''Living Room'' was an outdoor 2001 sculpture by Tamsie Ringler, installed at the

Gresham Central Transit Center The Gresham Central Transit Center, also known as Gresham Transit Center, is a TriMet transit center and MAX light rail station in Gresham, Oregon, United States. The center is a connection point for several bus routes and the MAX Blue Line. Th ...

in Gresham, Oregon, United States.

Description and history

''Living Room'' was created by Tamsie Ringler, a

Mt. Hood Community College Mt. Hood Community College (MHCC) is a public community college in Gresham, Oregon, United States, named after Mount Hood. Opened in 1966, MHCC enrolls around 30,000 students each year and offers classes at the main campus in Gresham, as well a ...

visual arts instructor and resident of

Sandy, Oregon Sandy is a city located in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States, settled 1853 and named after the nearby Sandy River. Located in the foothills of the Cascade Mountain Range, the city serves as the western gateway to the Mount Hood Corridor, a ...

. It was installed as a permanent art installation at the

at Northeast Eighth Street and Kelly Avenue in 2001. The sculpture was the first east Multnomah County artwork commissioned by TriMet's Public Art Program and Ringler's first publicly funded art commission. Ringler began working on the sculpture two years earlier. Her work was chosen by TriMet's Public Art Advisory Committee from three finalists. TriMet spokesperson Mary Fetsch said, "When the eastside line was built, we didn't have an art committee. It's been really nice that as we add new features to the line that we also add art. It's also great that we had local artists and students working on it. We think it really reflects the community." The installation featured a pink couch, a concrete high-backed yellow chair, a bronze coffee table, and a "hypnotically glowing" television set. The furniture pieces were set on a tile mosaic rug displaying images associated with east Multnomah County, including the east wind, the Mt. Hood Jazz Festival, and a snowboarder. The tile mosaic, started in February 2000, required more than 2,000 hours to finish and was assembled by 50 students and retired volunteers. ''Living Room'' also included a permanently lit black iron floor lamp. According to '' Willamette Week'', the installation became "notorious as a local party spot for teenagers and twentysomethings", attracting "young (and often intoxicated) people to use it as an actual living room". In 2012, ''Willamette Week'' Aaron Mesh described the people he encountered at the site during his three-day, nearly 250-mile experience on public transit. TriMet removed the sculpture in late October 2013, twelve years after its installation, due to loitering teenagers. Fetsch said, "the artwork has raised safety and security concerns since 2008 ... The work became physically degraded and was fully restored in 2010. Three years later, the artwork is again in disrepair and the plaza area remains a safety concern." It was returned to Ringler after being dismantled.

Reception

Following the sculpture's installation, Anne Endicott of Gresham's newspaper '' The Outlook'' wrote, "It's always comforting when someone leaves the light on at home. ''Living Room'' ... does just that as it welcomes residents home day and night."

References

External links

{{Portal, Oregon, Visual arts
''Living Room''
at the artist's website

by Rob Oster (April 19, 2000), ''Sandy Post''

by Catherine Trevison (July 5, 2001), '' The Oregonian''
Trouble in Gresham's 'Living Room'
by Fran Genovese (November 6, 2008), ''The Oregonian''
TriMet pulls plug on MAX station 'living room'
by Mara Stine (October 18, 2013), ''The Outlook'' 2001 establishments in Oregon 2001 sculptures 2013 disestablishments in Oregon Bronze sculptures in Oregon Concrete sculptures in Oregon Iron sculptures in the United States American mosaics Outdoor sculptures in Gresham, Oregon Street furniture

Description and history

Reception

See also

References

External links