''Portlandia'' is a sculpture by

Raymond Kaskey Raymond Kaskey (born 1943) is an American sculptor and architect who created ''Portlandia'', a copper statue in Portland, Oregon. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he studied architecture at Carnegie Mellon University and Yale University. A fellow ...

located above the entrance of the

Portland Building The Portland Building, alternatively referenced as the Portland Municipal Services Building, is a 15-story municipal office building located at 1120 SW 5th Avenue in downtown Portland, Oregon. Built at a cost of US$29 million, it opened in 1982 ...

in downtown

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

. It is the second-largest copper repoussé statue in the United States, after the Statue of Liberty.

History

Portlandia was commissioned by the City of Portland in 1985. Sculptor Raymond Kaskey was paid $228,000 in public funds and reportedly an additional $100,000 in private donations. Kaskey and his assistant Michael Lasell built sections of the statue in a Maryland suburb of

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, and sent the parts to Portland by ship. It was assembled at a barge-building facility owned by Gunderson, Inc, and was installed on the

on October 6, 1985,Crick, Rolla J. (October 7, 1985). "Thousands bid ‘Portlandia’ warm welcome: Statue lifted successfully to final spot". ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 18 ...

'', p. A1. after being floated up the

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward b ...

on a

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

Description

The statue is based on the design of the Portland city seal. The statue depicts a female figure, Lady Commerce, dressed in classical clothes, holding a

trident A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other mari ...

in her right hand and reaching down with her left. The statue is above street level and faces a relatively narrow, tree-lined street. The statue is high and weighs . If standing, the figure would be approximately tall. An accompanying plaque includes the official dedication poem, also titled "Portlandia", written by Portland lawyer and poet Ronald Talney.

Copyright

''Portlandia'' did not become an icon because Kaskey guards the rights to the image closely. He threatened with lawsuits anyone who used photos or illustrations of the sculpture for commercial purposes. The statue appears in the title sequence of the TV series ''

Portlandia ''Portlandia'' is an American sketch comedy television series starring Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, set in and around Portland, Oregon, and spoofing the city's reputation as a haven for eccentric hipsters. The show was produced by Br ...

'', the result of "lengthy" negotiations with Kaskey that required the statue not be used "in a disparaging way". In 2012, Laurelwood Brewing used an illustration of the statue on the label of Portlandia Pils, a beer it introduced; the brewery later found out about Kaskey's copyright and reached a cash settlement with Kaskey.

References

External links

History of ''Portlandia''
from the

Regional Arts & Culture Council The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) is an organization that administers arts grants in Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas Counties that also do advocacy in the Portland metropolitan area in Oregon, United States. It evolved from the city� ...

Poem
by Ronald Talney on plaque

by Ronald Talney
Video of ''Portlandia'' arriving in Portland
at

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

{{Public art in Portland, Oregon 1985 establishments in Oregon 1985 sculptures Copper sculptures in Oregon Culture of Portland, Oregon Outdoor sculptures in Portland, Oregon Southwest Portland, Oregon Statues in Portland, Oregon Sculptures of women in Oregon Civic personifications Architectural sculpture

History

Description

Copyright

See also

References

External links