design everything. I’m a bit of a one-woman show, but I do get help. I have a production manager and a sample and pattern maker and periodically assistants and interns. Those are both huge jobs. I can’t imagine being able to do one of them let alone two. Can you tell us a little about a typical day for you? I think I kind of thrive on the creative chaos. I find that I do bounce around during my day, from solving a store problem to thinking about, perhaps, the website to working on a blouse design for Rachel Mara. I feel that it all triggers something else. I like being involved in all these different things at the same time. I’m assuming there are times of the year that you have to focus more on Rachel Mara, or focus more on Moulé…? Well, it is always kind of double duty. I’m going to New York and Vegas and LA for the shows coming up to do buying for Moulé, and at the same time I’ve been designing my line and preparing to show that at Fashion Week. I find myself wearing two hats a lot. We’ve talked a lot before, but I don’t actually know that much about how you got started in fashion. I know Moulé is a family business, so I’m sure that was a strong influence for you. Is fashion something you always wanted to do, or did you sort of fall into it, because of the family connection? I kind of fell into it. I actually wasn’t that into fashion growing up. I always loved clothes, but I was into other creative endeavors. I studied fine arts and got

rachel mara oyster dress- $398

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into design and advertising, and that’s what I did for a long time. I think I sort of repressed the fashion side as I grew up, because I was the only girl growing up in a house with four boys. So, I was a serious tomboy, and the idea of wanting to be a fashion designer and make pretty clothes just didn’t fit into the “girls’ lib” environment that I was in. Tell me a little bit about the store. I’d love to know more about how Moulé came to be. Well, it started with my mom. She started designing a line of clothes that grew from her travels to Morocco, back in the late 1980s. And then after a few years she brought the line back to Canada and placed it in several top stores across the country. A few years later, she decided to open her own store. She is quite an eclectic collector and she was an antique dealer for a while. So the store just became this outpouring of all her tastes - she’d travel the world and find interesting things from all over the place and combine them in this really interesting shop. I love seeing pictures of your mom around the shop and on the website. She has a great sense of style. I’m assuming that has influenced you quite a bit? For sure. I just grew up around style. My mom has really great taste and was always original. She really did her own thing and had her own sense of style and aesthetic. I didn’t always get it and sometimes just wished she would dress like the other moms. But it opened the door to making up my own rules. She collects textiles and our house was full of beautiful antique embroideries and laces, we were surrounded by different ideas of beauty.

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So, talking about Rachel Mara for a minute, I’d love to know the story of how the line began and the early days of getting it started? Well, I was actually working in advertising, and my mother and my brother were spending time in Morocco during the initial stages of Moulé, and they invited me to come on a trip and help consult on a collection. It was hard to turn down a great exotic trip, and the chance to go and give my creative input. So I went on the trip, and I got pretty involved in that collection - it was a spring collection - and I helped them create this initial line for my mother’s collection. We showed it in Canada, during fashion week, and I actually won an award, and so that made me think “oh, okay this is could be interesting.”

Might be on to something here? Right. So I continued on that path for three or four years, doing a portion of my mom’s line, bringing a more youthful take to it. I then decided that I wanted to do my own collection, so I started creating a line. I had gotten some experience in the past few years and continued to just learn as I went – by trial and error. And after my first show in Los Angeles, my first season landed in Fred Segal, and Saks, and a lot of top boutiques…

Having started out the collection and having such a successful response, has everything with Rachel Mara turned out the way you expected that it would? I think, no, but nothing in life ever does. I’ve learned you have to really be organic about it, and go with it and adapt. Are you happy with where it is now? Absolutely. Yes.

That’s a good first show! It was a good first show. It was great.

rachel mara silk print wrap dress- $345

silk v-neck blouse- $175 rachel mara pleated menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s trouser- $195

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aBout FASHION So I am guessing that you probably have a really interesting perspective on design since you are also a buyer for a successful retail store. I would love to know how Moulé influences Rachel Mara and vice versa? They both teach me a lot. I’ve learned a lot from seeing my collection on the floor, having the staff react to it, and customers try it on. I get this great insight into the fit and feedback about how to make it better every season, which is just invaluable information. And, I also think it helps me be a better buyer, because I do get to take all these things into account and think about what our customer is looking for, what she really wants and needs and what she’s drawn to. We’re all looking for those things that just jump out at us. What has been the best moment so far in your career? I think it’s a recurring thing - anytime I meet somebody that is wearing something of mine, or stops me to say they love what I do, that’s pretty amazing. That’s what makes it worthwhile. Do you walk up to people when you notice them in your designs? There was a woman wearing my coat in Whole Foods the other day, and I was just staring at her, because her coat just looked so nice, and it was tailored beautifully, and I suddenly realized “Oh! That’s my coat!”. I was just proud of how great it looked on her. I didn’t say anything, though. I never know if people want to be approached or not. Personally, I would be thrilled if a designer came up to compliment me on how I was wearing their clothes. Really? Okay, I’ll keep that in mind.

Speaking of, let’s talk a little about style. What do you think your personal style is? I think I’m kind of classic chic with a bit of a twist. I’m quite a collector. When I buy something, I plan on having it for a really long time. I don’t buy a lot of throwaway clothes. My favorite shoes get resoled every year, there are some that I just adore, that I’ve had for ten years. So, I’m into more timeless, really interesting pieces. What about your style when you are designing? Do you take the same approach? I try to, absolutely. I have to take more people into account when I’m designing than just myself. But again, I try to create special pieces that I think people will hang on to for a long time. Who do you imagine you’re designing for when you are designing for Rachel Mara? I think it’s me, and women like me. When you have friends around you and they’re telling you what they need, or what they love to wear when they are going out, that’s such great input and feedback about what people are looking for. I think there is a disconnect sometimes in the industry as to what everybody should be wearing versus what you need to be able to reach for and put on every day – the pieces your real wardrobe calls for. That brings up an interesting question. I would love to know how you approach trends in fashion. I mean, when skinny, very fitted pants are “in”, for example, how do you balance keeping your collection on trend versus the reality that a style won’t necessarily work for a lot of the population.

As a buyer, to some degree, the industry dictates, because you can only really bring in what is out there and our customer does want contemporary current lines. So, if you go to buy a line, and all they’re showing is skinny pants that season, and you’ve got all these customers that don’t look good in them, you’re left searching for another line, that may be not as current or contemporary. I think we have a really good sense of who our customer is, and we really try to buy for them and have a good balance. What about from the design side? I try to be aware of everything that’s going on. I’m a bit of a sponge. I love looking at magazines and blogs and keep trends of what’s happening in my vernacular and then try to edit it. Where do you look for inspiration? Everywhere. People that I see on the street. If somebody puts something together in a creative way, I’m always really inspired by that. I think it’s fantastic, that somebody made that effort. I do like designers like Prada and Marni and Dries van Noten – people that are kind of pushing it, doing things that aren’t always necessarily just on trend, but really creating their own point of view. I think that’s hard to do. I always imagine a fashion designer’s closet must be a treasure trove. I’d love to know about some of the really special pieces in your closet. A lot of them are hand-me-downs from my mom. She has a fantastic closet – every time I go back to see her in Winnipeg, I go through and find something else that relates to where I am at in my life now. When I was in my early 20s, I would find, maybe a vintage denim piece, and now, I

culotte short- $15 stripe silk sweater knit- $26

just discovered a beautiful vintage lace piece and a few sequined pieces that I love– just beautiful, one-of-a-kind pieces. What about closet staples? What would you say are three pieces in your wardrobe that you can’t imagine your closet without? Right now, I would say I’ve been wearing my Leigh and Luca scarves, because they just completely brighten my gray and black wardrobe. And I live in my NDC cropped suede moto boots, and probably anything cashmere right now. With those, I can build around just about anything. This is why we get along so well…we have almost the same closet! So, I think women that are really serious about fashion always tend to have sort of fun early memories of style. I’m wondering what your first memory of fashion is? I think it’s a tie between getting my pink corduroy Gloria Vanderbilt pants, or my first pair of Jordache jeans. Those were definitely my “I’m in fashion now” moments! So I want to talk a bit about the nitty-gritty of when you design a collection. How do you get started and where do you find inspiration? It happens differently each time, but generally I try to find something of interest to me that aesthetically motivates me and is going to keep my interest for a few months, while I’m living in that world. I create mood boards and surround myself with my inspiration. My spring collection was titled Stolen and was inspired by retro films about bank and jewel heists; Faye Dunaway and Ali McGraw, in Bonnie and Clyde and The Getaway. These heroines were intriguing, mysterious, risk takers that were always beautiful and stylish. It was inspiring to translate their lives and wardrobes into modern day.

My problem, I think, if I were going to be a designer, is that I would be too selfish. I’d always be going through my mental checklist of what’s missing from my own closet, and filling those holes by designing pieces for myself. I do that too, especially if I’m looking for something and can’t find it. I feel this need and nobody’s making it or they haven’t made it perfectly, so I decide to do my version of it.

My spring collection was titled “Stolen” inspired by retro films about bank heists” In addition to your mood boards and that general aesthetic you’re keeping to each season, is there anything else that you really like to have around you when you first sit down to design a collection? I like classical music; it helps me with my chaotic creativity. When I need to really focus, I get the classical playing and that gets me into my zone. When I think about Rachel Mara, there are a couple of things that really stand out for me in your designs. The first is your prints. I think you create and use prints in your clothing better than almost any other designer out there. Thank you. I would to love to know the process of developing a print and finding the inspiration for using them so beautifully.

It is a hunt to find those prints. I go to small European mills, and try to find something in their collection, which I can recolor or alter to make it my own. I also use vintage prints an old silk scarf, or a vintage piece, and I’ll rework that. I think prints are very personal, so I’m glad you like them. I’m sure, as many people hate them. It’s a really tough thing to get right and make something special that you would wear over and over again. The other thing I always notice about your collections is that your clothes are cut in a very unique way. When you cut a pant, for example, I find that it’s not just necessarily a typical, classic straight cut – it’ll be more unique, maybe with a slouchy waist and a fitted cut for the leg. Can you talk a little about that? I’m a pant person, not a skirt or dress person. So, wearing pants every day, you try to think about how to make them more interesting and still flattering. And I think there should always be one main thing that makes your look special – you don’t want to have too many things happening in one look. So if you can make the pants have some interesting style, you can really pair that with a simple top. Flattering pants are very challenging for people, different body types need different cuts of pants, and I try to have a variety that is elegant, flattering and interesting. How often do you repeat a cut or style from one season to the next? Well, if they work, and if they fit? Potentially, forever. But it is amazing with pants because it changes so quickly from season to season, you go back and look at it six months later and the rise is just an inch too short, and – you can’t just bring up the rise, you need to rework the whole thing. You go to put on your denim from a couple of years ago, and somehow they don’t seem right at all. I’m always sort of amazed when I look at runway shows, and suddenly a color palette, or a certain cut of pant is in every runway show. I imagine there’s a secret meeting happening at a coffee shop somewhere, where all of these designers are scheming together. I wasn’t invited. (laughs) Neither was I! But I’m wondering how that comes to be…it can’t just be coincidence. No, there are trend forecasters, for one thing, so a lot of big companies use forecasting to be on trend. But then I also think there’s this thing called the “Collective Conscience”, and everybody decides at the same time that something is great, and somehow it just spreads and everybody feels it, and…wants it… It gets out into the universe? Yes. I think so, it is a small industry, so there is a lot of crossover with designers working with stylists or consultants or forecasters that will work for multiple companies, and that plays a role. Being in Portland, instead of in New York or LA, are you able to participate in that collective conscience? Do you get the opportunity to work with a lot of other designers and get input from them, or does that even interest you? I’m pretty isolated. But I think I would be isolated no matter where I was. That’s the kind of person I am. I like to get into my mode, in my work cave, and do my thing. I do like to collaborate with stylists and photographers and am very interested in what other artists and designers are doing, more than other clothing designers.

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Portland definitely has a unique style all its own. How does this city and its fashion sense influence your designs? It really does influence me, because I react to everything around me every day. I love the bike culture here –people riding their bikes in these great dresses and skirts, they look incredibly stylish and fashionable. I’m always doing a double take when somebody passes by in this great summer dress, on a bike. Style is very vintage-inspired here; people are incredibly creative with their fashion here. I have also found incredibly fashionable, stylish, well-traveled women in Portland. That’s the woman that walks into our store every day. It’s really encouraging to keep on doing what I do, to keep on buying for Moulé, knowing they are here and that we have the chance to meet their needs. Has Portland been a good fit for Moulé, do you think, in terms of the style and the aesthetic? It has, actually. I’m amazed by how many people thank us every day for being here and tell us how much they love it. We have great loyal support from our customers here it’s amazing. Since I know Moulé is a family business, I have to ask about working with family. I worked with my mom for many years, so I know it can present some unique opportunities, but also some challenges. How does that work in your family? Does it all just come out seamlessly? Oh yeah, seamless! (laughs) Every family is a little dysfunctional…so most family businesses can’t help but being a little dysfunctional. What’s hard is when you bring your family dynamics from growing up. We had this “five kids in this crazy house” mentality that just transferred to our work life. It’s all you know, and it’s how you interact and that’s the dynamic.

But we’ve worked really hard to grow beyond those family relationships and be professional and it works. I love that I get to work with my brothers and my mom. I love them, and we’re close, and for the most part, we think alike. It can be trying too, but you can yell and scream and have a big fight and know that it’s all going to be okay tomorrow.

“The film heroines were intriguing mysterious risk takers that were always beautiful and stylish. “ That’s one of the things that’s unique about working in a family business – you can have those big blowouts, and know that it’s going to come together in the end. Exactly. That’s very comforting. I feel very lucky that I get to experience my family this way as well, and spend so much time together. Since you are working on Moulé and Rachel Mara together so often, how intertwined are they for you. Does one lead into the other? Do you find yourself designing pieces for Rachel Mara that you think Moulé needs and you haven’t found from another designer, for example? Not necessarily, because Rachel Mara has to be done so much earlier, at least six months ahead of my buying for Moulé. I’m showing Rachel Mara at Fashion Week at the same time I’m at the shows buying for Moulé. But I’ve started to develop this line called RM, which is a diffusion line that does fill those needs for Moulé.

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Where do you see Rachel Mara headed and Moulé? Well, Rachel Mara I see pretty much on the same path. I really like the idea of keeping it smaller and doing limited edition and more specialty pieces. And Moulé – the word actually means “to shape” or “to mold”. It’s about evolving and trying new things, that’s what keeps it interesting and fun for all of us and our customers. We’ll always continue to try new things. I keep expecting you to start a collection of accessories for Rachel Mara, so that’s the one I’m waiting for. Yeah, I would love to. Handbags, shoes and scarves, that would be fun! Since we are coming up on spring, what are some of the trends that you are excited to see for the season? Well, we were talking about that phenomenon where everyone does a similar thing, and it’s true this season. I have a very kind of 1970s retroglam thing going on in my spring collection, and it’s showing up a lot of other places too. I’m very excited about that –high-waist denim, colors are back, crochet, headscarves, there is a glamour that’s fun and playful. I really think there is a little bit of everything out there now, and that’s kind of nice – you can really find your own voice within all the trends that are out there. What’s the first piece from the Rachel Mara spring collection that you are going to grab off the rack when it comes in? Oh, I usually need a little bit of distance from a collection once I’m done with it, to be honest. But I’m pretty excited about the Peach Print wrap dress, my pleated men’s trouser in off-white and my denim suit.

aBout FASHION

So, for our last question, can you tell us your About Face moment? The moment when you decided that fashion was the path you wanted to take? I don’t know if it qualifies as a total “about face,” honestly. I’ve always been in the fine arts, or in a design field, so for me, it was a very natural progression, it was really organic. I just went from one design discipline to another. My whole career has been like that, really – I’ve always been willing to try things, to take risks and just trying to be a creative person out there, making things. Thank you so much. Was that relatively painless? Relatively! (laughs)

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MARK SHELTON by Gary Mier

photo - Tim Sugden

our years ago, my wife saw Mark Shelton’s work unceremoniously gathering dust in a high dark corner of a public shop. She came home and told me that I had to see it (I’d heard that before). When I finally got around to meeting up with Mark, he brought his work down to eye level and into the light. I was speechless. The work was unlike anything I had ever seen: not quite painting or collage or sculpture – yet all three. Not preachy, yet full of a message. Mark and I met three times - once on location at Maya Lin’s Land Bridge in Vancouver - during January to discuss his work, designation as Honorary Tribal Artist for the Chinook tribe, and the ups and downs of the Santa Fe art scene.

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aBout ART When you’re layering all of those papers, how do you see the finished work in your mind? I see the images fractured into intense color fields and pleasing shapes in my mind. I don’t have a predestined plan. During that time I’m in euphoria, or as I call it, “my time with God,” everything just comes together. This is the state that can’t be taught. I’ve worked with a lot of artists. I’ve held their art, mounted it, touched it. Before you Mark, I’ve never had an artist ask me to wear white gloves before handling their work. There’s just so much care that goes into the work. But on a physical level acids from your skin can work their way into the pieces. I don’t use frames. I use a gallery-wrap technique so there’s no frame to hold onto when you’re examining or mounting one of my pieces for display. The gloves are a precautionary measure to protect my work in particular. You are the Honorary Tribal Artist for the Chinook Tribe? I‘m very proud of that. It’s a great honor. And by the way, it’s pronounced “Chinook,” with a c-h sound, not an s-h sound. The chief will correct you. I stand corrected. I know that you’re very close to Chief Snider and proud of your affiliation with the Chinook tribe. At many points during the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the expedition party could have been killed. The Chinook, in particular, aided them from The Dalles all the way to the mouth of the Columbia, and helped them set up Fort Clatsop. If it wasn’t for the Chinook tribe and if the Nez Perce had had their way, the Lewis and Clark Expedition would have been killed before they made it past the Wallowas. Aside from being a Chinook artist I understand that you’re personally involved in trying to get a bill for recognition passed in the US Congress. The Chinook are not a recognized tribe. I think of it as a travesty. They had such a tie to history, but they are not being acknowledged by the US Government for that. As Chief would say, “You know, Mark we recognize them, but they don’t recognize us.” You’ve told me that your art career is taking a path that reminds you of the Red Road. How so?

Mark, I think that I have mistakenly described your work as paintings. How do you describe your work? Actually, I do refer to them as mixed-media paintings. I use papers from all over the world. Handmade, machine-made, hand-dyed, machine-dyed. I lay the paper down, like paint, in fields, and then paint on top of the paper. I try to get as much visual texture embedded. I use things like leaves, flower petals, barks, and reeds to keep it as natural as possible. When it comes to imagery I’m influenced by several different photographers, mainly Edward Sheriff Curtis. You’ve told me that you don’t use sketches before you begin a piece. Right. I had a college instructor who insisted on 20 or 30 studies before beginning a painting. My response to him was that I do 20 or 30 studies within a painting.

The Red Road is a path that only native people can travel and it’s the path to enlightenment. There was a time that I was showing my art in Santa Fe and there was a native man who was fixated on a piece of mine, War Chief on Bluff. After several minutes he told me that I would be very successful. I thought that he meant financial success. But he saw it as spiritual success. I thanked him because I know that’s very important to native peoples in traveling the Red Road. You went out of your way to meet Maya Lin when she was dedicating the Confluence Project along the Columbia River. Did you know at the time how big a catalyst that would be for you to spread your wings? Maya Lin personifies what you can achieve through art. She’s world famous, perhaps most notably for designing the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. In the case of the Confluence Project she was interacting with all of the tribal chiefs and council members. Her art has an effect on cultures other than her own. That’s what I wanted to happen with my work too. 39

You asked her to hold a painting for you?

What did he say?

I was presenting a painting of Chinook Chief Comcomly – who dates back to the Lewis and Clark Expedition – to current Chinook Tribal Chief Cliff Snider. She had just exited the stage with her aide at the dedication ceremony and I approached her and asked her if she would hold the painting as I was presenting it to the Chief and getting some photos taken.

He wouldn’t talk. That was a lot of work to amuse an indecisive gallery owner. I was pretty upset by the whole thing. But my artist friends consoled me and said, “You know Mark, it didn’t work out this time, but it will, and now you have a great body of work to show for it.”

mouth from that particular gallery owner that we talked about. I had been told that the market in Santa Fe was very fickle. So I had a poor view of gallerists there. You changed your mind? I see now that I had the wrong view. But it took me a while to recover from that bad experience. But now I’m in a top gallery down there, on Canyon Road, rated in the “Top 10.” My new gallerist is great, forthright, and the staff is the best ever.

That had to have been a busy day for her. It was (laughs). But Maya Lin’s aide said, “Better yet let’s get a picture of you and Maya together!” You can’t beat that. Furthering your art career hasn’t always been so easy has it? I was looking for gallery representation a few years ago and had a great response from a gallery owner in Santa Fe. He made me jump through quite a few hoops. But I really thought that this was my big chance. He told me he wanted five more pieces. I said, “Okay, how large do you want those pieces?” He pointed to the wall and said, “That large.” In the months it took to create all of those pieces, I followed all of his instructions, sending photos and details of the new work and keeping in touch. What happened when you were ready to sign a contract? After several attempts, I phoned the gallery director who told me that he would put me on speaker phone with the gallery owner who was sitting there next to the speaker. 40

It was quite clear to me that you put your heart and soul into those pieces. Did that struggle give you a sense about what you wanted to focus on in your work?

In the art world Santa Fe is big.

With both my landscape series and my portrait series it all boils down to the people. Whether they’re interacting in a vast landscape, or whether it’s a portrait close-up. The people are the basis of my work. People ask me, why don’t you do paintings of birds and wildlife? To me, where are the people?

Were there other venues for your art in Portland?

You had several smaller shows and group shows along the way. Then along came an offer for a solo show in the Pearl District. How did that go? It was a magical time for me. I’ve been an artist all my life. It was the first opening that my father had come to. There was a native flutist performing, Milledge Bennett, and he played an honor song for both Chief and my dad, the two most important men in my life. What came next? After that show I continued to sell my work during Indian Market in Santa Fe. I had gotten a bad taste in my

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Dollar-wise it’s the second largest art market in the United States. Only New York is bigger.

I love the Portland arts scene. Unfortunately for me there was only one Native American gallery here – Quintana in the Pearl District. Although they’re a fantastic gallery, known nationwide, their genre is traditional Northwest Coast art, not contemporary native art. Santa Fe was a natural fit for me. But you did get a great show at Gallery 7126 before the owners went on sabbatical. How difficult is it for a Portland artist to get gallery representation? It’s a struggle. The course I took was to first show for my personal gratification, not particularly for the sales. Then to get it up on walls so that everyone could experience it. Then, finally, to sell my work and plant my work in various homes and corporations worldwide. I’ve met art school students who think that a limousine is going to pull up and whisk them away to fame and fortune on graduation day. It’s not that way. I’ve worked hard and spent a lot of resources to get here.

aBout ART

That’s got to be pretty nasty medicine for a graduate of the Pratt Institute to swallow. Actually, a funny thing happened right after I graduated from Pratt Institute. I dropped by the Rolling Stone magazine offices in Manhattan to drop off my portfolio and I thought I was standing and talking with a receptionist. It was actually the deputy art director. I thought it odd that the receptionist was so eager to look at my work. She really pored over my portfolio and told me that she wished that I had been there a week earlier. I put two and two together and realized later that I had the right talent and I was talking to the right person – just at the wrong time. I wasn’t expecting an interview with Rolling Stone magazine just by walking through the door. You seem very focused. Do you think that in a lot of ways you’ve put your personal life on hold? I think of my work as my children. My mom shared a realization with me recently and said, “You know Mark, your name will live on through your work. Some people have children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren who carry on the name.” She said, “No matter what happens with you, your work will live on through the generations.” One painting, in particular, was a milestone in your career. Wishram Fisherman was a symbol of how one piece can really be a stepping stone to other things. I created that piece for a show at the Bonneville Power Administration called Celilo Falls: Echoes of Falling Water. The show was about the flooding of Celilo Falls during the building of The Dalles Dam in 1957. It hung in a prominent space at the BPA headquarters in Portland. Then I was invited to the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona, where it won an award. That piece was also integral in me being certified as a Chinook Tribal Artist. The scene was of a Wishram fisherman at Celilo Falls fishing in the traditional ways. The coloration was a Southwest palette of greens and reds and golds, but it was of a Northwest scene. So basically it carried over from the Northwest to the Southwest in theme and color. That piece really launched me into what I’m doing now. People can get very emotional when in the presence of your work. I didn’t expect the emotional impact on viewers to the point where one viewer was sobbing. I had to ask him if he was okay. The work was impacting people on a level where I didn’t expect it. I knew that my art was impacting me that way. I didn’t know that I would hit it with others on that personal of a level. What’s next? I want my work to continue to affect viewers and collectors in a profound way, worldwide. I know that the American Indian is respected by other cultures for longevity, wisdom, love for the land, and its people. My feelings on my life’s work can be summed up by a quote by Salvador Dalí: “There are some days when I think I’m going to die from an overdose of satisfaction.” I can’t think of a better note to end on. Thank you Mark. For more information visit Mark Shelton’s website: www.markdshelton.com

MARVIN MITCHELL MARVIN MITCHELL Executive Director of 42

photo - David Bentley

Julia West House

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by Mara Storm

aBout HEROS

he vicinity of SW 13th and Alder in downtown Portland was once a hot spot for drug activity. Homeless people clustered, often blocking and

littering the sidewalks with remains of sack lunches. Neighborhood business suffered. But all that has changed. One factor in the transformation was a change in thinking and practice at Julia West House (JWH), a leading mission for homeless and low-income people on SW 13th Avenue, established in the 1980s by First Presbyterian Church. Since 2009, church member Marvin Mitchell has served in the volunteer position of executive director.

Marvin, how did you become concerned about homelessness, poverty and injustice? A book I read in the early ‘70’s, Seek a City Saint, planted a seed that would germinate much later about caring for the city and its people. I worked in downtown Chicago where I saw plenty of diversity and all sides of ethnic racism. The dramatic difference in the space of just half a block on Sheridan Road made me feel the injustice. I worked for enlightened companies most of my career – often alongside and for women – which helped me see and want opportunities for everybody.

Over the years we’ve gotten smarter, learning from partners with more experience, including De Paul Treatment Center across the street, and PHOENIX RISING Transitions, which meets here Monday nights. Whom does JWH serve? Half our guests are low-income people with modest housing, and half are homeless people. We help isolated people stay housed by providing a social outlet, among other things.

What other experiences have contributed to your work with JWH?

When did you become executive director of JWH, and what brought you to this role?

In college, a design class transformed my life by helping me see differently. It was taught by a wonderful, demanding instructor who believed that before you design anything, you have to learn what design is. He taught us to find simplicity – what’s important and what’s not. I’ve applied that lesson to my work, interactions, everything, throughout my life. I spent years developing large computer systems. I found it’s easy to develop complex solutions, but difficult to find a simple one. My criteria for designing anything is to work it until you cut through to a solution that elicits the response: “How could it be anything else?”

I began making changes in 2004, when I chaired the church’s Community Ministries team. The ED title came in 2009. But I functioned from the beginning out of a growing passion to see lives change. Listening to people’s stories over many cups of coffee drove my deep desire. But I didn’t know it was a call until I wanted to walk away, and I couldn’t.

How did you get involved at JWH? And what was going on there at the time?

What changed initially?

A friend from church invited me to volunteer in 2002. I started with a great sense of compassion. I wanted to do something to help. First Pres[byterian] ran a food-box program, serving coffee, pastries and sack lunches four days a week, and a hospitality program three nights a week. I felt good serving in both programs because people got warm and fed. But the same people kept coming back. I realized we were helping people stay homeless. Can you give an example?

How did you learn drugs were involved?

My second night at JWH, one guy – let’s call him “Bill” – said he was sole caretaker for his mother. I thought, “Nobody can make that up.” But he did. A friend of mine ran into “Bill” recently. In his fifties now, he dresses well, talks intelligently, and still uses the same story. The truth is, “Bill” is a long-time heroin addict. His story supports his habit.

What made you want to walk away? Exhaustion. This work takes lots of time and energy. But the call was to make many changes and they were still ahead.

We started the literacy and GED programs, and Life-skills classes in 2005. Other changes waited until we had dealt with our building and relationship with our neighbors. What were those concerns? In 2002, this building and the adjoining parking lot were run down and seedy looking. Homeless people littered the lunches we gave out and blocked sidewalks around the neighborhood. I went to listen to our neighbors. After I reported a conversation with one restaurant owner to the church board, First Pres[byterian] secured a large grant for the needed renovations and initial program changes. Describe the relationship with your neighbors today. It’s a positive relationship. No food goes out our door and we encourage keeping sidewalks clear. In recent years, we helped clean up the drug problem in this vicinity.

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What is the story of the city of Portland becoming your partner? In 2007, the city came asking for our help with more of Portland’s homeless in the daytime. They offered financial support, which meant adding shower facilities and greatly expanding our hospitality hours. We are grateful for this partnership, but initially it brought new problems. As police directed people here, we were overwhelmed day and night by crowds we’d never seen before, including more people with addictions. That’s when our corner became a hot spot for drugs. Physical and verbal violence also increased dramatically. How did these issues resolve? The resolution is a story about our tipping point. I was tired of the constant foul language, so I established a civil language boundary. What do you mean by a “civil language boundary”? No sexism, racism, or profanities.

aBout HEROS What happened when you ruled these out? Everyone grumbled at first. We established civility with daytime guests and little by little the atmosphere changed. But there was pushback. Some guests said, “That’s how we talk.” Others serving the homeless objected, “Asking them to clean up their language is asking them to change their own culture!” So, some people felt it was acceptable for people to debase one another? Yes. But we have proved these habits can change. We reached our tipping point on civility in the last few months, and respect and civility are normal modes of communication at JWH now. We’ve gained insight that civil language is connected to respect and trust. Our guests say it’s great at JWH not to have to hear all that stuff. And now they tell newcomers, “You can’t speak that way here.” Are you saying that enforcing civil language changed the whole atmosphere at JWH? That’s exactly what I’m saying. Holding this standard created space for trust and respect to grow. Another result is we are known as a “house of peace.” People show up here from across the country, telling us no one anywhere asks them to clean up their language or holds them accountable. Are you saying no other agencies have these standards? I don’t claim that. But it is interesting hearing this from those who experience many homeless shelters. Are there other results of your civil language boundary? Yes. Conflict has a place to go. When our guests’ language was demeaning, it didn’t take long before disagreements turned physical. Now, we observe guests stopping themselves from uncivil language and physical violence. They find other words. It’s amazing! And there’s a different kind of energy as guests arrive in the morning – it’s active, excited, alive! Conversations seem almost joyous. This is at odds with people dragging in at 6:00 a.m. soaking wet and cold, but at JWH, it’s happening. Our guests’ hope is palpable.

“I found it’s easy to develop complex solutions, but difficult to find a simple one.” Amazing! How would you summarize the evolution at JWH? At first our mission was based on our assumption that low-income and homeless people need handouts. Next, we asked people, “What do you need?” They suggested backpack checks, hot showers, and the computer lab. But even when we met those needs, their lives were basically unchanged. Now, we are smarter. We ask people who have reestablished themselves what actually helped their transformation. What have you learned from them? One key is being held accountable. This restores dignity. Another is someone who believes in them and offers encouragement. This restores self-esteem. A third is celebrating successes. When they improve their reading, get their GED – each step, we celebrate. This restores hope. Small successes build into real progress. We do all this at JWH, and it takes generosity. What do you mean by generosity? We believe true compassion is generosity. JWH volunteers offer our guests hospitality, accountability, training and encouragement, which develops their capacity to help themselves. Now our mission is more in line with the scripture on which it’s based, Acts 3:3-7, where Jesus’ disciples help a lame beggar. He wanted money. Instead, he got strength to walk. Tell us about your literacy program. There is a literacy program for women and for men, which never mix. We do one-to-one tutoring and find people reading better than they imagined possible. Many come to us beaten down because someone labeled them stupid. Many start at about third-grade level, but they jump multiple levels in a few weeks. One woman came to us holding her book upside down. No one had corrected this! Four weeks in, she was reading right side up and had advanced from the third- to seventh-grade level. A young man, whose parents introduced him to drugs when a kid, came in reading at twelfth-

grade level. I asked why he didn’t finish school. He said, “I dropped out because my mother laughed at my good grades.” People’s stories cause me to go home and choke up in the retelling. I can see why. What is key to helping people improve their reading skills? All the listening we do establishes trust. Not friendships exactly, because we have boundaries, but our belief in persons – that they can do it – is key. JWH is all about transformation. One way we got smarter is realizing that believing in people makes a huge difference in their lives.

How do you measure success? JWH is like a school that launches people into life. Our success stories often mean we never see people again; but some who reestablish themselves get back in touch. A mother was court-ordered to get her GED and to secure employment as a condition for getting her kids back. She came to us as her first step and was successfully launched. We eventually heard from her, when her children came home.

What’s next for you? And where can readers learn more? I’m in conversation with many groups who feel like I used to – they want to do something to help. I’m telling them all of us who want to help homeless people have created a large population of dependents who feel entitled to long-term charity. I’m writing a book on insights we’ve gained from experience and from many partners. We are also designing our own website. For now, go to www.firstpresportland.org... to learn about our work. At the end of the day, what is at stake if most agencies continue giving handouts to homeless people?

What else does getting smarter at JWH look like? We used to hire people with social-service experience. Now we also hire former guests, because they know the transformation process best. One worker was in prison 25 years. When he first showed up, in his fifties, he’d been on the street three months and was about to commit a crime to get back inside. He started volunteering here. We helped him find work in exchange for food. Now, we’ve hired him. Tomorrow he gets a key to his first housing since incarceration. What would you say is distinctive about JWH? Like other agencies, all our services are free. But our compassion focuses on helping people develop themselves. We walk alongside them to restore dignity and establish responsibility. Our programs have changed steadily over the past six years and fill a number of unique niches in Portland. We do a few things and do them well. We’ve retreated from services that are readily available elsewhere.

Two stories illustrate the problem and the hope. One guest, a visitor over many years, complained to us, “Why can’t I do what I’ve always done here?” This meant getting free food and behaving badly. I told him, “That’s the reason we changed. You never moved on. There’s no positive change in your life in 20 years!”

What percentage of the people you see are successfully launched? One third to one half of our guests move on in life each year. We hear JWH received an award recently? A certificate of appreciation was awarded to JWH from the chief of police at the Police Bureau Awards Ceremony in January this year. It’s in recognition of our service to the police department and Portland.

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Another man, “Barcode,” was a steady guest when I started volunteering. He was not allowed inside JWH in his totally inebriated condition, but we listened to him outside everyday for five years. Honestly, he seemed incurable. Four years ago, he tried a recovery program but left it unchanged. Later, he found a program that met his needs. Recently, a van drove up in front of JWH and the window rolled down. There sat Barcode, smiling. “Hey Marv,” he said. “I’m clean! I have a job! I’m going to open a bank account right now.” We never give up on anybody, even long-term addicted people. Marvin, you have inspired us. Thank you!

DISTRICT NEWS

DISTRICT NEWS ALBERTA STREET

MISSISSIPPI AVE

one of Portland’s destination neighborhoods filled with diverse one-of-a-kind shops, eateries, and businesses. p.61

NOB HILL

a trendy shopping district featuring nationals as well as local favorites on its tree lined streets. p.60

PEARL

The Portland streetcar goes through it. Conjoined to downtown it has a very urban feel to its sidewalks. p.58

DOWNTOWN

one of the nations most walkable downtown’s. Walking up the hill to the museums or going downhill to the river, there are many choices for eating and shopping. p.56

an eclectic mix of art galleries, restaurants, and locally owned shops. Well known for its Last Thursday events which draws thousands. p.48

BEAUMONT VILLAGE

It is the heart of NE Fremont with its quaint little shops and fine dining restaurants. p.49

PORTLAND

N NW

NE BROADWAY

NE SE

once you get out of your car, you’ll notice an almost small-town feel to the sidewalks. It has many nice shops and restaurants that deserve a closer look. p.50

HAWTHORNE & BELMONT

Is a prime example of Portland’s uniqueness with its soulful originality of local businesses and small stand-alone shops. a center for the alternative lifestyle. p.51

DISTRICTS MULTNOMAH VILLAGE & HILLSDALE

slow down and take your time in this little Village that truly has a small town feel. While, hillsdale features mid-century architecture strip malls that have convenient shops and eateries. p.54

SELLWOOD & WESTMORELAND

Family-friendly neighborhood with a first run movie theatre, and without a doubt, the best spot in town to get your hands on that perfect antique. p.52

ALBERTA ARTS DISTRICT N NW SW

NE SE

by Jason howd

King Farmers marKet Opens may 1st

Take a Sunday spring stroll to find produce, prepared foods, & flowers at the market. Now entering its third season, the market will be open sundays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., near the intersection of NE 7th avenue and Wygant street (one block off NE alberta street) in the parking lot adjacent to king Elementary school.

DOn’t miss Last thursDay

once a month the alberta arts district lets its hair down to enjoy an eclectic mix of artists, vendors, musicians, and street performers who populate the street from about 7:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. Restaurants, bars, and music venues are open for live performances. Many galleries & retailers feature rotating art exhibits. No matter the weather, Last Thursday always comes first.

old Concordia Coffee house spot. They are now offering free two-hour classes on home-brewing techniques, covering everything from the basics of French Press to advanced methods like vacuumpot brewing. Caffe Vita was founded in Seattle in 1995 and has since grown to a total of seven cafes and a roastery. .

Learn tO Brew yOur Own 48

Caffe Vita (2909 NE Alberta St) opened their first Portland location last fall in the

Local fave Pine State Biscuits (2204 NE alberta st) has expanded their weekend hours to include dinner and late-night dining. Now you can get your Reggiefix Friday and Saturday nights from 6:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. What’s a Reggie, you say? A homemade biscuit filled with fried

COmmunity FunDeD art prOjeCt FOr neighBOrhOOD KiDs Umpqua bank alberta’s build your block Challenge is funding up to $10,000 for a youth-driven community art project. Umpqua is partnering with Rowanberry school to create a public art piece representing a child’s view of the arts and cultural history of the alberta arts district. The project will include preschoolers from Rowanberry, Just Little People, and alameda beaumont Childcare. “The theme will be ‘Landscapes of the Imagination,’” says angela Molloy Murphy, owner of Rowanberry school. “and I am honored to have the opportunity to help children make their thinking visible in their community.” The art will be unveiled at a public ceremony this spring.

chicken, bacon, and cheese, and topped with gravy. Pine state alberta will also be opening a spacious outdoor seating complex this spring.

art anD BOOKs Ampersand (2916 NE Alberta St, B) a gallery, bookshop, and retail archive – is committed to cultural preservation. They buy and sell vintage photography, paper ephemera, historic documents, and collectible books. Their book inventory, consisting of both new and used volumes, is focused primarily on visual content, with particular emphasis on art, design,

LOOK what just FLew in Aviary (1733 NE alberta st) brings a blend of global influences to the plate. French cooking techniques applied to asian ingredients like kinome, (leaves of the szechuan Peppercorn tree) and mentaiko, a spiced cod roe, illustrate the dynamism of co-owners and chefs, sarah Pliner, Jasper shen, and kat Whitehead. The trio shares a decade’s worth of train-

Big pLans alberta Main street, a new community organization, is part of the larger Portland Main street project, which is based on the National Trust for historic Preservation’s nationwide Main street Program. The goal of the project is to advance efforts for developing alberta street as a vibrant, creative, and sustainable commercial district serving residents and visitors to the community.

mmm, mOuth-watering

ing at New York’s finest — from Alain ducasse at the Essex house and aquavit to Jean Georges and aldea. They work closely with local farmers and purveyors to bring the best seasonal products to the table. be sure to ask for house specialties: beer-flavored ice cream, house-made sodas, tomato granite on oysters, and tomato jam with oxtail croquettes.

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and photography books. Monthly gallery shows feature either contemporary artworks or curated selections from their vintage inventory. Monograph Bookwerks (5005 NE 27th ave) is a fine art and object bookstore featuring a curated selection of books on contemporary art and artists, architecture, design, fashion, photography, artist biographies and art criticism. Rare, uncommon, new and used books from around the world share shelf space with local publishers and small press editions. The store also carries studio pottery, mid-century ceramics, vintage art and office supplies and selected art objects, prints and paintings.

DISTRICT NEWS

BEAUMONT VILLAGE N NW SW

NE SE

by Josh baker

streets are aLiVe The most thrilling part of the beaumont district is 2nd Friday. The second Friday of each month, local businesses on Fremont street, arguably the heart of beaumont Village, open their doors for extended hours as the community floods the closed-down streets, admiring and supporting their community. It’s a chance to sample some of the great food and drink the Village has to offer while listening to live music and pursuing the boutiques.

the music starts (Wed-sun at 7 p.m.), because this place will be jumping.

aLOha spirits hungry for tender pieces of chicken marinated in homemade shoyu-ginger sauce? or how about korean char-grilled ribs marinated in sweet Portuguese-style sauce? These are some of the choices at

new eats enLighten One’s paLate Enjoy classic Lebanese comfort food at Hoda’s Middle Eastern Cuisine (4727 NE Fremont). Well known in sE Portland, hoda’s recently expanded with a second location on NE Fremont. Enjoy a welcoming family atmosphere, generous, authentically spiced portions, and the purest olive and vegetable oils.

proudly serve locally made yoCream yogurt. The best thing about yoChoice is that you get to pick the toppings. however, with three-dozen topping choices, it might take a while.

Let’s spLurge beaumont Village’s own splurge, an artistic boutique owned and operated by local artists, is a rare shop that enjoys complete artistic credibility with undeniable heart to match. With paintings, jewelry, t-shirts, cosmetics and more, all of which are created by locals, splurge is the perfect place to get a taste for what beaumont Village’s artistic integrity is all about.

No Ho’s Hawaiian Cafe and Bar (4627 NE Fremont st). When the sun is shining, dine on their outdoor patio. Check them out on Fridays for their kalua pig-outs.

Dreams COme true dan straub, executive chef, opened the Soluna Grill (4440 NE Fremont st) as a casual fine-dining restaurant featuring New american cuisine. The atmosphere is as casual as walking into straub’s living room. you can come as you are and not feel out of place. Come by and share straub’s dream-of-a-restaurant. Join the sunday supper Club, for themed dinners on the 2nd sunday of the month. For something out of the ordinary come

COOKing up gOOD FOOD anD COOL jazz step inside this neighborhood establishment and you’ll think you’re in New orleans. With its southern hospitality, comforting cuisine and great live jazz, you feel right at home at Doc George’s Jazz Kitchen (4605 NE Fremont). Get there early, before

by any Friday, or Saturday night after 9 pm for absinth tasting. In april, soluna Grill will be open for lunch, and when the warmer weather returns they will open their outside dining area.

D-i-y yOgurt stop by YoChoice Self-Serve Frozen Yogurt (4941 NE Fremont) for a healthy treat. Locally owned and operated, they

NE BROADWAY N NW SW

NE SE

by Joe strecker

Fresh FrOm the Farm Portland’s vibrant food scene benefits from the bounty of local farms and producers. Unlike most states, oregon actually has more farms now than it did twenty years ago. a slice of that productivity at the Lloyd Farmer’s Market every Tuesday in the oregon Square (830 NE Pacific St), a large gazebo-like structure that resembles an old carousel building. Tuesdays, 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.

be posing for pictures as a benefit for p:ear, a nonprofit that provides services for at-risk youth. Grab some comics and geek out with adams for a good cause. Oregon Convention Center (777 NE ML king blvd), april 16th and 17th.

jOin the peDaL natiOn Portland is among the best bicycle cities in the nation. Last year, bicycling magazine named Portland second only to Minneapolis. Portland’s bike-fandom will be on full display in april, as bikes of various shapes, sizes, and types roll in for display at the PDX Bicycle Show in the Oregon Convention Center (777 NE ML King Blvd), April 9th and 10th.

internatiOnaL FLaVOr

whipLash anD Crash Roller derby has been ascending for some time as one of Portland’s most popular spectator sports, but until this year matches were held almost exclusively at oaks Park or the Expo Center. This year, roller derby comes to the center of town and a much larger venue. While the rink at oaks Park is still being used for most bouts, major contests will be held at the Memorial Coliseum. If you only see one match all season, make it Rose City vs. Rat City, where Portland’s four teams take on seattle’s to determine just whose is the baddest league in the Northwest. Tickets are $14.00, on april 23rd, 5:00 p.m. (doors), 5:45 (start) at the Memorial Coliseum (300 North Winning Way).

Every neighborhood needs a place where you can pop in for coffee and read a book. and maybe speak Portuguese. and watch an international soccer game. and perhaps watch a new movie from the Czech Republic. Costello’s Travel Café (2222 NE broadway) serves as a local Lloyd district café, yes, but it also lives up to its name. Foreign-language conversation nights, film screenings, live music, and international soccer matches (which some of the patrons may refer to as football) are offered regularly.

aFFOrDaBLe FusiOn There’s a new warm and comfortable place to meet a friend after work for happy hour. Tangerine Asian Fusion & Bar (3131 NE broadway). beginning at 5 pm ending at 6:30 pm the happy hour menu includes coconut zucchini- $4, grilled black tiger shrimp on abed of crispy noodles- $4.50, or spicy tom yum soup for $3.75.

jOLLy OLD engLanD The Rose & Thistle (2314 NE broadway street) has one of the best beer selections on broadway and decent british-inspired pub grub, including fish and chips of course. but the atmosphere is the best thing about the Rose & Thistle: drink more, make new friends, sprawl out on the smoking patio. It’s “across the pond,” without the airfare.

saLsa DanCing With its distinctive exterior of Mesoamerican hieroglyphs and a coppery aztec pyramid, one can safely say that Aztec Willie (1501 NE broadway st), as an institution, is extroverted. Its a place that features salsa dancing and live music on a regular basis. Willie is kind of like a big guy in Panama hat who slaps you on the back, puts a margarita in your hand, and tells you to enjoy the party.

COming anD gOing halo shoes moved to the Pearl district. arabian breeze changed its name to Nicholas Restaurant (3223 NE broadway) still serving Lebanese & Middle Eastern Cuisine. New businesses include; Qush Hookah Lounge (2905 NE Broadway St),

mayOr-man tO the resCue

Portland is home to two major independent comics publishers, dark horse Comics and oni Press, but they are by no means the only people in town making sequential art. Local comics luminaries will be showcasing their work and plenty of independent and underground comics will be on offer at the 8th Annual Stumptown Comics Fest. don’t be surprised if you run into someone dressed as Wolverine or Mayor adams in fullsuperhero costumery as “Mayor-Man.” Local designers concocted the super alter-ego for Portland’s mayor, who will

seDuCtiVe sushi It’s bite-sized and you always think you can eat a little more of it. sushi enthusiasts will enjoy the offerings at Yuki Japanese Restaurant (1337 NE broadway), which include traditional sushi (raw fish and rice), as well as americanized versions (sushi doused in sauce, California rolls, etc.).

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Golden (1623 NE 15th), and Petisco (1411 NE broadway). We say goodbye to these businesses; Goodnight Room, Emily Jane, and Manhattan Cafe.

DISTRICT NEWS

HAWTHORNE & BELMONT N NW SW

NE SE

by Josh baker

marCh maDness at mt. taBOr

Each week in March, starting on the first and running until the twentyninth, Mt.Tabor Theatre (4811 sE hawthorne blvd) plays host to a night of improvisational music led by the Family Funktion featuring the average Leftovers and a rotating lineup of local musicians. With no cover charge, raffles, vendors, and local art for sale, these gatherings are fit for all ages. All proceeds from each show go directly to local charities.

the peOpLe’s Bar open for a little over a month, The Bar, located on 29th and Belmont, is a great addition to the street. With an ear for what the people want, The bar’s owner Joah makes sure to keep the place stocked with great beer and even greater tunes. The menu is very supportive of all nutritional preferences, truly making it “the people’s bar.”

new hOp in tOwn While Portland is known as a foodlover’s town, it is also famous for it’s beer. and a perfect combination of the two comes from the Hawthorne Hophouse, (4111 sE hawthorne blvd.) one of the newest establishments to grace the neighborhood. With 24 mostly local, craft beers and trivia nights every Monday, the hophouse is a great taproom to explore new beer terrain. scoop up three-dollar beers every sunday.

DeFy graVity Now, you can float your stress away in a Float On (4530 sE hawthorne blvd) sensory-deprivation tank. Floating relaxes your entire body and mind, allowing your creativity to come out and play. Without the constant pressure of analyzing the world around you, your body lowers its levels of cortisol, the main chemical component of stress. your brain also releases elevated levels of dopamine and endorphins, the neurotransmitters of happiness.

Let’s get sOme FOOD Jam On Hawthorne (2239 SE hawthorne blvd) is a breakfast/lunch joint filled with friendly workers and an eclectic menu that leaves plenty of room for all manner of appetite. From carnivores to vegans, Jam is loaded with delicious options that will not only satisfy your hunger, but your state of mind as well. With local artwork and a liquor menu filled with new takes on old favorites (check out the bloody Mary’s), Jam is a great spot to wile away a few hours with your closest friends. If you find yourself famished and craving something a little more exotic, Lucky Strike (3862 sE hawthorne blvd) is the way to go. known in the neighborhood for their spicy sichuan cuisine, Lucky strike’s menu has enough intriguing options to keep you coming back again and again. From mysterious appetizers like the “Thousand year old Egg,” to the tantalizing but fiery “Hot Pepper Chicken

bath,” Lucky strike continuously keeps things fresh and unique. They also offer a great happy hour, extraordinarily friendly service and patio seating. Lucky strike’s unique decor and jovial atmosphere make it a unique part of the Portland experience. another original eatery is hawthorne’s own La Palapa (1864 sE hawthorne blvd). This locally owned Mexican restaurant serves homemade tortillas that will make you doubt every other tortilla you have ever eaten. They also prepare homemade margaritas, tamales and chiles rellenos, proving that home cooking really does keep ‘em coming back.

the stOres, there are pLenty Record stores have become somewhat of a commodity lately, but one shop that

redefines the nature of vinyl is Crossroads Music (3130 sE hawthorne blvd).

Established in 1993, Crossroads functions as an antique mall for records. With roughly thirty vendors selling their collections in one conveniently laid out space, you are sure to come across everyday favorites and rare treasures. The spirit and enthusiasm of the shop’s collective owners for an almostforgotten medium make Crossroads an essential part of the community. Jambo (3405 sE hawthorne blvd), a world craft store with several other locations throughout oregon, is fueled by the idea that their products, ranging from clothing to incense, should be manufactured and sold in a fairly and environmentally friendly manner. Jambo has been a welcome neighbor for more than 13 years. From body jewelry to coin purses, drums to lotions, Jambo is laced with its own personal style - a natural fit for the free, open vibe of the hawthorne district. With Netflix on the rise and on-demand video websites becoming more and more profitable everyday, it’s a miracle that independent video stores still have a place to thrive. and perhaps the greatest, and most enthralling of them all, is Movie Madness (4320 sE belmont st). Loaded with an amazing collection of underrated screen gems and contemporary fare, and a memorabilia museum that would make any cinephile drool, Movie Madness is the best alternative video store in Portland. From foreign, cult and independent

films to “psychotronic” films made by artists located in the Northwest, Movie Madness is sure to keep you in tune and in touch with all manners of cinema for years to come.

SELLWOOD & WESTMORELAND N NW SW

NE SE

by bill Crawford

CeLeBrate spring starting this spring, visit sellwoodWestmoreland on the first Friday of every month when the community comes together to extend business hours, host various events, and provide entertainment for all to enjoy.

BeLLissimO A Sellwood fixture and one of Portland’s favorite Italian restaurants, Gino’s (8051 sE 13th ave), celebrated 15 remarkable years in the neighborhood this February. Gino’s genuine warmth hits you the second you step into the darkened interior with its giant mahogany bar hailing from its days as the Leipzig Tavern.

game nights FOr KiDs, Big anD LittLe after living in the neighborhood for ten years, James brady and his wife opened Cloud Cap Games (1226 sE Lexington st) in late November. Weekly demonstrations and games nights were an immediate hit. “We just had our first birthday party in February,” beams brady. Games nights include: “Family Classics” on sundays at 3:00 p.m. and “big-kid” games for ages 12+ on Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m.

FamiLy Fun kids have the best time in this neighborhood, starting with Oaks Park Amusement Park (7805 sE oaks Park Way), down by the Willamette River. This historic attraction has wowed the little ones for years with its two-dozen (seasonally operated) rides, games and year-round roller rink. Especially good children might earn a visit to SpielWerk Toys (7956 sE 13th ave). The knowledgeable and friendly staff will assist you in finding the ideal natural, organic, and hand-crafted toy. There are wooden animals from Germany, fun knit fruits and vegetables, hand-sewn dolls, and much more. Instead

of a toy, perhaps a healthy frozen yogurt with forty toppings, eight sauces, and six custards from Nectar Frozen Yogurt Lounge (1631 sE bybee blvd).

wine anD sOng Whether its Wednesday for wine tasting or Thursday for live music, Corkscrew Wine Bar (1665 sE bybee blvd) is a Westmoreland favorite. If you need advice on that perfect bottle or just want to chat about wine, the door is open. sustainable design buffs should ask about the interior, which was built entirely from locally sourced reclaimed materials.

LOVe-FiLLeD hOuse Inside and out, this historic sellwood house holds a collection from over 60 of the finest local artisans. Love Art Gallery (8036 sE 13th avenue) is a family creation. Ruby Campbell, Ted Newton, heather and Christopher Love, and little Corina & Rhiannon Love. Each creation is distinctive in imagination and design. a collection of garden sculpture and mosaic made by renowned artists surrounds the home, while the interior rooms feature ceramics, furniture, jewelry, paintings, photography, sculpture, and more.

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unique Dining experienCe Moreland House (6716 sE Milwaukie ave) offers classy dining sans pretension. dishes like blackened halibut mac n’ cheese, shrimp tacos, pork tenderloin, coconut shrimp, and steamer clams, lend a gourmet spin to comfort-food favorites.

DISTRICT NEWS

neighBOrhOOD Venue Watch a hot local band at The Woods (6637 Milwaukie ave), a converted funeral home and one of Portland’s newer venues. The Woods is far more than a music venue, it has a variety of events; Monday night bingo and bourbon, ping-pong tournaments, soul music dance nights, and stand-up comedy. The live music acts include; Rachel Robinson, The White buffalo, Great Wilderness just to name a few. Look up their online calendar at thewoodsportland.com. It is across the street from the eight-five year old, single-screen, Moreland Theatre (6712 sE Milwaukie ave). It features first-run movies at more reasonable prices than the multiplexes.

a maLL OF COLLeCtaBLes

of intriguing objects and textures with French and Asian influences; mirrors, chairs, tables, and garden statues. The proprietors are a very charming mother (Carol) and son (Justin) team, who have a great eye for decorative antiques.

specialty bakery and restaurant, with many themed rooms to explore. your purchase helps to contribute to their many community programs. Not only does keanas Candyland provide thirtythree jobs, it offers programs for at risk youth, feeding hungry children, and anger management, using the arts.

Big smiLes

sweets anD treats Walk along the jelly bean walkway, past the six foot candy canes, through the front door of this two-story gingerbread house, you’ll enter a world that is much more than sweets and treats. Keana’s Candyland (5314 sE Milwaukie ave.) is a wheat- and gluten-free

your child may not want to leave this dentist office. Little Smiles Pediatric Dentistry (8708 sE 17th ave.) is an open and fun environment that is all about making your child comfortable while providing the best in dental care. This colorful office has a train table, a salt water fish tank and a slew of toys for children of all ages. by the end of your child’s visit they will have learned the proper way to take care for their teeth, as well as that going to the dentist can be fun.

Visit sellwood’s newest and friendliest place to shop for vintage treasures, antiques, retro funky cool stuff, and that “must have”collectible. Dusty Tiger, (6717 sE Milwaukie ave.) has a huge variety of items from; a musical toilet paper dispenser, to furniture, clothes, toys, tools, jewelry, china, crystal, and more.

a Feast FOr the eyes When you walk through the front door of Justin & Burks (8317 sE 13th ave.) your eyes are captured by an enormous chandelier. This fantastic shop is eclectic and classy. It is full

MULTNOMAH VILLAGE N NW SW

NE SE

spring intO art Get to know more about chocolate with the documentary, “The dark side of Chocolate,” presented april 1st by Multnomah Indoor Cinema at Multnomah Arts Center (7688 sW Capitol hwy). Their annual spring art sale be held during the weekend of May 6th and 7th, immediately followed by the youth art show from May 6th to June 1st.

rain Or shine, it’s garDen time

Melissa hall and Jeanine Carlson are the new owners of The Jealous Gardener (7843 sW Capitol hwy). They would be happy to show you how to liven up your

home or garden with a large selection of accessories. The Jealous Gardener just moved into Multnomah Village from Westmoreland. besides garden accessories, they also carry lotions, soaps, topiaries, and act as a full-service florist.

shOrt DriVe tO DiamOnDs With Jones & Jones (7858 sW Capital hwy) now in the village, there is no longer a need to drive downtown. They specialize in creating original, custom-designed pieces to fit each customer’s individual style. They do beautiful goldsmithing, especially in palladium and platinum. The Jones & Jones philosophy is to use only recycled precious metals and conflict-free

diamonds, while offering their customers the best value in custom jewelry.

prOmOting heaLthy pets When looking for high-quality natural products without toxic chemicals, byproducts, dyes, fillers or unnecessary ingredients, stop into Healthy Pets Northwest (7642 sW Capitol hwy). aside from cost-effective options in natural pet food, raw diets, supplements, homeopathic remedies, flower essences, educational books, toys, and supplies, the y a ls o dis pla y pa intings and photographs by local artists.

spring CLeaning It is the time of year to rethink your home interiors. step inside Said Interior Design (7501 sW Capitol hwy), a little jewel of a design and retail shop. you’ll discover arranged settings of home furnishings both new and vintage as well as custom designed pieces that will inspire you. Make an appointment to sit down with sue augustyn to go over your design needs, and she’ll find the best solutions to fit your style.

FrOm sCratCh Down to Earth Cafe (7828 sW 35th ave) is now serving Persian cuisine for dinner Wednesday thru Friday night, 5:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., as well as vegan and veggie breakfast and lunch every day starting at 8:00 a.m.

new in the ViLLage Knack Gallery (7824 sW 35th ave) recently opened in Multnomah Village. Umpqua Bank (7837 sW Capitol hwy.) has opened a new branch.

Open Daily 8am to 9pm www.FoodFront.coop

Get Fresh at Food Front!

Northwest | 2375 NW Thurman St | 503.222.5658 Hillsdale | 6344 SW Capitol Hwy | 503.546.6559 54

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DISTRICT NEWS

HILLSDALE

the ViLLage LiVing rOOm

COurteOus anD amiaBLe

Located between the hillsdale town center and Multnomah Village is the Mittleman Jewish Community Center (6651 sW Capitol hwy). MJCC is open to everyone. over

Local favorite Paloma Clothing (6316 sW Capitol hwy) has been providing a pleasant shopping experience for many years. besides having a wide selection of dresses, skirts, and sweaters, they also sell unique jewelry and

sweet smeLL OF suCCess It is tough to walk by Baker and Spice (6330 sW Capitol hwy) without being drawn in by the smell of freshly baked goods. This local bakery is distinguished by their traditional methods and high-quality ingredients, such as European-style butter, belgian chocolate, and seasonal produce from local, organic farms.

Changes are COming tO hiLLsDaLe tOwn Center In 2010 the hillsdale Town Center was selected as a Portland Main street recipient. This program provides funding for promotions, street improvements, and storefront upgrades. The hillsdale Main street Program was initiated by the hillsdale Community Foundation. Their mission is to make hillsdale a better place to live, learn, work, and shop by fostering community building and by raising and distributing resources. hillsdale key bank was “Launch Central” for the new Main street program.

1,000 people per day visit MJCC for classes, sports, meetings, fitness, and swimming. They have an excellent indoor pool with swim times set aside for both kids and adults. No visit to

MJCC is complete without a stop at Cafe at the J, Portland’s only kosherdairy restaurant certified by Oregon K.

that last. They carry a good inventory of girls’ jeans, day jackets, tops, and shoes, as well as the brand-new sydra Lew silk flower hair accessories.

accessories. owners kim osgood and Mike Roach are well known for their long-time support of locally owned businesses.

gOrgeOus!

you’ll be amazed by the large selection of children’s clothing at Second To None (6308 sW Capitol hwy). you’ll find treasures for babies to young children in this bright, cheery resale store. They have an outstanding collection of high-quality designer clothes that fit well, look good, and

To get to Multnomah Village and Hillsdale from Downtown Portland, take I-5 South to exit 296B (Multnomah Blvd) Right on 35th to Capitol Hwy. 55

DOWNTOWN PORTLAND N NW SW

NE SE

by Joe streckert

riChes OF a City

KiCKing anD Cheering

Local Portland art collectors haven’t exactly been slouches when it comes to acquiring nice things. Plenty of pieces by notable artists (big ones!) have been added to private collections here in town. Now, the Portland Art Museum (1219 SW Park Ave.) is putting several of those pieces on display in their “Riches of a City” exhibit. The exhibition will showcase over 150 works from a vast array of artists, including Picasso, Lautrec, and Warhol, among others. Portland art Museum through May 22nd.

yes, the Portland Timbers have been around for some time, but this year they join the major leagues. hence the omnipresent “attractive-people-withlumber equipment” ad campaign gracing Portland buildings. With PGE Park as the official stadium of a Major League Soccer team, Goose hollow and environs should see an influx of soccer-goers throughout the year. The regular season runs through october. Portland Timbers retail store (519 SW 6th Ave)

Keep it sustainaBLe sister! KISSpdx returns to The Nines hotel on May 20 & 21st. keep It sustainable sister is an innovative two-day conference on successful career and life management. It provides professional women with strategies for a balanced, sustainable lifestyle through workshops with Portland innovators in the field of wealth, health, happiness, and career satisfaction. according to Jennifer davidson, conference founder, a portion of kIsspdx proceeds will be donated to Women for Success Portland; a non-profit networking group of women dedicated to raising funds for dress for success oregon in their mission to help disadvantaged women enter the workforce.

get Fresh unDer the trees

FeeLs LiKe eurOpe

hit the BriCKs Portland’s “living room,” Pioneer Courthouse Square (701 sW sixth ave), hosts events almost every day of the year. Every Mondays, the Portland Mall Management sponsors fun demonstrations and live music. april 4th brings the Portland Lindy Exchange, where hundreds of dancers come together to dance Lindy hop, Charleston and other swing dances from this great american era. and in late april, stop and smell the flowers at the annual Easter Seals bloomfest.

McMenamins’ Crystal Hotel (303 sW 12th ave.) opens May 3rd. The

Meet the Artist

Comfort, 30 X 40 canvas

HENRY ASENCIO

Saturday, April 30th, 2011 - 6pm to 9pm Sunday, May 1st, 2011 - Noon to 3pm Join us for a weekend of art & music With Mariano, Masud & Toshi - Latin Guitar

Call 503-295-4979 to RSVP

latest landmark in the brewpub empire is going to be a European-style hotel with shared bathrooms. The signature restaurant, bar, and soaking pool trio won’t disappoint loyal McMenamins fans. The opening of the Crystal hotel will be the shot in the arm for a onceseedy block.

308 SW First Avenue - Portland www.ShafferFineArt.com

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Portland Farmers Market (sW Park ave & sW Montgomery st) returns to the south Park blocks with fresh produce and products from local farms. saturdays, March 19 through December 17, 8:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m.

DISTRICT NEWS

OregOn wines paireD with FrenCh Cuisine Pinot American Brasserie (1205 sW Washington st.) provides a contemporary Northwest-take on the classic French brasserie. They offer a variety of fresh food, local wines, beers and spirits from the Willamette Valley and the rest of the Pacific Northwest. Located in the beautiful LEEdCertified Platinum “Indigo 12 West” building.

gear up

isaaC hers

Portland’s numerous cycling enthusiasts will find a lot to love at West End Bicycles (1111 sW stark st.), a new shop that not only sells bikes (lots of them) but all manner of urban wear, cycling gear, and assorted bike toys. Well-known brands such as specialized are available, but West End also sells bikes made by Portland’s own Beloved Bicycles. Even if you don’t ride a bike, there’s plenty in the way of urban wear – bags, hats, pants, shirts and more – that is both stylish and supports an active lifestyle.

barbara seipp was an attorney. That is until she gave into her creative urges and opened her own clothing boutique. Phlox (W. burnside at sW 13th) features seipp’s own locally produced line, Isaac hers, as well as other unique designers. she originally set up shop on North Mississippi, but recently relocated to the west end’s Eagle building.

mOVing LOCatiOn Collier - is an upscale mens clothing store makes the move from sW 10th to 615 sW broadway.

COFFee KnOwLeDge the LittLest BrewhOuse It may very well be Portland’s smallest brewpub. Their capacity is a mere four barrels –about as much as an enthusiastic home brewer produces – but every one of the beers crafted at Tugboat Brewing Company (711 sW ankeny st) is done so with intense expertise. The brewpub features fifteen kegs on tap, and often showcases several other obscure local brews. If you walk into Tugboat on a Monday evening, and get cheered, don’t worry. “Cheer Mondays” are an institution at the tiny brewery. Everyone gets a hearty “huzzah” upon entry.

here piggy one might balk at paying eight dollars for a food-cart sandwich, but the porky offerings at the People’s Pig (SW 9th and sW alder) are quite worth it. The sandwiches feature porchetta, a moist, boneless pork roast that’s flavored with a variety of spices, and melts in your mouth with fatty, greasy goodness.

The crew at Courier Coffee treats coffee like fruit, wine, or any other seasonal commodity. They don’t freeze their coffee, and attempt to use it days (as opposed to weeks) after roasting it. Courier also maintains direct contact with their suppliers around the world,

and their crew can fill you in on any factoids or details you care to know about the coffee you’re drinking. Courier Coffee (923 SW Oak St) has been in the coffee-roasting business for some time, but only recently started selling coffee as a drinkable. Located a block from Powell’s, Courier’s coffee shop is set up like a bar. There’s no line or register – just belly up and order yourself a macchiato, latte, or whatever strikes your fancy.

tOp 20 LOCaL aLBums By musiC miLLennium 1. decemberists - “king is dead” 2. Esperanza spalding - “Chamber Music society” 3. dolorean - “Unfazed” 4. backyard blues - “Tradin’ Twelves” 5. Pink Martini - “Joy to the World” 6. broken bells - “broken bells” 7. Portland Cello Project - “Thousand Words” 8. Pink Martini - “splendor in the Grass” 9. Portugal the Man - “Satanic satanist” 10. 3 Leg Torso - “animals & Cannibals” 11. Fernando - “True Instigator” 12. Laura Veirs - “July Flame” 13. Pink Martini - “sympathique” 14. Pink Martini - “hey Eugene” 15. Corin Tucker band - “1000 years” 16. ben Wolfe Quintet - “Live at smalls” 17. Menomena - “Mines” 18. Pink Martini - “hang on Little Tomato” 19. Hornbuckle/Scroggins - “Sista” 20. Esperanza spalding - “Esperanza”

PEARL DISTRICT N NW SW

NE SE

by david bentley

First thursDay on april 7th at Gallery 903 (903 NW davis st), you must experience the works of alan Fulle, and Christopher Truax. Their two-month showing runs until May 30th. Truax creates otherworldly metal figurines and wall art. Fulle uses paint itself as a subject, which interplays with other materials in his work.

Glisan St) has sold seventy-five percent of the units. This is a positive sign of a possible real-estate momentum in the Pearl, and perhaps the entire Portland metro area.

Vestas’ new headquarters. Erected in 1927, the building was added to the National Register of historic Places in 2001. Vestas said it also looked at sites in Texas and around the Portland area before deciding on the old Meier & Frank warehouse. Currently, Vestas employs 400 locally and is looking to add 100 new jobs over the next five years. Once remodeling is complete, the building will accommodate up to 600 employees.

six years anD COunting merChants antiCipate arriVaL OF majOr empLOyer it’s the right time tO Buy as the real estate market moves back in the right direction, it’s a good time to take advantage of specials in the market. For properties in the Pearl, look no further than Hoyt Realty Group (1130 NW 10th ave), the largest commercial and residential developer in the district. The Encore condominium building is now offering window coverings, washer and dryer, and a contribution towards closing costs for a limited time only. The 937 condominium building (937 NW

success is built on bringing customers back and building on that repeat business. That’s why we want to congratulate Vino Paradiso Wine Bar & Bistro (417 NW 10th ave) on its six-year anniversary. The owner Timothy Nishimoto is familiar with success as a member of the band

Many businesses are looking forward to the arrival of Vestas (1417 NW Everett st) and its 400 employees, in early 2012. The 172,000 square-foot, fivestory former Meier & Frank delivery depot was announced last year as

have a lot of money to enjoy wine at a restaurant,” says Nishimoto. Current chef Paul Losch received formal training at Vong in London under Jean Georges Vongerichten and the Culinary Institute of america. Losch’s dinner menu is modern american with an infusion of Northern Mediterranean flavors, featuring flatbreads, salads, cheeses, seafood, and at least two or three house-made pastas. seafood, one of his passions and specialties, is often prominent. “The key to making the best-tasting food is to highlight the ingredients,” he says. “and being in the Northwest, you can get the best quality for basically everything you need within 100 miles of where you stand.” open Tuesday-Thursday 4:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m., Friday-saturday 4:00 p.m.-11:00 p.m. Closed sunday & Monday.

Be smOOth…anytime! New beauty store delivers fast, effective, and affordable skincare for men and women. Just walk in, sit down, and get a facial within 30 minutes for only $30.

Pink Martini. Nishimoto had the idea of starting a wine business ten years before opening the doors of Vino Paradiso. “My mission is to shake the notion that one must know a lot about wine or

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DISTRICT NEWS

Be Smooth’s (120 NW 13th ave) treatments include: skincare, waxing, body slimming, and spray tanning. Local owner, Helene Lawless, is a firm believer in maintaining good skincare. helene brings her years of experience as a cosmetic chemist for Christian dior, and selling Pevonia beauty products to be smooth. so if you need beauty on a budget in a hurry, go to be smooth. The name says it all.

hOt FashiOn Line arriVaL EcoSkin and PI Organic will find a home at EcoVibe Apparel (921 NW Everett st) this spring. EcoVibe is a fashion apparel store with an ecoconscious focus. “Where others may carry some eco-friendly products, that is our main focus,” say owners andrea koranteng and Leonard allen. “It is key to buy and attract interesting lines of this nature and that is what keeps bringing customers back in for fresh and exciting fashion.”

and dishwashers, ceiling fans, waterefficient plumbing, energy-efficient light fixtures, and bike storage—plus, 70 of the units include balconies. It is more than an apartment building. The ground floor will house the Zimmerman Community Center and the Pearl’s first public elementary school. Residents will also enjoy: a community room to meet and greet new neighbors by the fireplace; laundry rooms on each floor; furnished lounges overlooking a landscaped courtyard; and a fitness room. The Ramona developers are anticipating LEED Gold certification. Environmental features include recycling rooms on each floor, a heat recovery system, solar hot water panels that will produce nearly half of the building’s hot water, and photovoltaic panels that will produce energy to run the elevators and light the hallways. additional green features include an ecoroof, courtyard filtration, and bioswales, which assist in filtering stormwater runoff. The leasing staff is currently accepting applications at their temporary office located at 1603 NW 14th avenue.

new Businesses Halo Shoes (938 NW Everett St) has moved across the river, but still offers men and women’s shoes of the highest

fashion, quality and comfort. started in Tigard, ProGuitarShop (1100 NW Glisan st) has taken over the old Madison Millinger location and created a nice showcase of its own. This is a great destination store and adds to the mix of businesses in the Pearl. Got a desire for a good burger at a good price, go no further than Little Big Burger (122 NW 10th ave). It is

a nice little place situated across from Powell’s book. It has a very simple menu; burgers made of cascade natural beef, with only one size of fries, soda, or floats. Chase Bank (1035 NW Lovejoy st) is opening what appears to be a flagship branch. This is Chase bank’s third location in NW Portland.

ChiLDren are weLCOme The Ramona (1550 NW 14th ave), a six-story building developed by Ed McNamara, features 138 affordable apartments and is nearly ready for move-in after a year of construction. This new apartment building is designed for families, with 130 of the units being 2- or 3-bedroom. Most units include free parking and very low-cost utilities, making this a smashing deal. apartments also feature high ceilings, large windows, fully equipped kitchens with ENERGy sTaR refrigerators

NOB HILL

Seams to Fit 2264 NW Raleigh St 503.224.7884

N NW

Upscale Women's Consignment Boutique

NE SE

by becki singer

seamstofit.com

BarK By pOpuLar DemanD! This March, Portland’s Northwest Children’s Theater (1819 NW Everett street) is presenting the award-winning musical “Go, Dog. Go!” It is a fun-filled world of doggy delight with crooning canines that dance and drive. Like a popup book come to life, these dogs delve in with gusto. a barking cast and howling tunes make this show a tail-wagging good time.

mr. smith returns steve smith is no newbie to the Portland tea scene. In fact, he’s something of a tea legend here in stumptown. after founding (and selling) megabrands Tazo and stash Tea Company, smith took a few years off to unwind and travel the world with his family. Now he’s back with Smith Tea (1626 NW Thurman street) and a charming three-table teahouse you won’t want to miss. steve’s knack for picking the best of the best shines at this off-the-beaten-path delight. stop by to check out an impeccably curated selection of full-leaf teas, a trio of addictive tea lattes, or whatever new treats smith may be cooking up in his onsite lab.

greeK streaK



RESERVATIONS Ph: 503.242.1400 www.urbanfondue.com NW 21st & Glisan in Portland 60

Nob hill is going Greek this season, with two delectable new Mediterranean restaurants on the scene. First up is Dorio (1037 NW 23rd ave, #200) simply our favorite new spot for tapas – especially when the entire menu tops out around $8/plate. owned by the thoroughly charming Takki Chalkiopoulous, this is the perfect spot for time-tested, authentic Greek food, and the best baklava we’ve had on the west side. or stop by Blue Olive (500 NW 21st ave). dinner prices are steep, but the happy hour menu is a welcome new addition to the neighborhood.

DOg LOVers rejOiCe

that’s a wrap

a neighborhood favorite Hip Hound (610 NW 23rd avenue) has joined the big dogs on 23rd avenue. Moving from their old haunt on Westover Place to a bright and bustling new location on 23rd and hoyt has turned their store into the hippest spot for your hound to see and be seen. With an endless selection of toys and treats (including raw and grain-free options) for even the pickiest pet on the block, you’ll be hard-pressed to stop into this new spot without splurging on your favorite fourlegged friend.

It’s hard to imagine one more streetfood-style shop surviving on a street so packed with good eats, but Love Via Crepes (1019 NW 23rd Ave) isn’t daunted. They’ve opened up their brand new Japanese-style crepe stand at 23rd and Lovejoy, which we’re sure comes as a sweet treat to the folks at Good sam across the street. If you have no idea what makes a crepe turn Japanese, just picture a traditional French crepe with your choice of traditional or adventurous toppings (red bean paste and green tea ice cream, anyone?), then roll the whole thing into a cone for maximum portability. They’re a bit of a challenge to eat with grace, but we think it’s good to have fun with your food…especially when it’s this delicious.

get yOur Denim On We can’t explain why it took their relocation to a spot further off the beaten path to put Blake Denim (26 NW 23rd Place) on our radar, but there you have it. after living in (relative) anonymity in their space on 23rd and Johnson for years, they’ve recently moved to the old smith & hawken building on Westover Place.

Their bigger, brighter and infinitely more inviting home plays host to one of the biggest denim selections in the city, and certainly the best curated. owner blake Nieman-davis has a frighteningly thorough knowledge of the dark world of denim, and is exactly the sherpa you want guiding you to your perfect pair.

sChmizza gets a maKeOVer schmizza addicts will have already noticed that the 21st ave location has finally reopened with an updated moniker and a sleek new look to match. The new Pizza Schmizza Pub & Grub (320 NW 21st avenue) boasts an expanded menu of pastas, sandwiches and salads, plus all the classic schmizza pies you’ve come to love. best of all, the updated look comes with a full bar, and a more dine-in-friendly atmosphere, making the Pub & Grub one of our favorite new spots to convene.

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the insiDe sCOOp Locals know Two Tarts Bakery (2309 NW kearney) is the place to go when you’re craving cookies. Their decadent and adorable bite-size delights are legendary in these parts, and with good reason: they’re utterly irresistible, and tiny enough to avoid most of that calorie-laden guilt. If you’re used to stalking these tasty treats at local farmers’ markets, it’s worth nothing they have a full-time location on NW 23rd and kearney, where you can score your favorites any day of the week. but their best-kept secret is their series of hands-on baking classes, taught during the winter and spring months. spaces fill up with lightning speed, but if you nab a spot, you’ll have a chance to learn from the masters…and find out how those fleur-de-sel chocolate chip cookies taste hot from the oven.

his anD hers unDerwear

World Market Benjamin Blak (2323 NW Westover st.) just opened next to a wonderful place for men’s and ladies underwear, everything from naughty to nice, swimsuits, and lounge pants, too.

DISTRICT NEWS

MISSISSIPPI AVE N NW SW

NE SE

by adam sawyer

DIY RoASTINg

Fun FOr the wee One’s

Ever want to roast your own coffee? Trevin and Ginny Miller can get your operation up and running with supplies from their shop, Mr. Green Beans (3932 N Mississippi Ave). Attend the “Intro to Coffee Roasting,” course every Wednesday from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Every week Mississippi Treehouse (3742 N Mississippi ave) offers classes for the kiddos. Toddler arts & Crafts: Fridays, 11:15 a.m.- 12:15 p.m. Musical storytime with Tyleena: saturdays, 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

Not only are green coffee beans less than half the price of gourmet roasted coffee, but they also stay fresh longer. The equipment needed to roast coffee at home is surprisingly affordable, with options ranging from a simple frying pan to highly specialized home roasters. In fact, the most common “roasting method is a repurposed popcorn popper.”

expanD yOur Brew hOrizOns spring is in the air and the warm weather will soon be opening up the patios in the area. Prost! (4237 N Mississippi ave) owner dan hart travels to Germany each year and will be featuring a new German imported kolsh beer each month starting in april. kolsh is a light, refreshing lager/ ale and is perfect along with a bratwurst on a sunny day.

put On yOur reD Dress The Q Center (4115 N Mississippi ave), will host the 11th annual Red dress Party on april 16th. Q Center also offers yearround support and chemical dependency counseling for the LbGTQ community and a weekly children’s storytime with Maria.

new KiD On the BLOCK Sew Po (830 N Failing st) is the new corner store for craft and sewing. owner kate Matlock was inspired by the neighborhood to share her passion for sewing and fabrics. The crew at sew Po, kate, Matt, Janett, Lily, and Luke, coordinate weekly classes in all areas of sewing, from basic machine operation to pattern reading, quilt making, and refashioning.

p r O F i L e : neighBOrhOOD herO

nOt just anOther thai Cart besides dishing up fantastic Thai food at Mee-Sen Thai (3924 Mississippi ave), owner “Earl” Ninsom has also opened a food cart at Mississippi Marketplace (4233 N Mississippi ave). The quaint restaurant is situated right in the heart of the Mississippi avenue and has received warm welcomes and great reviews since its opening in December of 2009.

Our United Villages (3625 N Mississippi Ave) is a local non-profit that encourages and facilitates neighbors to get to know one another and work together. Through classes and workshops, on-going community outreach, and special events, people are encouraged to meet one another and build positive relationships. other special events include social gatherings, storytelling events, and inspirational speakers. Photography by adam sawyer.

The Rebuilding Center

New living spaces at Tupelo alley

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