Indiehops in the Willamette Week

If you didn't pick up the February 15th copy of the Willamette Week please follow this LINK to their article on the Indiehops and the hops industry in the Willamette Valley.

Indiehops is the driving force behind a movement to develop new hop varieties for craft brewers and is helping preserve the Willamette Valley's reputation as the nations top producer of high-quality hops. Way to go guys! Next pint's on me...

Join Us At The Ford Building This Friday, March 2nd

On Friday, March 2nd from 5-7pm, Vinnie's Hair will be hosting local beermaker Harvester Brewing for a tasting of their select craft beers. Harvester Brewing is Oregon's first dedicated gluten-free brewery. The company brews, bottles, and distributes their beer from a production facility in SE Portland. 


The event also dovetails with the building's participation in the First Friday Artwalk. Multiple artists will open their studios to the public and Ford Food and Drink will host live music. From 5-7pm Hanz Araki and Kathryn Claire will perform their unique brand of celtic-folk. Following, from 8-10pm will be the experimental sounds of Strange Language. 


All Ford tenants are encouraged to attend and all events are open to the public as well. Hope to see you there!

Construction Update

The city is planning two separate construction projects that will affect the Ford Building in the coming months.

In December, contractors will begin replacing a section of sewer pipe at the intersection of Powell St. and Milwaukie Ave. They will work their way north on Milwaukie Ave, eventually encompassing 11th and 12th Ave. between Division St. and Gideon St. The total project is expected to take 6 months, though the portion of construction that will impact the Ford Building will be less. We've been assured that access to our parking lots will be maintained but we expect coming and going will be made more difficult. For a map of the project please see the project web page HERE.

Beginning in spring, Division St. from 11th Ave. to 39th Ave. will be undergoing major changes including repaving, a re-designed streetscape including bioswales, signage and enhanced access to public transit. Once complete, we all stand to benefit from the improvements but we are likely to see disruptions to traffic around the building as work occurs. More information on the project can be found HERE.

We will be working with the city to make the project run as smoothly as possible for our tenants. We will provide construction updates and schedules as soon as they are made available to us. Rhetta Drennan, at the City of Portland is available to answer any questions you may have regarding construction. You can email her at:rhetta.drennan@portlandoregon.gov or call her at: 503.823.6006.

Yoga and Dance Instruction Now Available in Suite 120

Following the addition of dressing rooms and some sound baffling material, Suite 120 is once again open and is now the home to a yoga and dance studio run by Susan Molitor and her husband Albert Trople. Classes are open to the public and Ford Building tenants are encouraged to take advantage of the opportunity to excercise in the same building where you work.

Albert has lived in Portland for 30 years and has been teaching yoga for for nearly two decades. He will be providing instruction in Hatha Yoga and Vinyasa Yoga six days a week. Weekday classes begin at 6:30am and conclude in time to begin work at 8:00am. Additional classes are offered throughout the day and include after-work yoga from 5:30-7:00pm on Tuesday and Thursday. Many pricing options are available. $100 allows you unlimited access to all classes for one month. You may also purchase punch-cards in increments of 12, 10 or 6 classes. Drop-ins are welcome for $14/class. 

Susan trained at the Arthur Murray Dance School and has been teaching dance in Portland since 1983. She will be teaching social dance classes covering Salsa, Tango, Waltz, Two-Step, Rumba, East-Coast Swing and West-Coast Swing to name just a few. Instruction is available at all levels of experience and beginners are encouraged. Weekday drop-in "Lunch Specials" from noon to 1:00pm offer the opportunity to exercise in the middle of your workday for just $6. Weeknight classes are offered Monday through Thursday, beginning from 6:15pm-8:15pm. $30 for a 3-week course or $60 for a 6-week course. Saturday workshops on October 1st and 22nd from 12:00-2:00pm are $20.

For scheduling and more information on Yoga classes please visit Albert's website.
For registration and more information on Dance classes please visit Susan's website.

FIrst Friday @ Ford, May 6th

The Ford Building will be open until 9pm on Friday, May 6th for the First Friday Artwalk.

galleryHomeland will be opening a new exhibition titled "Hope and Failure" by the international artists group Global Alien. They've been busy this week staging several public performances around town. They'll showcase these performances as they transform the gallery into a collaborative platform for all attendees to enjoy. In addition, artists Janet Rothermel, Meaghan Kunzman, Therese Murdza, Amy Mfuni, and Olinka Broadfoot are planning exhibitions in their own studios in the basement and on the 2nd floor.

Moonbrine Pickles will be open as well with owner Stewart Golomb excited to have you all sample his gourmet pickles outside his kitchen in suite B16.

Ford Food + Drink will feature live music from Rollie Tussing beginning at 5pm. The OLCC has granted a permit allowing drinks sold in the cafe to be taken with you as you tour the gallery and visit the open studios, just be sure you don't leave the building with a drink in hand.

All tenants are invited to attend and welcome to participate simply by opening your doors. If you'd like to be involved in coordinating future First Fridays be sure to attend the follow-up meeting Friday the 13th, at 4pm at Ford Food + Drink. We'll discuss how the event went and what improvements could be made. If you'd like to be involved but can't make the meeting send an email to: firstfriday@fordbuildingpdx.com and we'll be in touch. Now that the weather is turning and Portlanders are looking to get out of their houses we're expecting to see a few new faces. We hope you'll join.

FF@F (First Friday at the Ford), April 1st

Just a quick invite to you all to stick around on friday as your fellow tenants open their doors for the First Friday Artwalk. The event draws people from all over the city to a broad section of SE Portland, comprising an area north-to-south from Burnside to Clinton and east-to-west from Water Ave. to 34th Ave. As it stands, First Friday is a more low-key, casual event than First Thursday's in NW. But as the inner-eastside continues to develop, attracting more and more artists and galleries, the event is gaining momentum.

As it's the first time the building has participated in the event, we're looking at this as our soft-opening. We expect a crowd similar in size to our open studios event from the fall. As of now, 5 of our studios are planning on exhibiting but all other artists in the building are encouraged to participate as well. FF+D will have music, beer and wine until 7pm. Building doors will be open until 9pm. There is no formal sign-up or registration. If you'd like to put up signage directing people to your studio feel free, but please be sure to use blue tape and to take it down immediately following the end of the show.

Participating artists have met prior to this week to discuss future planning and coordination. If you'd like to be involved in these meetings please contact either Olinka Broadfoot or Therese Murdza for more info.

For a link to the First Friday website with map and list of participants click here

Thanks to building artists Therese Murdza, Olinka Broadfoot, Janet Rothermel and Meghan Kunzmann for their work in coordinating the event as well as laying the groundwork for the Ford Building Artists Union. We look forward working with you all in continuing to to grow the Ford Building's place in the community.

SE Artwalk At The Ford Building This Weekend

The Ford Building is happy to announce that we will be playing host to the SE Portland Artwalk this weekend. Artists will be loading their works into the building Friday evening after 6pm. The Artwalk itself takes place Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 5pm. Many of our artists will be participating and will have their doors open. Guest artists will fill the Gallery Homeland space as well as our remaining vacant spaces in the basement and the 2nd and 3rd floors. Ford Food and Drink will be extending its hours for the duration of the show and will feature art as well as live music. While the formal deadline to be listed in the show has passed, anyone interested in participating is welcome to open their doors to visitors. You're sure to get a steady stream of curious patrons.

The Artwalk is in its 8th year and is one of the most significant events on the Portland art calendar. This year 200+ artists will be exhibiting and 60+ will be housed here at the Ford. We expect a large turnout and look forward to introducing the building to number of new faces. In conjuction with Gallery Homeland, the Love Show and our upcoming participation in First Fridays, we hope to turn the Ford Building into an arts hub for SE Portland and a landmark in our community.

Here is a link to the Artwalk Website.

Thanks much to Ford Artists Therese Murdza, and Olinka Broadfoot for all their hard work in bringing the Artwalk to the building. Thanks to Paul Middendorf of Gallery Homeland for making his space available and thanks as well to Ford Food and Drink for their support of the show. All are much appreciated.