| Cairns | |
|---|---|
 One of the installation's five stacks in front of Portland Union Station in 2013 | |
 | |
| Artist | Christine Bourdette |
| Year | 2008 |
| Type | Sculpture |
| Medium | Slate (or silver ledgestone) |
| Subject | Cairns |
| Location | Portland, Oregon, United States |
| 45°31′42″N122°40′38″W / 45.528195°N 122.6770992°W | |
Cairns is an outdoor 2008 public art installation by American artist Christine Bourdette, installed in the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, in the United States.
Christine Bourdette's Cairns (2008) consists of a series of five stacked slate (or silver ledgestone) [1] forms near Portland Union Station at the north end of the Transit Mall in Portland's Old Town Chinatown neighborhood. The stacks are installed at Northwest 6th Avenue and Northwest Glisan Street, and along Northwest 5th and 6th avenues between Glisan and Irving streets. [1] They create a path to the MAX Light Rail stations Union Station / Northwest 6th & Hoyt Street and Union Station / Northwest 5th & Glisan Street. [2]
Bourdette was inspired by cairns, or stacks of stones are used as landmarks for memorials and navigation. [2] She has said of the sculpture:
A progression of increments, marking departure and arrival, marking a path; these basic aspects of time and travel have governed my approach to the three Union Station sites. As I considered ways in which humans mark pathways, I thought of cairns, those man-made stacks of stones that mark hiking trails and which historically have served as landmarks for land and sea navigation, memorials, and commemorative markers. Travelers on cross-country trails traditionally add stones to cairns as they pass, resulting in animated and precarious stacks of rocks and pebbles. This evidence of human comings and goings, these reminders that others have followed the same path signify safety and reassurance out in the wilderness. In the urban wilderness, finding one's way through the various stages of hurry-up-and-wait are just as significant. These stand-alone works speak to the step-by-step marking of time, and incorporate varying degrees of elegance and playfulness. They are related to each other through this thematic underpinning and through the use of stone, but each responds to its site in its own way. [1]
The sculptures measure 126 inches (3.2 m) x 69 inches (1.8 m) x 57 inches (1.4 m), 132 inches (3.4 m) x 73 inches (1.9 m) x 73 inches (1.9 m), 64 inches (1.6 m) x 28 inches (0.71 m) x 28 inches (0.71 m), 48 inches (1.2 m) x 32 inches (0.81 m) x 32 inches (0.81 m), 57 inches (1.4 m) x 23 inches (0.58 m) x 23 inches (0.58 m), and 88 inches (2.2 m) x 24 inches (0.61 m) x 24 inches (0.61 m), respectively. [1] Cairns was funded by TriMet and is administered by the Regional Arts & Culture Council. [1]
Portland Union Station is a train station in Portland, Oregon, United States, situated near the western shore of the Willamette River in Old Town Chinatown. It serves as an intermediate stop for Amtrak's Cascades and Coast Starlight routes and, along with King Street Station in Seattle, is one of two western termini of the Empire Builder. The station is a major transport hub for the Portland metropolitan area with connections to MAX Light Rail, the Portland Streetcar, and local and intercity bus services. The station building contains Wilf's Restaurant & Bar on the ground level and offices on the upper floors. It also has Amtrak's first Metropolitan Lounge on the West Coast, which is reserved for first-class sleeping car and business-class passengers.
Trail blazing or way marking is the practice of marking paths in outdoor recreational areas with signs or markings that follow each other at certain, though not necessarily exactly defined, distances and mark the direction of the trail.
The MAX Yellow Line is a light rail line serving Portland, Oregon, United States. Operated by TriMet as part of the MAX Light Rail system, it connects North Portland, Portland City Center, and Portland State University (PSU). The line serves 17 stations; it runs north–south from Expo Center station to PSU South/Southwest 6th and College station, interlining with the Green and Orange lines within the Portland Transit Mall. Service runs for 21 hours per day with headways of up to 15 minutes. The Yellow Line is the fourth-busiest service in the MAX system; it carried an average 12,960 riders per weekday in September 2019.
Overlook Park is a light rail station in Portland, Oregon, United States, served by TriMet as part of the MAX Light Rail system. It is the eighth station southbound on the Yellow Line, which operates between North Portland, downtown Portland and Portland State University. The staggered side platform station is situated between the intersections of Fremont Street and Overlook Boulevard along the median of North Interstate Avenue, near the Interstate Medical Offices of Kaiser Permanente and a park with the same name. It is one of three stations serving North Portland's Overlook neighborhood along with North Prescott Street and North Killingsworth Street. Overlook Park station opened on May 1, 2004, as part of the Interstate MAX extension. Trains serve the station for approximately 21 hours per day on a headway of 15 minutes during most of the day.
The MAX Orange Line is a light rail line serving the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Operated by TriMet as part of the MAX Light Rail system, it connects Portland City Center, Portland State University (PSU), Southeast Portland, Milwaukie, and Oak Grove. The line serves 17 stations and runs for 201⁄2 hours per day with headways of up to 15 minutes. It averaged 3,480 daily weekday riders in September 2020.
Old Town Chinatown is the official Chinatown of the northwest section of Portland, Oregon. The Willamette River forms its eastern boundary, separating it from the Lloyd District and the Kerns and Buckman neighborhoods. It includes the Portland Skidmore/Old Town Historic District and the Portland New Chinatown/Japantown Historic District, which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It has been referred to as the "skid row" of Portland.
Union Station/Northwest 6th & Hoyt and Union Station/Northwest 5th & Glisan are light rail stations on the MAX Green, Orange and Yellow Lines in Portland, Oregon. They are the first stops southbound on the Portland Transit Mall MAX extension. The Union Station/Northwest 6th & Hoyt Street station is served only by the Green and Yellow Lines, and the Union Station/Northwest 5th & Glisan Street station is served only by the Green and Orange Lines. Originally, from the opening of these stations in 2009 until 2015, the Yellow Line served both, but in September 2015 the then-new Orange Line replaced the Yellow Line at all southbound stations on the transit mall.
Nepenthes is a series of four sculptures by artist Dan Corson, installed in 2013 along Northwest Davis Street in the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, in the United States. The work was inspired by the genus of carnivorous plants of the same name, known as tropical pitcher plants. The sculptures are 17 feet (5.2 m) tall and glow in the dark due to photovoltaics.
Mimir is an outdoor bronze and concrete sculpture by Keith Jellum, installed in northwest Portland, Oregon, United States. The 1980 sculpture was commissioned by the Portland Development Commission and Tom Walsh of Tom Walsh Construction, and is part of the City of Portland and Multnomah County Public Art Collection courtesy of the Regional Arts & Culture Council.
Talos No. 2 is an outdoor 1959–1977 bronze sculpture created by the American artist James Lee Hansen. It is located in the Transit Mall of downtown Portland, Oregon, in the United States.
Running Horses is an outdoor 1986 bronze sculpture by Tom Hardy, located on the Transit Mall in downtown Portland, Oregon. It is part of the City of Portland and Multnomah County Public Art Collection courtesy of the Regional Arts & Culture Council.
Untitled is an outdoor 1977 steel and porcelain enamel sculpture by American artist John Killmaster, located in downtown Portland, Oregon. It is part of the City of Portland and Multnomah County Public Art Collection courtesy of the Regional Arts & Culture Council.
Driver's Seat is a 1994 galvanized steel sculpture by Don Merkt, installed along the Transit Mall in Portland, Oregon's Old Town Chinatown neighborhood, in the United States. The artwork was funded by the City of Portland's Percent for Art program, the Portland Development Commission, and TriMet, and remains part of the City of Portland and Multnomah County Public Art Collection courtesy of the Regional Arts & Culture Council.
Untitled is an outdoor 1977 painted aluminum sculpture by Ivan Morrison, located at Southwest 5th Avenue and Southwest Oak Street in the Transit Mall of Portland, Oregon.
Burls Will Be Burls is an outdoor 2009 bronze sculpture by American artist Bruce Conkle, located in Portland, Oregon.
Ventana al Pacifico is an outdoor 1989 marble sculpture by Manuel Neri, located outside of the Gus J. Solomon United States Courthouse in downtown Portland, Oregon.
City Reflections is an outdoor 2009 bronze sculpture by Patti Warashina, located in downtown Portland, Oregon.
Holon, also known as Hōlon, is an outdoor stone sculpture by Donald Wilson, located in the South Park Blocks in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was originally commissioned in 1978–1979 and re-carved in 2003–2004. It is part of the City of Portland and Multnomah County Public Art Collection courtesy of the Regional Arts & Culture Council, which administers the work.
Festival Lanterns is an outdoor 2006 art installation consisting of granite and steel sculptures by American artist Brian Goldbloom, installed in northwest Portland, Oregon, in the United States. The work is administered by the Regional Arts & Culture Council.
