A Map of Questions

Last night, Tuesday, we had two interviewees- Colin and Itzel- who spoke from two different experiences of working with and around money and the development of projects in Portland.

Colin is involved in organizing capital to make public/private colaborations possible (he worked on the Armory, the Civic, and a business strip in the Albina area); Itzel works with a non profit that helps people prepare financially for home ownership, especially people who need fiscal counseling/aid.

They spoke about their own work, and they spoke about what "the good of the community" means in the both their daily work lives. They also spoke about the city's growth, and what factors will make Portland livable, or not, as we head into the next 25 years and population increase. Their thoughts, and key concerns, were different, but related to issues of affordability and intentionality.

After they left, the cast (and other collaborating artists) continued the conversation, and then moved to an activity where each person 'performed' their own perspective on development in Portland. On the South Waterfront high rises. On the city growing and changing.

We spend alot of time working with ho we will make space for the audience conversation- for a journey that audience members engage in with each other, with us guiding the structure, and using performance to catalyze and deepen moments of that conversation. But tonight, we also wanted to take some time, and dig into the perspectives/questions informing us as citizens, which of course impacts what we as artists will create and lead.

So we put it out there. And it took the form of mini-presentations/performances around the Discovery Center. With humor. And then arguements, as people challenged the ideas/perspectives of each other a bit.

It was great.

The conversation was really engaging, and you could feel everyone moving into the topic with higher personal stakes.

Some questions that began to arise, less about our involvement as artists/facilitators, and more about the content of our exploration-

Are people who don't like the "privileged" feel of the Waterfront towers missing the point that green sustainability and vertical density are the only way our city can grow healthily in the coming years?
And is that true?

Is there something inherently uncomfortable with a seemingly isolated glass and steel paradise rising up almost overnight in which only a privileged class can afford to live?

When people think about where they want to live, are they searching for a lifestyle, or status, or some combination of both?

What role should desire and personal taste play in urban planning if they lead in directions that are utterly unsustainable?

Are planned communities a good thing, or are they too driven by economics and not enough by collective human activity over time?

In terms of where people live, if some people have choice and others simply don't, can a city grow and be healthily diverse?

These are some-
Collaborators will post other questions on the comment section of this post...