On August 30th, My Voice Music (MVM) and Ascending Flow will host a Block Party with live youth music, DJs, and skateboarding to introduce the BUS-A-Flow mobile studio. The MVM youth-focused nonprofit organization opened its Montavilla facility at 8911 SE Stark Street in September 2023. Recently, muralists completed work on the outside of the building, highlighting this music-based after-school program provider’s activities within. People are invited to visit between 1 and 6 p.m. to participate in this free gathering.
Event organizers will close SE 89th Avenue north of SE Stark Street beside the MVM building preceding the Sunday, August 30th, activities. The block party will showcase performances representing the range of music being created by My Voice Music and Ascending Flow participants. Ascending Flow will use its converted transit vehicle dubbed BUS-A-Flow to bring a mobile recording studio, performance stage, and creative hub to communities across Oregon. This mural-painted, customized vehicle will further the nonprofit’s work, including free programs for young people navigating foster care, experiencing housing instability, and seeking to build positive life skills.
Ascending Flow works out in the community but lists the SE Stark Street address as its main location, joining MVM in its rehabilitated former bakery building. Since 2008, MVM has served young people by facilitating their artistic expression through writing, recording, and performing original music. Several setbacks delayed the opening of the Montavilla SE Portland headquarters, including the 2021 death of MVM’s founding Executive Director, Ian Mouser. For the last three years, the youth music center has helped expand the organization’s programs and supported efforts by similarly aligned organizations.
This co-hosted event serves as the annual Ascending Flow Show and showcases the new MVM mural created through a partnership between the two non-profits working from the location, with support from an Oregon Metro Community placemaking grant. Members of the MVM community shared the program’s significance to their lives, and young artists translated those stories and experiences into the mural’s imagery and design with guidance from Damon Smyth and OC Note.
The block party includes many activities with skate ramps, basketball, and face painting. Attendees can enjoy free food, Live DJs, and youth performances. The Portland Bureau of Transportation will have bike helmets and supplies for bike-decorating activities. The community is invited to experience the new mural, see the BUS-A-Flow mobile studio up close, and learn about the supportive programs at this East Portland resource destination.
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