View source for Portlandia (statue)

{{Short description|Statue by Raymond Kaskey in Portland, Oregon}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox artwork
| image =
| image_size = 250
| title = Portlandia
| artist = [[Raymond Kaskey]]
| year = 1985
| type = [[repoussé|Copper repoussé]]
| height_imperial = 34
| height_inch = 10
| dimensions = (height)
| imperial_unit = ft
| metric_unit = m
| city = [[Portland, Oregon]], United States
| mapframe = yes
| mapframe-zoom = 13
| coordinates = {{coord|45|30|56.7|N|122|40|44.5|W|display=inline,title|region:US_type:landmark}}
| museum = 
}}

'''''Portlandia''''' is a sculpture by [[Raymond Kaskey]] located above the entrance of the [[Portland Building]] in downtown [[Portland, Oregon]]. It is the second largest [[repoussé|copper repoussé]] statue in the United States, after the [[Statue of Liberty]].<ref>Warren, Stuart & Ted Ishikawa. ''Oregon Handbook''. Moon Publications, 1991.</ref>

==History==
Portlandia was commissioned by the City of Portland in 1985.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://traveloregon.com/things-to-do/culture-history/historic-sites-oregon-trail/portlandia/|title=Portlandia - Travel Oregon|access-date=2020-04-30|archive-date=2022-06-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630110039/https://traveloregon.com/things-to-do/culture-history/historic-sites-oregon-trail/portlandia/|url-status=live}}</ref> Sculptor Raymond Kaskey was paid $228,000 in public funds and reportedly an additional $100,000 in private donations.<ref name= "wweek">{{cite news | url= http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-23062-so_sue_us.html | title= So Sue Us: Why the Portlandia statue failed to become an icon | date= September 10, 2014 | first= John | last= Locamthi | newspaper= [[Willamette Week]] | pages= 15–17 | access-date= 2014-09-12 | archive-date= 2014-09-11 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140911201724/http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-23062-so_sue_us.html | url-status= live }}</ref>

Kaskey and his assistant Michael Lasell built sections of the statue in a Maryland suburb of [[Washington, D.C.]], and sent the parts to Portland by ship. It was assembled at a barge-building facility owned by Gunderson, Inc, and was installed on the [[Portland Building]] on October 6, 1985,<ref name="warmwelcome">Crick, Rolla J. (October 7, 1985). "Thousands bid ‘Portlandia’ warm welcome: Statue lifted successfully to final spot". ''[[The Oregonian]]'', p. A1.</ref> after being floated up the [[Willamette River]] on a [[barge]].<ref>Ota, Alan K. (October 7, 1985). "‘Portlandia’ wends way along river, city streets to delight of onlookers". ''The Oregonian'', p. B3.</ref>

==Description==
[[File:Seal of Portland, Oregon (1964–2005).png|thumb|left|upright|The [[Seal of Portland, Oregon|seal of Portland]] at the time of ''Portlandia''{{'}}s creation; the former served as the latter's inspiration.]]

The statue is based on the design of [[Seal of Portland, Oregon|the Portland city seal]]. The statue depicts a female figure, Lady Commerce, dressed in [[classical tradition|classical]] clothes, holding a [[trident]] in her left hand and reaching down with her right. The statue is above street level and faces a relatively narrow, tree-lined street.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.portlandoregon.gov/omf/article/587615|title=Portlandia &#124; Portland Building Reconstruction Project Blog &#124; the City of Portland, Oregon|access-date=2021-12-05|archive-date=2021-12-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211205113025/https://www.portlandoregon.gov/omf/article/587615|url-status=live}}</ref>

The statue is {{convert|34|ft|10|in|m}} high<ref name="warmwelcome"/> and weighs {{convert|6.5|ST|kg}}.<ref name= "wweek"/>

An accompanying plaque includes the official dedication poem, also titled "Portlandia", written by Portland lawyer and poet [[Ronald Talney]]:

{{Blockquote|"She kneels down, and from the quietness of copper reaches out. We take that stillness into ourselves, and somewhere deep in the earth our breath becomes her city. If she could speak this is what she would say: Follow that breath. Home is the journey we make. This is how the world knows where we are."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.oregonlive.com/premium/pdxtra/2015/09/the_unlikely_story_of_portland.html |title=The Unlikely Story of Portlandia's Poem. Oregonian, September 3, 2015 |date=3 September 2015 |access-date=January 20, 2018 |archive-date=January 21, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180121071509/http://www.oregonlive.com/premium/pdxtra/2015/09/the_unlikely_story_of_portland.html |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

==Copyright==
Despite being funded largely by the City’s Public Art Program, Kaskey retained the copyright to the sculpture and has threatened lawsuits against unlicensed depictions of Portlandia.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bancud|first=Michaela|title=Your best shot at a perfectly sculpted figure|url=http://portlandtribune.com/component/content/article?id=119564|newspaper=[[Portland Tribune]]|date=May 27, 2003|access-date=2014-09-12|archive-date=2016-04-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160427180804/http://portlandtribune.com/component/content/article?id=119564|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="wweek" />

The statue appears in the title sequence of the TV series ''[[Portlandia (TV series)|Portlandia]]'', the result of "lengthy" negotiations with Kaskey that required the statue not be used "in a disparaging way".<ref name= "wweek"/> In 2012, [[Laurelwood Pub and Brewery|Laurelwood Brewing]] used an illustration of the statue on the label of Portlandia [[Pilsner|Pils]], a beer it introduced; the brewery later found out about Kaskey's copyright and reached a cash [[settlement (litigation)|settlement]] with Kaskey.<ref name= "wweek"/>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Oregon|Visual arts}}
* [[1985 in art]]
* [[Berolina]], personification of [[Berlin]]
* [[Hammonia]], personification of [[Hamburg]]
* [[National personification]]
* [[Tethys (mythology)]]
* ''[[The Spirit of Detroit]]''

== References ==

<references />

==External links==
* [http://racc.org/public-art/search/?page=details&skip=0&sort_pref=sort_title&results_per_page=9&search_title=&search_artist=&search_keyword=portlandia&search_other=&search_collection=&search_discipline=&search=Search History of ''Portlandia''] from the [[Regional Arts & Culture Council]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040122062734/http://www.heritagepreservation.org/programs/SOS/4KIDS/portpoem.htm Poem] by Ronald Talney on plaque
* [http://www.osbar.org/publications/bulletin/10oct/lawlife.html Writing ''Portlandia'': My 15 Minutes of Fame] by Ronald Talney
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNlDYIvHLqc Video of ''Portlandia'' arriving in Portland] at [[YouTube]]

{{Public art in Portland, Oregon}}

[[Category:1985 establishments in Oregon]]
[[Category:1985 sculptures]]
[[Category:Copper sculptures in Oregon]]
[[Category:Culture of Portland, Oregon]]
[[Category:Outdoor sculptures in Southwest Portland, Oregon]]
[[Category:Statues in Portland, Oregon]]
[[Category:Sculptures of women in Oregon]]
[[Category:Civic personifications]]
[[Category:Architectural sculpture]]
[[Category:Colossal statues in the United States]]
[[Category:Statues of women in the United States]]