PDXBridgeFestival.org "Man of many Hats!"

The PDX Bridge Festival is a multi-venue, thematically cohesive arts festival. Using the bridges as a launch pad for stellar works of art and performance, our goal is to catapult Portland to prominence in the public art sector, demonstrating the power of creativity and community collaboration.

Radiating like spokes from downtown Portland, the ten bridges that span the Willamette River are central to the regional identity, tying both the geography and cultures of Portland into a vibrant whole. Beginning with the Hawthorne Bridge Centennial in 2010—followed closely by the Steel Bridge (2012), and the Broadway Bridge (2013)—the PDX Bridge Festival will bring people together in a spirit of civic pride, aesthetic wonder, and community engagement. While showcasing the convergence of industrial design and artistic endeavor, we will create a valuable cultural tourist destination in the heart of Portland. The Festival celebrates the bridges on a historical level, while at the same time drawing on wide creative talents to produce an awe-inspiring public arts celebration with the longevity and magnetism to exceed the historical reasons behind it.

Art lies at the heart of this event, which encompasses various disciplines including the performing arts, multimedia installations on the bridges themselves, as well as event-specific gallery shows, lectures, workshops, and all-ages events. In short, PDX Bridge Festival would treat the bridges as a canvas upon which we can tell the story of Portland—who we are, where we come from, where we are going, and how we choose to express the culture of our great city.

Designed to surprise and engage the public, the goal of the PDX Bridge Festival is the transformation of the daily bridge commute of over one million people into a close encounter with public art.

We invite you to get involved.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Portland
• celebration
• PDXBridgeFestival