Old Town, Chinatown, Nihonmachi. Portland, Oregon.

Portland’s oldest neighborhood offers unique experiences, including diverse restaurants, Chinese tea houses, Chinese and Japanese museums, and an expansive, city block-sized traditional Chinese garden.

The neighborhood has been a historical cultural hub, but has faced challenges due decades of misguided efforts by local government to consolidate vulnerable and under-represented communities into a single neighborhood.

The following creative projects, including street art beautification and transit campaigns amplify Old Town’s eclectic entertainment district and dynamic streetwear shopping scene. These initiatives also promote awareness of vacant office, commercial, and retail spaces available for visionary entrepreneurs. Old Town is regaining its footing and revival is around the corner.

Old Town Transit

Creating awareness through a comprehensive transit messaging program for Old Town. The message was prominently presented on the sides of the buses (king bus displays), bus bench, and bus tail displays. Additionally, custom-built QR codes were all over the city furthering engagement.

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Use your Code Reader

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Old Town Art Experiences

Taking inspiration from the Chinese idiom (四海一家), inscribed on the neighborhood's iconic gate, an community driven art club is revitalizing Portland's Old Town/Chinatown. The goal is to transform vacant spaces into visible entrepreneurship opportunities, through art and foster a start-up business incubator. With the ultimate goal of making Old Town a vibrant hub for work, commerce, and community again.

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Event Concept/Direction:
Riswold for Dogs and Children

4O1F's inaugural art show, "Riswold for Dogs and Children," took place on August 1, featuring famous artist Jim Riswold during an extremely hot First Thursday, coinciding with Portland’s famed Sneaker Week.

The exhibit showcased Riswold’s social commentary tailored for dogs and children, highlighting important historical lessons: notorious leaders and their despotic activities. Additionally, a selection of Jim's well-known advertising and broadcasting work (including Nike) was on display.

We had an Riswold avatar built where visitors could “put words in Riswold’s mouth”. The team put together plenty of marketing/advertising content, hung LOTS tiny art, built out a large amount of sculptural/exhibition work, an online store, and overall brand design.

Overview by DJ Wicked.

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Riswold delivered unvarnished feedback and rarely offered compliments. We sought to change that. We created a Riswold AI avatar that allowed visitors to "put kind words in Riz's mouth." Visitors' faces and voices were scanned, and upon entering the space, the digital Riswold would deliver personalized words of comfort.

Event Concept/Direction:
Vote or Suck

The "VOTE OR SUCK," art show was a non-partisan art exhibition in Portland's Old Town. The show opened on October 15th (the last day to register to vote in Oregon) and features over 100 notable artists until Election Day, November 5th.

With these national and international artists, the show aimed to spark dialogue and encourage voter participation. The exhibition included a diverse art set (all within a salon-style atmosphere), voter registration assistance, multiple music artists, and refreshments.

Four Oceans One Family’s main driving force is to highlight the often overlooked and blighted neighborhood by highlighting businesses, encouraging entrepreneurship, and creative gatherings.

Vote or Suck got some good press.

Society Hotel Portland

During its COVID closure, the Society Hotel in Portland's Chinatown underwent a environmental beautification and transformation. The project aimed to connect the hotel's modern suites with the neighborhood's rich history.

Artists, including many of color, contributed pieces reflecting the area's diverse past, from its days housing African American workers, to its association with Chinese Portlanders and punk rock venues like The Satyricon. The overall vision was to present history in a contemporary, engaging way, offering guests visual history to discover.

It got some cool press.

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