By Marion Carpenter, Special to the Hillsboro Herald- Century High School 9th Grader
Hillsboro has announced a new public art installation in Shute Park. The city has been looking for a new structure, ever since the Chief Kno-Tah statue was severely damaged by a falling tree limb in 2017.
The cultural arts division has chosen Becky Borlan, an artist from Baltimore, with plans to install a vibrant piece of public art in the form of a dome in Shute Park while complementing the style of the park itself. The installation is planned to take until mid-fall of 2025, and will consist of parts assembled in and shipped from Maryland.
Becky has done similar installations in the DC and Baltimore areas. Last week, she was joined by Karl LeClair, public art supervisor, and Julio Badel, arts education and outreach supervisor, at a booth in Shute Park to share the details of the coming project. I joined them on the 22nd of March to discuss the details of the project. The artist was here for three community events, where community members had a chance to share their favorite plants and vegetation from our region. Those shapes and colors will inspire her finished work before it is installed.
The piece will be a 24-foot-high dome made out of colorful pieces of laser-cut translucent panels with an 18-foot-high archway into the dome and four smaller archways on the other sides. The design is planned to be an open yet sheltered space where people can hang out and enjoy the partial shade it provides.
Becky’s other projects heavily use colorful materials; this is to be her first major project on the West Coast.
You can learn more about this and other public works in Hillsboro at: https://explore.publicartarchive.org/hillsboro-public-art/
Bonus Content – Call For Artists – Shute Park Mural Project
City of Hillsboro Seeks Artist to Design Artwork for Shute Library
Application Deadline: Monday, May 5, 2025, at 9 am PST
Budget: $15,000
Eligibility: Open to artists over the age of 18 living in Oregon – Hillsboro and Washington County-based artists are strongly encouraged to apply. Indigenous artists and artists of color strongly encouraged to apply. Artists who are part of the Shute Library community are strongly encouraged to apply.
Contact: Karl LeClair, Public Art Supervisor, 503-615-3489, Karl.LeClair@Hillsboro-Oregon.gov
Project Description:
The City of Hillsboro seeks an artist to create new, original artwork to be reproduced for a large-scale space on the south-facing exterior wall of the Shute Library. The community has requested the artwork be colorful, warm, inviting and celebrate activities at the library, books, literary themes, the landscape in and around Hillsboro, indigenous perspectives, and/or the people of Hillsboro. A successful design may incorporate a combination of these themes.
The selected artist will create original artwork that will be digitally reproduced on vinyl, applied to sign board, and installed on a framework by a separate contractor. The artist will retain ownership of the original artworks, along with the copyright associated with the work.
The reproduction artwork is intended to be displayed for a period of 3 to 5 years, after which time the artwork will be removed to make space for a new artist opportunity.
The City anticipates selecting one artist to commission for the project. This artist will enter into a contract and begin the design phase.
