In 2017, three artists were asked to respond to the relevance of the “American dream” in today’s socio-political climate, and to commemorate the one-year anniversary of TEMPOart’s inaugural project in Lincoln Park, Judith Hoffman’s The American Dream.

Christina Bechstein, Christian Prasch, and John Sundling were selected based on their innovative project proposals by the TEMPOart board, and local arts professionals Stephen Benenson, Rachael Harkness, and Justin Levesque. The installations launched at successive First Fridays in June, July and August (all projects are subject to approval by the City of Portland).

JUNE: JOHN SUNDLING

John Sundling addressed the original boundary of Lincoln Park, as it was before the existing communities were razed to make way for Franklin Street. Sundling is interested in exploring these lost physical and social spaces via the visual language of temporary sculpture and ephemeral materials.

Sundling is an artist and designer, working in diverse disciplines including floristry, set design, sculpture, curation, and custom fabrication. His sculptural work has primarily been large-scale, often outdoors with an emphasis on the effects of time and nature on the pieces. Sundling is most interested in the blurry edges of his practices and how they inform each other.

JULY: CHRISTINA BECHSTEIN

Christina Bechstein collaborated with gardeners, neighbors and friends from all over the world at the Boyd Street Community Garden and Cultivating Community. She gathered drawings, recipes, and growing patterns from diverse voices to create an aesthetic landscape to remind us of the importance of tending to our earth and our collective dreams.

Bechstein is an artist, mother and educator who has taught in art, design, and architecture programs across the United States. Her art practice is interdisciplinary and collaborative in nature, encompassing and overlapping such fields as social sculpture, large scale community-based public art, activism, sculpture, textiles, film and performance.

AUGUST: CHRISTIAN AARON PRASCH

Christian Aaron Prasch installed an interactive sculpture in Post Office Park that occupies the space as  a wall and a community gathering space. The artist created an arena that spurs us to consider together how we should utilize our resources.

Prasch is a design professional in the Engineering and Infrastructure Group at the Portland Amec Foster Wheeler office. He has worked in Los Angeles with Michael Maltzan Architects, ProtoHomes, Design Hunter LA, and Kim Lewis Designs, and earned his Master’s degree from Columbia’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. Prasch strives to instigate constructive interaction and community relationships through his design, and he treats play and experimentation as his most important tools for developing and realizing his work.

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Artwork Photos…

Pictured at top: Now We Plant by Christina Bechstein (2017)