PCPA tour guide essentials, for our Yellow Line MAX Public Art tour

Portland Center for the Performing Arts Volunteer Coordinator Margie demonstrates the first essential, a camera.


One tour guide demonstrates validating a previously purchased TriMet ticket.


Another uses a card to purchase a ticket.


Here it is. Honored Citizen is TriMet's term for seniors.


Remember I told y'all that Saturday, July 25, the day of the tour, was the first in the 10-day streak of temps above 90 degrees for Portland? So, the water bottle pictured here represented an essential for real. Two ladies had theirs in home-made carriers. If you look closely in today's first photo, in the back between the people, you can see the carrier on her shoulder. Pretty doggone neat!


These smart, creative ladies crocheted the net shape and then crocheted it right onto the strapping--amazing!


Our final essential, artist Valerie Otani.

Here's a bit about her artistic philosophy that I found on the Internet, at the Seattle Public Library's Web site:
Portland artist Valerie Otani sees public art as connecting people to a site and strengthening the impact of a place in the context of urban design. Creating lively public spaces with artwork that intrigues, challenges and inspires us is part of a larger goal of improving the quality of civic life. Much of her work has been on design teams, identifying opportunities and maximizing the impact of art in a total project, then doing a project as well. Her work reveals an unknown aspect of everyday experience - a revelation that creates a bond linking us to our place in our community. Otani provided design team collaboration on the Greenwood Branch project.