[0:04] This committee was formed over 10 years ago of citizens of Woodburn who have a

[0:10] passion for art and want to preserve the history and the cultural aspects and the

[0:15] diversity of our community. >> They're usually very active in the city

[0:19] and they're very strong supporters of Woodburn. This committee is very down to

[0:24] earth and kind of adamant though on what colors they want and what they want to

[0:30] ultimately depict. It's a good relationship between the artist and the

[0:34] committee to be able to get this final product done.

[0:37] » I think my favorite part of being on the committee is being able to collaborate.

[0:43] » It's a good group that can work together and work things out and come up with

[0:48] really good ideas. We want to bring in cultural significance as well as

[0:54] historical significance. >> The aim is is to make art available and

[0:59] to try to enhance the city as well as honor the people. Being in the

[1:04] committee, I'm learning and it it makes me giddy cuz it there's so much history

[1:08] that's unknown and we're finally opening it. It's commemorating and honoring what

[1:13] Woodburn was and what it could be. It's about feeling pride in where you live

[1:17] and also wanting to create inspiration for other people to feel that way about

[1:23] their community too. >> What they have done over the last 10

[1:27] years is is put these art masterpieces on the on walls that has brought the

[1:33] city together. >> The arts and murals committee could not

[1:36] exist without volunteer and people engaged in truly the beautifification of

[1:43] downtown Woodburn. Art brings a community together.

[1:59] The memories I have of the Pix Theater um would be when it was Linda's

[2:04] furniture and I remember going in to buy a bed with my mom. She says that that

[2:08] was her first theater she's ever been to and she came there and her dad when her

[2:13] dad migrated. Anytime I think about it, I think about family.

[2:16] » It was a gathering place on Friday nights, Saturday nights for my friends

[2:22] and siblings. This was a gathering point for not just Wood community but more

[2:29] communities around. Yeah, a lot of first kisses were gained there. Not I can't

[2:34] speak personally but we were really saddened and angry that it had to be

[2:39] taken down and we didn't understand that it was beyond the point of salvage. The

[2:44] day they decided to actually functionally take it down. It's

[2:50] like observing part of your childhood finally going away. There was a group of

[2:55] people, the arts and murals, that made a kind of a promise to the citizens

[3:03] that if it gets torn down, we're going to do something with the wall to try and

[3:09] represent what the theater was to the town. Kind of a homage, a legacy that

[3:14] this had for the city. They came up with this great plan of representing what

[3:19] downtown Woodburn might have looked like when the theater was being used. The

[3:23] words on the mural um are my favorite. The translation in there is beautiful

[3:28] because it's open to the community. So, it's telling you to enjoy Woodburn,

[3:32] enjoy the wonderful things that we have here.

[3:35] » That's like you enjoy the finest movie, enjoy the finest environment. It was the

[3:39] finest movie theater in the area. >> It is translated beautiful and it has

[3:44] elements of Woodburn like the plaza and the colors are a little retro that kind

[3:48] of give the feeling of like when it was built. built a panoramic mural, so you

[3:53] can see a lot of little elements of Woodburn and what it used to be. They

[3:57] incorporated part of the downtown structures like city hall and the

[4:01] fountain. You'll see a flatbed truck that represents the community because

[4:06] Woodburn was such a farming community. The mural was designed to make it appear

[4:11] like it was the actual wall of the theater. So, it's almost like a visual

[4:16] illusion, which makes it so cool because to me,

[4:20] the theater is still alive to some degree.

[4:24] » Anytime I think about the theater, I I think about the big pig sign.

[4:29] » The old marquee is actually standing in the Woodburn Bungalow Museum.

[4:33] » I think for Woodburn, taking down the theater was hard because we are hopeful.

[4:38] It was important to commemorate it because maybe it'll give inspiration for

[4:42] future generations to bring it up again.

[4:52] » Oh, it's so important to know where you came from. You know, that's why we've

[4:56] preserved a lot of historic buildings. It's important for our future and our

[5:00] legacy for the people that move here to understand where this town came from as

[5:07] well as where we plan it to go to. >> Being able to preserve that and and show

[5:14] the uh the historic aspect plus the the cultural aspect that that Woodburn is

[5:19] unique in being one of the most diverse cities in in Oregon. One of our first

[5:23] projects was the art sculpture located in our plaza. a grass sculpture of a

[5:29] little boy and girl playing. >> The committee worked really hard to get

[5:32] the children just right. They wanted to be sure that everybody felt like they

[5:37] belonged, that everybody felt like these children could be their children. It

[5:42] felt like it communicated to us and to everybody else the future of Woodburn.

[5:47] » We were able to bring in our high school mascot, little bulldog and a soccer ball

[5:52] depicting the soccer programs that Woodburn High School is so proud of.

[5:56] After the sculptures were put into the plaza, the committee felt that the

[6:00] downtown water fountain needed to be enhanced. They spent an afternoon taking

[6:05] all kinds of different tiles and holding them up against the fountain until they

[6:10] chose one. The tiles that were selected were handmade from Mexico and put on the

[6:15] water fountain.

[6:22] Directly across the street from Woodburn's downtown plaza, there had

[6:27] been a fire and the old brick building after the fire was just closed up. you

[6:36] know, that was a boarded up building for 30 years with a bunch of plywood there

[6:41] and people just drove by it. So, the city in 2019

[6:47] uh obtained possession of that property. They wanted to do what we would refer to

[6:53] as a pocket park, Dalia Plaza Park. The reason I especially like it is because

[7:02] it solved a problem. It wasn't just something pretty to look at. We helped

[7:06] create a space that people could actually come into and enjoy.

[7:10] » Just to be able to sit there and feel the ambiance of all the flowers

[7:16] around you. >> We wanted to do floral, a floral theme.

[7:19] We figured that was something given the size of the wall kind of makes it feel

[7:25] more open in a way. >> It's bright.

[7:29] It's colorful. A happy place. Come sit down. and have a cup of coffee, just

[7:34] relax, talk with your friends, and the fact that you're right across the street

[7:39] from the plaza. >> The parks and recreation installed the

[7:43] seating and string lights across the top of the area. I'm just so happy the city

[7:48] stepped in. >> As mayor Woodburn, on behalf of the

[7:51] city, I'm so proud of of this system working and the committee working with

[7:56] well within it. It's the way it is because of the staff that works for this

[8:00] city. >> The collaboration between urban renewal,

[8:05] arts and mural and you know just the city crew.

[8:10] » The committee works so well with city staff and uh through the urban renewal

[8:17] uh program to get high quality work here in in Woodburn.

[8:21] » You know, the arts and mural committee on its own can't do anything. We need

[8:25] the assistance of, you know, this fantastic staff that Woodburn has.

[8:32] » Our fire department, the main department was redone completely. Uh, and and part

[8:38] of that uh was that they wanted an area that their firemen or that the public

[8:44] could come and sit and relax and enjoy. So, they wanted a sculpture and some

[8:51] landscaping in front of the fire department. The committee finally

[8:54] settled on a sculpture that resembles flames.

[8:58] » We had all these pictures of these flames and everything. And once the fire

[9:03] chief saw it, it oh yes, they were all excited about it. Arts and mural

[9:09] committee wanted to um make sure that you know we had a little bit of um

[9:16] pizzazz to it like lights, water, action, you know how that goes. when

[9:21] they had the dedication, it was made us very proud to see that and to see

[9:26] something that the fire department themselves chose out of something that

[9:30] we had presented to them.

[9:37] » So, one of our our murals on the back of the independent office down on Lincoln

[9:42] Street became a very large project for the city depicting so many aspects of

[9:47] the city. Starting out with the founder of Woodburn, Jesse Settlemire, his his

[9:52] homestead going into so the logging concept and how Woodburn initially was

[9:56] founded. In front of the Settlemmer house is a beautiful Hispanic dancer

[10:00] with the beautiful tulips that annually come and draw a lot of people to. And

[10:05] this mural depicts a Russian church that is so prevalent in in the surrounding

[10:10] areas of our community. It's so much about our history uh going back to the

[10:14] beginning of Woodburn to the farming aspect to uh the cultural diversity that

[10:20] we have with the the Hispanic Latino culture. So, it's not only our past but

[10:27] a glimpse into our future. >> It's a wonderful melting pot. I think um

[10:32] the cultural diversity

[10:36] of Woodburn um means um I it touches my heart. It's

[10:45] kind of this little melting pot we have here. Love it.

[10:48] » When you plate that pot of like the the culture, what Woodburn has, it's

[10:53] creating a pathway to the American dream. It's been a place where I've been

[10:58] able to be prideful of where I come from because I am first generation.

[11:02] Woodbrin's been able to give me that because it's been a safe place and it

[11:05] welcomes that and they're very open to change and it's it's showing cuz we're

[11:11] we're bringing out artwork that is very reflective to Woodburn.

[11:15] » As the arts and mural committee, we're always cognizant to be inclusive and

[11:20] acknowledge that we have many cultures in town. It's showing that, you know, we

[11:25] see you, we understand, and we're going to welcome you in. And by being

[11:29] inclusive, we thrive.

[11:34] The building that the city owns, called the engineering building, was once first

[11:38] interstate banked. It's on the corner of Garfield and First Street.

[11:42] » We were looking for an artist to be able to capture everything that that Woodbury

[11:46] represents, and she did a a fantastic job putting it together. We tried to

[11:52] make sure that in each of those small windows and the letters, it represents

[11:56] something that is significant to Woodburn. You can relate to something in

[12:01] that picture and you feel at home. >> Everything from the sunrise you could

[12:06] see from downtown Woodburn to Mount Hood to what is celebrated in Woodburn, the

[12:12] the women dancing, soccer, low rider, the flowers, the tulips, the berries.

[12:19] North uh Marian County Lan Valley is such a beautiful place to live and this

[12:25] mural definitely shows that aspect. >> We also have welcome to Woodburn in

[12:30] three different languages to acknowledge that we want to embrace that we are

[12:36] different because it makes us a richer population. We put bisons there to

[12:40] represent and have people ask why is there a bison on the side of the

[12:44] building? And it's because you're standing on ground that is ice age.

[12:53] 10,000 years ago or more, this was all bog land. This Woodburn area was

[12:59] underwater. In 1987, when the city was working on replacing a sewer line near

[13:07] Woodburn High School, they started finding things.

[13:10] » I started teaching here in 1997. There was a crew coming in from Oregon State

[13:15] and uh the Institute of Archaeological Studies. Being the new biology teacher,

[13:19] I went down and introduced myself to these people and we did some digs. We

[13:23] dig down to a layer of dirt that was probably a pond 12, 13,000 years ago. We

[13:29] bring that soil up to the top. We go through it. We find all kinds of bones

[13:32] of critters. Normally, we find like frogs and muskrats and ducks and

[13:36] turtles. And when that big bone came out of the backhoe, I looked at it. I said,

[13:40] "Oh, that's not a frog." And so we stopped. We looked down inside and my

[13:44] heart was racing cuz I could see all these bones down there. It was I mean I

[13:47] was pretty excited cuz this is bigger than anything we've ever seen. We

[13:50] brought all these bones up. We took them all up to the classroom if we cleaned

[13:54] them all up. We figured out it was a bison 2 years ago. We dug right next to

[13:58] the 2008 site and we found more of the skeleton. There was a a guy out in South

[14:04] Dakota. His name was Larry Agenro and he was kind of like the bison guy in the

[14:09] United States. loaded the bones in the back of this van and I drove out to

[14:12] South Dakota and I showed them to Dr. Aenrod. He said, "This is probably the

[14:17] largest bison skeleton in the world right here in Woodurn, Oregon. If you

[14:22] were to hold this bone, this would be the right humorous." So, you can see how

[14:28] much bigger it is than than my arm. We found this bone in 2008. This bone was

[14:34] found in 2023. And when I we got the bone together was

[14:41] a big

[14:45] » they fit perfectly. >> Now it's down at the Bungalow Theater

[14:49] where the whole population of Woodburn and the world can actually visit.

[14:53] » We opened up the dig for community events now. Anybody who wants to comes

[14:58] to Woodburn and they are there to help look for fossils and bones of animals

[15:03] that that lived here 12 13,000 years ago as the ice age was ending. The city's

[15:08] gracious and they volunteer all their time and effort and resources. So, it's

[15:12] great. The reason why I like to do this dig is because I want people who want

[15:16] people to come and find fossils. You're the first person to see that bone, see

[15:20] that animal. The sculpture that they're making is to represent that we do these

[15:25] digs here. >> It's a cutout of iron work that will

[15:28] have three bisons. >> This is an important part of the Wamut

[15:31] Valley and a Woodburn itself is that these things are here. uh the sculptures

[15:36] there to represent that and it's going to be exciting to have that here to

[15:39] people to see cuz it's it's people know about what we do the digs. I don't know

[15:43] how many people know what we find and it'll be kind of it'll be right by the

[15:46] high school really close to where we dig do all our digs. There's still more down

[15:50] there still but maybe this year we'll dig there and find some more. I don't

[15:54] know. We'll see.

[15:58] the arts and murals committee. I believe our goals are to educate the population

[16:05] about the opportunities and the beauty of what's available here.

[16:12] It is very important for um future to see our culture and history of wood. It

[16:19] shows the history of of where we've been. Um definitely over 125 years. And

[16:25] then uh I think it's it's starting to show where we want to go.

[16:29] » Again, I think it's it's a matter of pride for the city. I think that uh

[16:34] seeing those things has got to make people feel better. The bright colors

[16:38] and the warmth. >> Lots of accomplishments have been made

[16:42] by the arts and mural committee which makes me very very proud to be a member.

[16:46] I think our committee is very proud of the work we've done. It is just the

[16:51] beginning and and there's more better stuff to come in the future.

[16:56] » The downtown Woodburn looks like a downtown that I never imagined. I never

[17:00] imagined we'd have murals or fountains or art. And it's very encouraging

[17:07] because it gives it a fresh look and it shows that the city itself is protecting

[17:13] as well as respecting downtown. I just invite all of the people that are

[17:20] interested, please come down to Woodburn.

[17:24] » If you've never been to Woodburn, I would suggest you come and check it out.

[17:29] I think it is just a gem of a city and I can't say enough about it.

[17:35] » When you fall in love with Woodbury, you always come back. It's like, come on

[17:39] down and see what we've done. Woodford's the place to be, really.

Public Arts and Mural Committee

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