I’m not just an artist and tour guide. I also curate bathtub art. The Bathtub Art Museum is over a decade old and began with an online museum and big art show on Alberta. The centerpiece of that show was an antique metal tub borrowed from A-Ball Plumbing Supply (RIP). In the pockets of a clear shower curtain hung a collection of mail art. I also keep track of all the odd little museums in town like the 3D Center for Art & Photography (closed in 2011) and Kidd’s Toy Museum, and since 2007 I’ve printed brochures and guide books and also led many bike and walking tours. My biggest project, the Hidden Portland Library, has hundreds of books, articles and objects—including a piece of PDX carpet of course. When I move, I have no idea who to pass these projects on to—in my mind, this collection belongs to the city, not to me.
“Good citizens are the riches of a city” —Inscription on the Skidmore Fountain.
If you look into Portland and Oregon history, you learn that we just do things differently. We’re big on civic pride and making our home great. That goes all the way back to Dr. John McLoughlin, the “Father of Oregon” (and my historical crush—swoon!), a British subject who disobeyed orders of his employer, the Hudson’s Bay Company, and helped hungry and needy American settlers.
To me, that’s the spirit of a true Oregonian. Where did it go?
When I arrived in Portland, there seemed to be a sense we were underdogs with a secret: a beautiful lush, human-scale authentic city with careful planning and so many good citizens. Today, Portland feels like a theme-park version of itself.
And I’m also active in the cycling community. In 2004, I organized and led the Bunny on a Bike ride on Easter Sunday. I had discovered the Shift bike scene and was meeting all sorts of people eager to create what’s known as Bike Fun. More than 40 people wearing homemade bunny ears showed up to my inaugural ride. Shift is also responsible for Pedalpalooza—a three-week festival of bike fun (secretly bike activism) every June. After the first Bunny on a Bike ride, I was hooked. Some of my favorite rides: the Twin Spin (everyone came with a doppelgänger), the Short Shorts Scandinavian Pride Ride, the Oregon Sesquicentennial Ride (with Seski the Sasquatch, Oregon’s sesquicentennial mascot, in a pedicab) and Sven Sparkle & Greta Glitter’s Silver and Gold Mobile Dance Party. There’s just no better way to get out and see the city—I’ve been saying this for years: Go by bike!
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Willamette Week OCTOBER 21, 2015 wweek.com
CYCLE SAM: Sven Sparkle & Greta Glitter’s Silver and Gold Mobile Dance Party with Sam Adams.