Japanese American Historical Plaza

The plaza in 2016
Signage, 2012

Japanese American Historical Plaza is a plaza in Portland, Oregon's Tom McCall Waterfront Park, located where the Portland Japantown was in the past.[1] The plaza goes northward from the Burnside Bridge along NW Naito Parkway and follows the flow of the Willamette River.[2] It was designed by landscape architect Robert Murase. It was created to tell the important history of the Japanese in Oregon, showing the difficulties of being a Japanese immigrant and the incarnations of people with Japanese ancestors.[3] The plan was sponsored by the Japanese American Citizens League, with the proposal being encouraged by Bill Naito and accepted in 1988. The plaza represents the poems of the experience of the Japanese immigrants and an important reminder of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. The plaza is administrated by the Oregon Nikkei Endowment.

The plaza features the 1990 bronze and stone sculpture, Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience, by Jim Gion.[4][5]

References

  1. "Congressman Earl Blumenauer". Congressman Earl Blumenauer. Retrieved 2017-05-26.
  2. "Oregon Nikkei Endowment :: Japanese American Historical Plaza". www.oregonnikkei.org. Retrieved 2017-05-26.
  3. "Japanese American Historical Plaza (Portland)". oregonencyclopedia.org. Retrieved 2017-05-26.
  4. "Public Art Search: Songs of Innocence, Songs of Experience". Regional Arts & Culture Council. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  5. "Japanese American Historical Plaza, (sculpture)". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved August 21, 2018.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.