On November 12th, crews completed the installation of a roughly 5-by-10-foot art display within the Montavilla Street Plaza at SE 79th Avenue and Stark Street. The artistic representation of a historic streetcar is part of a grant-funded program titled “Meet Me in Montavilla,” with a focus on celebrating the town-turned-Portland-neighborhood’s diverse history while attracting present-day Portlanders to its vibrant community. A December 3rd ribbon-cutting ceremony will officially introduce the outdoor art exhibit to the public, but it is now open to visitors at the center of Montavilla’s historic main street.
The Montavilla East Tabor Business Association (METBA) developed the interactive art and history project with a $50,000 Major Impact Grant from Venture Portland. METBA President Neil Mattson explained that the Meet Me in Montavilla District Activation Project idea originated from board member Becca Clover’s work at a board retreat, seeding the idea for a successful grant application in 2024. The awarded funds originate from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) allocations directed by Prosper Portland and the Portland City Council. Mattson said that the Meet Me in Montavilla project will complete its first phase with the launch of the Plaza art installation and subsequent launch of the meetmeinmontavilla.com website.
The art installation features a historically inspired streetcar profile produced by High Order fabricators, incorporating optical elements to create a three-dimensional perspective from its relatively flat representation. Yaqui-Mexican-American artist Marilyn Shawe led the project’s art direction and designed the trolley with cutout windows, allowing inclined visitors to pose for pictures “inside” the streetcar. Local historian and Montavilla News contributor, Patricia Sanders, assisted with the streetcar’s color accuracy and researched information for the piece. Its scale and interactive elements encourage youthful play around the artwork, while the backside of the piece offers information on the trolley line’s influence in shaping Montavilla. “The trolley was one of five primary themes of significance to our community,” said Mattson. The transit availability in this remote area allowed the town to grow from a community outside the Portland City limits into a prosperous neighborhood that officials quickly annexed in the early 1900s. “The trolley became symbolic of the community,” said Mattson. Although the project will have other phases of work across the neighborhood, he explained that the Meet Me in Montavilla project team decided to focus early work at the SE 79th Avenue Plaza because it has become the current center point of the community in Montavilla and is just one block from where the original streetcar spur line terminated on 80th Avenue.
Local lumber company Mr. Plywood donated the weather-resistant building materials for the trolley installation, and the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) contributed to the project, which resides within one of the bureau’s 20 Public Street Plazas. Mattson explained that PBOT’s partnership was helpful because the installation resides within a public street’s parking lane that is currently part of the car-free plaza space, but still needs to adhere to City policy. “It is physically bolted to the street, which requires a certain amount of engineering, approval, permitting, and insurance,” said Mattson. He also noted that METBA can remove the trolley and store it if needed. It was essential for the team to preserve these community investments, allowing for relocation if the plaza were to reopen to vehicle traffic.
Similar to the trolley installation, team members will design the other Meet Me in Montavilla project elements with a sense of permanence and strong historical ties. Future installations in Phase Two will highlight other themes that significantly shaped the area. They include contributions by Japanese American berry farmers, Montavilla’s Black community, and Dehen Knitting Mills. Public installations around those formative community elements, along with others, will roll out in 2026.
For 14 months, the Meet Me in Montavilla project team of Rebecca Clover, Brenda Dunn, Leah Kohlenberg, Neil Mattson, Patricia Sanders, and artist Marilyn Shawe, collaborated with contractors to bring the neighborhood’s newest public art to the streets, allowing everyone to enjoy and learn from it. Look for specifics on the December 3rd ribbon-cutting event on the METBA website. People are free to stop by anytime to take their own pictures with the Montavilla Trolley, now on display in the Street Plaza at SE 79th Avenue and Stark Street.
Update November 20, 2025: The art installation’s ribbon cutting ceremony in the plaza will take place on on Wednesday, December 3rd at 3:30 p.m. Attendees can meet the artists and team members responsible for the artistic streetcar representing Montavilla’s first trolley line dating back to 1891.
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