Share the Love: Canine Companions for Independence

Just before Valentine's Day we hosted our 4th annual Share the Love party; a fundraiser to benefit the Canine Companions for Independence. We had a great turnout - which included 7 dogs!

One of the very well-behaved dogs

CCI raises and trains dogs to provide a variety of services (pretty much everything except seeing-eye dogs). Check out their website for lots of information and ways to get involved. At the party we had puppy raisers and program graduates (the people who get the dogs after they are trained). One dog helped assist a man in a wheelchair, another assisted a deaf woman, and a third worked with young children in a school. Seeing the dogs and hearing the stories had us all considering becoming puppy raisers.

 Looking forward to our 5th Annual Share the Love party in 2014!

Out & About: Thank you Cherry!

We celebrated Cherry Britton and her eight years with AK as she strides into a ‘retirement’
full of adventure. We’ll miss her insight, her humor, her delight in learning and her
willingness to take on a new challenge. Next: walking the “Chemin de St. Jacques”
through the south of France this fall. 

Bon Voyage, Cherry!

Share the Love: Community Transitional School

Our 3rd Annual Share the Love party...

This year we shared the love with the Community Transitional School (CTS), a local non-profit dedicated to children whose families are homeless or in transition.  Since 1990, CTS has served more than 4,000 children (ages 4-14) in the Portland metro region. CTS provides encouragement, education and support, along with food, clothing, transportation and school supplies.

 

Inspired by our decorations from last year's party (all that wonderful painting from CHAP) we covered our walls with self-portraits and stories by the students of CTS, and scattered colorful letters among the candy dishes.

 

The children and staff at CTS were thrilled with all of the donations collected at the party.

Thanks to everyone who shared the love!

Share the Love: Valentine Party to benefit CHAP - Children's Healing Art Project

We continued our tradition of combining social activity with social activism at our second annual "Share the Love" Party in celebration of our favorite holiday. This year, we shared the love with CHAP - Children's Healing Art Project - for a total lovefest. Above, Frank Etxaniz, CHAP founder, artistic director and inspirational teacher is on the ladder to install custom art panels created by CHAP's Children's Art Factory to fit the walls and doors of our conference room.

CHAP - Children's Healing Art Project - brings the healing power of art to children in crisis and their families with a mobile team of teaching artists working in Portland's children's hospitals. CHAP classes offer an art experience that engages and inspires -- where children can be seen for their artistic talents and not for their diseases or diagnoses. In 2010, CHAP reached over 10,000 and their families. Learn more at www.chap.name.

Children's Art is interpreted in a variety of apparel and other items such as the hand loomed carpet featuring a "love bunny" - just in time for the Year of the Rabbit! At right is a "bling" heart embedded into a giant resin foot that served as our bar for the evening.

Architecture Foundation of Oregon

When Elizabeth joined the Architecture Foundation of Oregon Board in January, the group was poised to clarify their message and logo in order to communicate AFO's expanding role in the community. She joined the team for a season of focus groups, brainstorming and design: in short, a rebranding exercise. The result: the new afo identity expresses the organization's approachable, community based mission and is supported by a short paragraph some call our elevator message:

"afo supports Oregon's quality of life and creates awareness of our designed environments through education, advocacy, philanthropy and inspiration."




The roll-out for the new afo logo coincided with this year's Honored Citizen event, for which Elizabeth also created the identity and graphics.

Harvest Designs

This year, our friend and collaborator, Jason Naiman has surprised and delighted us all with gifts from his garden. We are astounded by the natural forms of his climbing zucchini and, after much admiring, have created a variety of dishes with this amazing vegetable. Truly, a designer's delight. His latest and most beautiful offering - the Swan - is still being admired.

In the Studio: Oregon State Hospital

We invited our collaborators on the Oregon State Hospital Replacement Project to our office last week to review sign submittals prepared by Oregon Corrections Enterprises (OCE). Over lots of chocolate, we discussed OCE’s fabrication capabilities and brainstormed the best approach to achieving design intent using OCE materials and methods rather than technologies we might otherwise have specified. This congenial and collegial process resulted in a shared committment to each other’s success in the project.

Top photo: Rodney Myrick (Hoffman Construction) holds a sign sample for the group while Jon Melschau (SRG Partnership) and Abby Alway (AK) look on.
Bottom photo: Abby Alway and Cherry Britton, (AK) observe as Barry Moss and Richard Wright (OCE) take notes. Also present were David McCarthy (SRG), Michele Bouterse (HOK) and Steve Ryan (OCE).

In the Studio: Just in Time

“Just in time” delivery by Jay Cole of Center Pointe Signs brought smiles to our studio late last Friday afternoon as we reviewed samples destined for Stanford School of Medicine (right photo) and a dedication plaque headed to Clatsop Community College. Following this quick review, Abby packaged the samples for FedEx and Jay left carrying the dedication panel to its destination - another week, another finish line.