Often a bit of serendipity lands in my lap. In this case it is Mark Rothko, or rather a bit of his biography.
Rothko is a modern painter ( 1903-1970) whose work I like a great deal. (I love him, actually.) I have seen his paintings at the National Gallery in Washington, C. I’ve also seen his work at The Modern in Fort Worth, Texas, and wrote about that experience and resultant poem (still in revision!) here.
For my August postcard projects I picked up a Rothko collection just last week, and was surprised to read in the short introduction that he spent his childhood in Portland, Oregon — between immigrating from Russia (then Latvia) with his family and moving onto New York to go to college (to study engineering or law, which, we gratefully know, he did not complete).
I just noticed today an excellent article (thank you, Arcy Douglass) on Rothko’s Portland years, here, at PORT (a great blog about Portland art), because Jeff Jahn at PORT has recently suggested the new Columbia bridge Willamette crossing be named the Rothko Bridge. And I agree. (Edited to correct embarrassingly incorrect naming, see comments, with thanks, JJ.)
And yes. I like the recent name change of SE 39th to César E. Chávez Blvd. (It was quite a contentious process & decision in Portland. Ruffled a lot of feathers, but I won’t get into it here.)
I’d like to see Rothko Bridge even more than Chávez Blvd.
What’s your most recent moment of serendipity? Do you like Rothko’s art? Have you ever written a Rothko poem?
No related posts.
:-) I like the idea of the Rothko bridge.
Chavez Ave ruffled my feathers, I can tell you that. I keep hoping that someone will circulate a petition to rename NW 23rd Richard Nixon Ave: I’d sign that like a shot.
And this despite admiring Chavez greatly and despising Richard Nixon. But it reeks of the Politburo, Portland at its absolute worst. Who *cares* what the white trash on 39th think? Why should they get to keep their street name when there’s political points to be scored for the trendy folk?
If I thought any of the activists for the Chavez name change ever did a thing or ever intended to do a thing for migrant farmworkers or hispanics in Portland, I’d feel differently. But it’s all posturing and grandstanding, as far as I can tell, and it revolted me.
(Yikes, sorry for being so vehement about something you just mention in passing. I’m hot and cranky, I guess. Forgive me.)
You make good points, no matter the temperature-induced disposition.
And I am happy for you to say what you think.
Let me ask you how you felt about the renaming of MLK from Union, Rosa Parks from Portland and Naito from Front?
Those were all different times, climates (I wasn’t around for some, like MLK, but Mark was) with (probably, or perhaps not) political motivations.
I wasn’t here back then. But there’s some significant differences: one, the black community was already here, and “invisibled,” when those streets were named, and two, they were the main streets of sizeable black communities. Whether a process was followed that consulted them, I don’t know, but you could reasonably assume that a majority of people along the streets would welcome the renaming, that it would make sense: a belated acknowledgement that they had been ignored at the time of the original namings.
But there isn’t a single Hispanic business that I can think of along 39th, and very few Hispanics live there: it was chosen simply because it’s an area with not much political clout, whose objections could simply be ignored. Nobody ever trouble to even explain to the people along 39th who Chavez was or why they wanted to name the street after him. It was just rolling over the top of those people, saddling them with an ideological shadow many of them, probably most of them, never wanted to cast.
I would have loved something *new* to be named for Chavez. The bridge-to-be was the obvious candidate. But this sort of thing just feels wholly dishonest and antidemocratic to me. (Which is why I find the idea of name NW 23rd after Nixon so appealing — try a taste of it yourselves, Liberals!)
The where-is-the-Hispanic-tie argument is one hubby employs, too. The lack of clout from 39th Street-ers is true. Clearly. Else how could the unpopular decision be made?
Is it important to show cultural support for a leader? Does that leadership need to be tied to the city, practically? If it is important, where would one show some support of migrant agricultural workers (Hispanic, statistically) within Portland’s city limits? (Migrants don’t tend to live within cities. They live in rural, suburban communities.)
And folks did ask (my husband included) Why Chavez? Where is the Portland tie?
My response: Portland is the most populous city w/i the Willamette Valley, which benefits from agriculture, which benefits from migrant workers. How many new roads or bridges or public projects are in the works to name after him.
Did we need to do it now? If not now, when?
My own response to the re-naming was “why not?” Why is a numbered street sacrosanct? It’s a number.
Hubby recalls the disappointment of losing Union. Who remembers Union these days? Won’t it be true for 39th? Is that a significant loss? I’m not tied to 39th. Clearly those who live there are.
I admit it’s tricky, but naming is transitory.
You are right about 23rd. You are. I’ll sign the petition, as much as I despise Nixon.
In Spain everyone had to endure the street name changes from their original names to “Generalísimo” after Franco, and then back to the original names again. There were a lot of ruffled feathers for about 50 years!
Are you going to write about the paintings on your postcards, or something unrelated? I just gathered up a bunch of random cards I had around the house. I’m thinking of going to a thrift store for the remaining 10 I need. I enjoy Rothko too, but you have an abiding love for his work, I know.
Hello!
Oh, like to hear a broader historical/cultural perspective.
We may not have Franco, but I imagine some Portlanders (not Dale) see this as being a fascist activity!
I’m not sure if I will write postcard in response to Rothko. I’ll have to see how I “feel,” especially as the instructions suggest we respond to the postcard we got.
Right now I think I will be lucky to write a mediocre poem every day, no matter what. :-)
If I had had the energy, I would have done the thrift store thing. I think it is a “better” way, all around!
Aiy yai yai!
Technically, the bridge I’m suggesting is the new transit, pedestrian and cycling bridge over the Willamette (not the new columbia bridge)… The Willamette bridge is an area Rothko himself often travelled and painted so the tie in is very direct. He’s our most famous son, so let’s acknowledge it.
Oooh. Better yet. And so sorry to have misread!
Well, that’s the thing that makes it so bogus: the people they’re supposedly honoring don’t even live here, won’t even know. The Hispanics here now are, for the most part, a completely different bunch. You could try actually *asking* them what they’d like in recognition of their presence. A dime gets you a dollar it wouldn’t be naming 39th Ave Chavez :-)
But yeah, to me the model for this is the Soviet Union. I just hate renaming things, generally. I doubt I would have liked the MLK & Park renamings, either. Name something new! Something you care about! Something you’re investing serious money in! I dunno, Deb, it feels just deeply dishonest to me, that’s the main thing. Cheap posturing. I don’t believe in these people’s credentials, don’t believe they represent the Hispanic community, don’t believe they really give a shit about farmworkers or any other poor people. Chavez never gave a damn about ethnicity. He just wanted a decent wage for hard work.
You’re right, of course, to look at the deeper motivation and call city “leadership” out for what is cheap posturing and/or bureaucratic manipulation.
I didn’t follow or track the process very closely and don’t know if there was “average citizen” interest behind the idea to begin with. Who was the idea’s champion?
Often I forget to look at that, include it in my assessment. Follow the trail back to the beginning. Maybe that would have made a difference in my response to street naming.
Naming is such an interesting topic, and one that deserves more hearing than I’ve given it here.
Must think on it some more. Who knows what you’ve go my brain picking at now, Dale! Thank you, as always for your thoughtful responses.
xxoo