Words from the people who work and grow in our buildings...
ROSS BLANCHARD, PDX MAGAZINE & THE FORD GALLERY
"We’ve thrived here. We’ve never even thought about going anywhere else. We got to know the folks here - especially the management team, Mike himself - and saw how connected they were in what we were doing. I’ll get an email from Mike and he’ll say “Hey, send me pictures of the next art show you’ve got up.” They are very supportive of everything we are doing. They’re always thinking about how to build a community in this space. It's like a town within a town."
ANNAMIEKA DAVIDSON, PAINTER
"[This building] has been an amazing place to become a self-employed woman. I’ve really come into being here. I’ve changed. I’ve changed my business. It’s been supportive of that metamorphosis. To find a building and community that embraces that is really cool. I think we remind each other it's possible. The rapport that I’ve developed with others in the building, the solidarity that goes on is important. I think we need to continue to provide spaces in our city for creatives to work side-by-side. It's crucial. I don't think my business would have grown to the point it has. The connections here are huge."
DAN KVITKA, PHOTOGRAPHER
"I've been here for ten years! The building has been a huge success for me. There's an amazing energy in the building. I leave my doors open; I'm shooting and people stop in. There's all these creative people. You know and you love these people. You give them your business. They give you their business. That's what a vibrant building does. We've become like family in the building. [And the management team] is great. Mike [Tevis] has been a champion of the building and the artists in it. I'm very happy. It's a good team."
JEFF AMRHEIN, HAND & HIDE LEATHER GOODS
"The community is one of the best parts. Being a small business owner, it [can] feel isolating like you’re the only one that can solve all these problems. It's great to be able to talk to other like-minded people, bounce ideas off one another. They can sympathize and understand. There are so many cool businesses in this building. You’re going to run into people. Having that sense of being connected to something larger helps a lot."
RAFAEL ASTORGA, PHOTOGRAPHER
"I've been here nine years. Mike [Tevis] wants to serve the creative community. He likes that dynamic. He thrives on it. He wants to be a patron of art and innovation. Every promise he made to me and this building, he has kept, sometimes to his detriment, but he kept his promise. The day I met Mike he told me he wanted to create an affordable space for artists. That after ten years he's still trying to do that is pretty amazing. He helped me. He's always had my good interest at heart. I've always felt like it matters to him what's happening in the building. He's created a great environment and he gets so happy to see it."
ARLETHA RYAN, OIL PAINTER & PRINTMAKER
"I like that [the building] is busy. People are pursuing their businesses, their art; I have a music teacher down the hall, food manufacturers, the library down the way. I’m very comfortable here because the building is kept up and things are taken care of. I feel safe here. Secure. We’re in touch with the managers of the building and we can go to them."
BRIAN REED, OLD SCHOOL STATIONERS
"I’ve had great success being here. It’s been fantastic. The fact that [this building] was saved and that it isn’t going to be ball-and-chained and have something else put up: condos on top, retail on the bottom. The standard. It’s really neat. I love that it’s economically viable and that it can happen. There are artists and letterpress and ceramicists down the hall, a picklemaker, vegan brownies next to him. It’s a mishmash. It’s a working building. Mike’s efforts helped maintain that."