Historic Downtown Oregon City

This summer it’s time to enjoy more of Oregon City’s Historic Downtown.  Great events are happening mere steps (or a short elevator ride) into downtown. Arts, culture, music, restaurants all in a 160 year old marketplace.  And this summer, Oregon City’s Municipal Elevator will be open late to make your visits to downtown even easier.

Downtown Dates to Celebrate

June

First Friday Art Walk, June 4^th 5-8 p.m.

Farmers Market 3-7 p.m. Wednesdays June 16^th, 23^rd, 30^th

July

First Friday Art Walk, July 2^nd 5-8 p.m.

Farmers Market 3-7 p.m. Wednesdays July 7^th, 14^th, 21^st, 28th

First City Celebration, Saturday July 31^st 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

August

First Friday Art Walk, August 6^th 5-8 p.m.

Farmers Market 3-7 p.m. Wednesdays 1^st, 8^th, 15^th, 22^nd, 29^th

Antique Fair, August 29^th 8am to 4 p.m.

September

First Friday Art Walk, September 3^rd 5-8 p.m.

Downtown Car Show, Saturday September 11^th 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

This summer, downtown Oregon City and special events like these are even easier to enjoy. The Municipal Elevator will stay open late on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings June  through October.  Take a walk, and an elevator ride, to rediscover downtown.

See You Downtown,

Lloyd Purdy

Downtown Manager

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One of a kind fiber arts studio opens at 719 Main Street – decoupage anyone?

If you’re having trouble with your “left leaning decreases” or even if you’re curious about what that means, the newest business in Oregon City’s downtown marketplace is the place for you.

Wynona Studios at 719 Main Street in downtown Oregon City, is a newly opened fiber arts studio. Owners Linda Bell and her daughter JJ Foster invite customers to explore their creativity in a comfortable setting where they can experience a like-minded community of crafters. The fiber arts studio is named after Linda’s grandmother and inspired by Wynona’s Thursday Thimble Club dating back to 1909.

This uniquely downtown Oregon City business offers customers who join as members the opportunity to “play with fiber toys” including a spinning wheel, loom, sewing machine, winding station, dye studio, and felting machine as well as paper crafting tools. Studio members (daily and monthly rates) can bring their own supplies and use in-house equipment and expertise.

The fiber art studio at 719 Main Street in Downtown Oregon city has been outfitted with plush chairs, natural light, and an eclectic decor as a “home away from home,” according to co-owner JJ Foster. “Being crafty doesn’t have to be a solitary affair. Wynona Fiber Arts Studio offers the opportunity to spend time among like-minded people in an encouraging and helping environment.”

Market research shows that crafters today are “multi-craftual”.  People start with one craft hobby and that leads them to other crafts. “We often find that people who like to knit also pick up crocheting, yarn dyeing and spinning,” said Linda Bell owner of Wynona Fiber Arts Studio. “Our fiber arts studio invites customers to explore a range of fiber-based activities in a friendly and supportive setting.”

Linda and her daughter JJ also put their crafty sensibility to use providing unique retail products at Wynona Studios. They focus on reusing and repurposing products. Cotton sweaters become trendy “market bags”, cashmere sweaters become soft baby blankets, hand warmers or a range of felt-based products.

“Yarn harvesting from old cashmere is a very ‘fair trade and sustainable practice’ that reuses a product in a very cost effective way,” said JJ Foster co-owner of Wynona Studios at 719 Main Street. “Buying new yarn to make a cashmere scarf could cost $60. Harvesting yarn from a previously worn cashmere sweater purchased at Wynona Studios costs about $20.”

Wynona Studios occupies an old building renovated by T5 Equities in historic downtown Oregon City. The studio has been “glammed it up” with refinished wood floors, an exposed brick wall, and an eclectic mix of chandeliers, industrial lighting and natural lighting. “Natural lighting is really important in a fiber studio like this,” said Lind Bell “Good lighting reveals the true color of fabric and craft fibers.”

“Our customers are looking forward to their next project as much as they are new friendships,” said JJ Foster co-owner of Wynona Studios at 719 Main Street. “We hope they’re thinking of something crafty to do in order to come visit, sit in a comfy chair and share their experience in a great setting.”

Linda and JJ offer a selection of retail products as well as scheduled classes and lessons. They plan to respond to local interest when planning the classes they offer and the products they stock. “Wynona Studios is about exploring new things,” said Lind Bell. “Knitting, crocheting, embroidery as well as hosting bridal showers, tea parties and birthday parties all with a craft theme are part of the plan.”

Wynona Studios is as a hybrid business model of “experiential retail” where customer engagement and interaction add value to a discovery experience. Crafting, community and connecting take precedent over traditional shopping or making typical retail purchases.

“Innovative entrepreneurs like Linda and JJ are what a great downtown marketplace is all about,” said Downtown Manager Lloyd Purdy. “Creative businesses that thrive in a unique setting add value to our community.”

“Yes, I did have to look up how to spell decoupage,” said Purdy. “Do you decoupage? You will after a visit to Wynona Studios at 719 Main Street in Downtown Oregon City.

Wynona Studios at 719 Main Street in Downtown Oregon City will be open Wednesday through Sunday from 10am to 6 p.m. Visit in June, meet Linda and JJ and get acquainted with the studio. Classes and membership opportunities begin in July. For more information visit www.wynonastudios.com or call 503.974.9193.

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funnelbox motion picture studios earns  Award for Blue Collar Creative Video

Downtown Oregon City’s funnelbox motion picture studios, run by local creative entrepreneur Robb Crocker, received a 2010 Silver Telly Award for the company’s creation and production of Blue Collar Creative: This is Downtown, a video promoting the economic redevelopment of historic downtown Oregon City. The award-winning video can be viewed at www.bluecollarcreative.org.

This video is the centerpiece of the economic development and business recruitment campaign Blue Collar Creative, which promotes the creative side of historic downtown Oregon City to area entrepreneurs.

For 160 years Oregon City has been a place that reflects Oregon’s “roll up your sleeves” work ethic. Blue Collar Creative acknowledges Oregon City’s past, yet looks ahead to a new and exciting vision of the downtown business district. It is reaching out to the spectrum of creative professionals- from architects and artists to advertising and marketing pros- who pursue their labor with passion, perseverance and unflinching dedication to their craft.

“The Blue Collar Creative business recruitment campaign show entrepreneurs the potential of downtown Oregon City,” said Downtown Manager Lloyd Purdy. “The video is innovative in its production and really captures the excitement and energy surrounding downtown Oregon City.”

“I’m really excited about what’s happening in the OC,” adds funnelbox CEO, Robb Crocker.  “Producing this piece to bring added attention to our creative community was an incredibly fulfilling experience.” funnelbox donated over $40,000 in time, money and resources to produce the video, spending over 420 hours shooting, editing, and animating the piece. “This Silver Telly Award brings even more attention to Downtown Oregon City.  I couldn’t be more proud of the funnelbox team who put so much time and creative energy into the project.”

The video was directed and produced by funnelbox’s Steve Crocker and Colleen Rowley. “We really wanted to push the creative boundaries on this project,” said Steve Crocker, who directed the video.  “Our team put in a lot of late nights getting the work done.  But the final result was well worth the effort.”

The Telly Awards honor the very best video and film productions. Since 1978, the awards have been presented to companies that strengthen the visual arts community by inspiring, promoting, and supporting creativity. The 30th Annual Telly Awards received over 13,000 entries from all 50 states and 5 continents.

funnelbox motion picture studios provides full-service digital video production for a range of national and local clients. More information about the firm can be found at http://www.funnelbox.com. For more information contact Robb Crocker or Julie Flesner at 1-503-869-1998.

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This summer Oregon City residents, and visitors to historic downtown, will have more convenient access to the restaurants, shops and services in the downtown marketplace.

City leaders have extended the hours of operation of the Municipal Elevator during the summer as a pilot program to test and measure the potential for evening use. Extended summer hours of operation are Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings until 9:30 pm through October 2^nd.

An active summer season of programming downtown, including First Friday Art Walks, a new Wednesday afternoon farmers market on 8^th street, and an increase in new restaurants open for dinner downtown were several factor that influenced the decision to extend the hours of operation of the Municipal Elevator.

Other factors include the Oregon City’s commitment to sustainability and providing residents pedestrian (trails, paths and non-vehicle) access to city amenities – like the historic downtown marketplace. Throughout the past 16 months, a range of consultants have also recommended increased use of the Municipal Elevator as an efficient mechanism for solving several other challenges including downtown parking, tourism development, and economic development.

“The Municipal Elevator in Oregon City is more than a regional icon,” said Lloyd Purdy Downtown Manager, “Oregon City’s Municipal Elevator is a gateway between the downtown marketplace and the rest of Oregon City.”

The Oregon City Municipal Elevator operates as one of only four municipal elevators in the world. The Elevator is the only “vertical street” in North America, and provides a physical connection between Oregon City’s residential neighborhoods and our historic waterfront downtown.

The Oregon City Municipal Elevator provides a connective link that transports more than 120,000 riders annually between the historic waterfront downtown and the City’s two upper terraces.  For visitors, bicyclists, and pedestrian commuters as well as more than 1,000 downtown employees, the elevator is a gateway to the downtown marketplace.

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Celebrate Commerce and Culture in Oregon's First City

The non-profit Main Street Oregon City was created to build partnerships around downtown Oregon City to make Oregon City a more vibrant and healthy place to live, work and visit. This summer the 16 month-old non-profit will partner with the Three Rivers Artist Guild and the Rotary Club of Oregon City to produce a “signature event” for the Portland Metro area.

“Over the past 12 months we explored a range of festival ideas that we could call a “signature event” for our community,” said Lloyd Purdy, Executive Director of the non-profit Main Street Oregon City. “We realized one of our community’s greatest claims to fame is the fact that Oregon City is a City of Firsts.”   Here are some examples.

First book of fiction written in Oregon, 1842. First provisional legislature met in Oregon City, 1843. Oregon City declared capitol, 1844. First almanac published on Pacific Coast by the Oregon Printing Assn, 1847. First Territorial Legislature of Oregon Territory, 1849. First US troops in Oregon, a mounted rifle regiment in Oregon City, 1848.  First official plat for San Francisco filed in Oregon City, 1850.

Building upon 160 years of history, Downtown Oregon City is pleased to announce Oregon City’s First City Celebration on Saturday, July 31st from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. This signature event in downtown Oregon City celebrates the unique character and identity of Oregon City – a city of firsts and Oregon’s “first City”.

This year, the First City Celebration will feature 50 local artists, live music and entertainment, games and crafts for kids, and regional wineries. The Three Rivers Artist Guild and Oregon City Rotary are producing partners for this first-time event.

“The First City Celebration, scheduled for Saturday July 31^st is a foundational event – one the Oregon City Community can build upon year after year to celebrate our unique identity,” said Lloyd Purdy, Executive Director of the non-profit Main Street Oregon City. “This year we begin by focusing on the creative energy of our community, the youth in our community, and our connection to regional viniculture. “

The non-profit Main Street Oregon City is working to make Oregon City a better place to live, work, and visit by making the downtown marketplace more vibrant and sustainable.  This includes producing special programs and activities that celebrate local culture, creativity and commerce.

The First City Celebration in Downtown Oregon City is supported by an OCCIT grant and a City of Oregon City Metro Enhancement grant.

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Local Sculptor Featured at Oregon City’s First Friday Event June 4^th

Oregon City’s First Friday events downtown celebrate the commerce and culture of the community. Each month the First Friday Art Walk in downtown Oregon City highlights a local artist.  Meet featured artist – Lance Smith, metal sculptor. Lance will be located at the corner of Main and 8^th Street in front of the Caufield House during the June 4^th First Friday event downtown.

When Lance Smith was bored at his metal fabrication job one day, he decided to walk around and look at scrap metal. That was the start of his three dimensional metal art creations. Lance had been doing two-dimensional metal pieces for 20 years but didn’t come up with his first 3D piece until 1989.

“I found a little piece of pipe that I thought looked like a fish. So I took it and turned it into a 3D metal fish,” Smith said. “I began with two-dimensional and lately have begun to fool around with free-form,”

Smith lives, works and creates in Oregon City. Smith and his is the June featured artist for the First Friday Art Walk in historic Downtown Oregon City. The First Friday Art Walk on June 4, features about 30 local artists street side from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

By 1990, Smith took his art on the road and began selling his unique pieces of art at shows and in galleries. In 1994, he signed on to sell his creations at Portland’s Saturday Market. He calls his art “free-form metal sculptures,” which means he has no particular form or pattern that he follows, unless he is doing a sculpture based on a previous piece he has already done or a commission.

“Oregon City’s First Friday event series really attracts residents and visitors downtown,” said Lloyd Purdy, Executive Director of the non-profit Main Street Oregon City. “Last’s month’s event was a great kickoff to our summer season. We’re looking forward to a fun series of First Fridays Downtown.”

First Friday’s in Oregon City also feature a music component called the Sounds of Downtown. On the First Friday of every month this summer local musicians set up street side for a jam session. This month local musicians include Audra and William Mehan on one end of historic downtown and the Robbie Laws Trio on the other.

Audra and William Mehan are a father – daughter acoustic duo featuring guitars and vocals. Their sound range of music is very eclectic. They cover everything from Eric Clapton to Shania Twain to Sublime. Basically a two-person jam band. They’ve been playing together on various instruments since Audra was a kid.

“It would be safe to say Dad taught me most of what I know. He’s also a member of the Wicky Pickers and a couple other groups including a big band jazz band,” said Audra Mehan. “I just do what I do.”

Also performing street side on Friday June 4^th is the Robbie Laws Trio. This group (guitar, drummer and bassist) play a “fast, strong set of roots-conscious rockabilly” according to music reviewers.  Robbie, Jesse and Drew have toured the West and love to jam at a local gig.

The Sounds of Downtown and First Fridays are supported by an OCCIT grant and partially funded by Work for Art a program of the Regional Arts & Culture Council.  The Oregonian is the print media sponsor for these events. First Fridays in Oregon City are produced by the non-profit Main Street Oregon City and the Three Rivers Artists Guild.

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Downtown Mural Program Features Oregon History with New Walking Tour and Brochure.

The non-profit Main Street Oregon City is working to make Oregon City a better place to live, work, and visit by making downtown more vibrant and sustainable.  This includes producing special programs and activities that celebrate our culture, creativity and commerce.

With financial backing from an OC150 grant and the Clackamas County Cultural Coalition, the non-profit Main Street Oregon City worked with local artist Ingrid Aubry owner of JQ Graphics to produce a downtown mural brochure. The brochure titled “Painting the Town” highlights and tells the history of eight murals in historic downtown Oregon City.

“This was a fun project to work on,” said Ingrid Aubry, owner of JQ Graphics and local artist tasked with creating the brochure. “Gathering information about the murals and their creators and designing the brochure gave me a connection to our community’s history and heritage.”

The murals, completed in the early 1990’s, tell the story of Oregon’s pioneering heritage. Mural production was overseen by the Oregon City Mural Society — tasked with celebrating the region’s early pioneers with these larger than life paintings.

“Downtown’s murals celebrate the 160 years of history of our historic marketplace,” said Lloyd Purdy, Executive Director of the non-profit Main Street Oregon City. “A walking tour brochure that guides visitors to these downtown murals and shares some history about each is a nice addition to the work of these pioneering artists.”

Downtown will formally unveil these mural brochures with a brief event on Friday June 4^th at 6 p.m. in the “Nomad Gallery” located at 900 Main Street in downtown Oregon City.  At this event we will also unveil a limited time showing of five mural paintings that were originally created to commemorate downtown Oregon City’s mural program.

Beginning June 4^th, visitors interested in the self-guided mural walking tour can pick up a brochure from their favorite downtown merchant and on the Oregon City Municipal Elevator while supplies last.

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