“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of ‘disaster,’ I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers — so many caring people in this world … If you look for the helpers, you’ll know there’s hope.”

— Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers)

  • Who are the helpers in Wilsonville?
  • Who are the people who give selflessly of themselves?
  • Who are the people who think of others first?
  • Who are the people who create experiences for others?
  • Who are the people who build us up, who make us feel special?

Who are the people that make our city a special place to live?

We want to paint and draw portraits of these people and tell their stories, and tell what makes them special, through visual art. We will present these portraits to the public at the Wilsonville Festival of Arts over the weekend of May 30 & 31, 2020 at Town Center Park. Six tall, 4-sided portrait towers will punctuate the festival grounds and help us honor our “helpers” as we celebrate our City of Wilsonville, together, through the arts. There will be a special unveiling of these portraits

Can you please nominate “helpers” we should consider honoring?

Simply do so by responding to this survey. Provide your name and contact information so we can follow up with questions and learn how to connect with this person. You will provide several sentences, or a short paragraph, telling us a little about this person and why their story should be shown. We will interview the helper and shoot, or collect, reference photos of her/him/them/hir that our artists can use.

This is a major project of the Wilsonville Arts & Culture Council, the Planning Committee of the Wilsonville Festival of Arts, and the fine art programs in Wilsonville’s public schools.

Funding comes from a generous donation from the Charbonneau Art Association.

Project coordinators are Christopher Shotola-Hardt (Wilsonville HS) and Troy Mathews (Inza R. Wood Middle School), with support from Benjamin Mefford (Director, Wilsonville Festival of Arts).

Go here to submit your nomination:  CLICK HERE

Source:  J. Kadwell. 2.12.20