"Neighborhood Art Walks: Mt Tabor Art Walk" Top 5 Page for this destination Portland Things to Do Tip by glabah

See above tip for basics of the Portland art walks. This ArtWalk is annual, held in mid-May. As shown by Artist Kirk deFord at right, Art Walks are a great way to meet artists, learn how they work, visit studios, and buy art direct from the artists.

The Mt. Tabor Art Walk is centered around Portland's popular Mt. Tabor park. This is also a relatively new Portland Art Walk (2007 marks the 2nd year). Due to the time of year, there is a lot of beauty in bloom in people's yards - don't miss it as you walk! (see image 5) Rhododendrons are usually still in bloom, and there are many in this area of Portland.

The area covered looks huge, but I was able to walk the entire route in an afternoon. Bring water (especially if it is a hot sunny day, as it was during the 2008 show!) and some food, and pick up snacks at those artist's houses that have snacks (most have a little something). Restaurants around SE Hawthorne & 50th are the closest to the main Art Walk areas on the west side of the hill. There are a few other restaurants around SE 50th and Division, but Division is a very busy through street in that area, while Hawthorne doesn't go through and is therefore much easier to cross. There are also a few small coffee shops and such along SE Belmont, and there is a place called the Red Square Cafe at 45th and Belmont that is also a reasonably good option. If all you want is a bit of snack food near the top of the hill, there is a dry cleaning shop at SE 69th and Belmont that also serves as that neighborhood's only real convenience store and has candy bars and the like. However, for snack type of food you would probably be better off just pilfering from the snacks at each artist.

Lunch options on the east side of the hill almost don't exist. You have to go fairly far east from any of the artists homes to find much of anything. You will want to plan accordingly.

If you buy something while you are walking, you also don't have to worry. All of the artists I talked to were willing to hold objects for pickup later.

Most average people don't need to drive on this ArtWalk, and unfortunately those who do drive sometimes create a hazard because they try to read street signs, look at house numbers, read a map and drive all at the same time. IT IS EASIER TO WALK unless you have a physical reason not to. TriMet bus #4 Division and #15 Belmont are useful for getting around inside the ArtWalk boundaries and walking one direction and use a bus to return to your starting point.

Another unfortunate problem you will find with driving is that a lot of times you will not be able to see the signs that direct you to the houses are blocked by those who park on the street in front of the sign. You can see them just fine from the sidewalk though.

AVOID SE Thorburn between SE 63rd and SE Pine if at all possible due to a bush that pushes pedestrians into the road, into oncoming auto traffic which can not see pedestrians at this location. SEE IMAGE 3 AND IMAGE 4 FOR MY ROUTE that avoid this busy and dangerous area of SE Thorburn Street, and instead is on to a very quiet neighborhood street that has sidewalks and a reasonably good view of downtown to boot! Also, please note that the official Mt. Tabor Art Walk map does not have an accurate representation of the intersection at Stark and Thorburn. Stark actually continues straight at 62nd Avenue, but it becomes a narrow, very local street that you don't want to drive on. It does have a sidewalk and is a great place to walk due to its low traffic nature. If you are driving you will probably drive right past the entrance to this part of Stark, but if you are walking you will see the narrow road that branches off steeply up the hill. If you are walking, you want to take that sidewalk, and follow the lines I show in IMAGE 4.

Address: many locations, see web site for map
Directions: See the web site for a map to download, or watch the newspapers for local galleries and restaurants that will have the maps available a few weeks before the weekend of the event.
Website: http://www.mttaborartwalk.com/