The first Art on Board art exhibition of the year has been installed on Portland Streetcar, featuring work by local artist Salomée Souag. "Interdependence" is featured on the side of a streetcar for the next several months, continuing Portland Streetcar's mission to provide a rolling canvas that brightens our community will supporting local artists.
My name is Salomée Souag. I’m a self-taught artist from Switzerland, now living and working in Portland, OR. I weave my queer and multicultural identities within my work, as well as my Peruvian and Algerian ancestors. My art grapples with place, identity, change, social systems, colonialism, and injustice. I initiate projects promoting inclusivity, access, and career opportunities through commissioned murals and collaborative spaces. An extension of my work that is actively bringing people together, re-distributing resources, telling untold stories, providing access and visibility.
The 2024 Portland Winter Light Festival kicks off February 2, and we're once again celebrating with free streetcar rides after 5:00 p.m. each day of the event.
With several installations accessible by streetcar--and many more around town--the WLF will illuminate the city from February 2-10. Streetcar rides will be free every evening to help Portlanders access and enjoy this magical event.
The Winter Light Festival brings illuminated art installations to the community during the darker months of winter, inviting Portlanders to experience the power that light can bring and see familiar places in different ways.
Portland Streetcar is proud to continue participating in this annual event by offering free rides for attendees to visit multiple sites and take in all they can at the 2024 Winter Light Festival.
Sing your way out of the winter blues with...the blues! On Saturday, December 16, from 1-4 p.m., we're partnering with the Waterfront Blues Festival to bring holiday caroling to the streetcar!
Musicians will provide festive favorites on NS Line streetcars between Portland State University and NW 23rd Avenue, with a chance for some lucky riders to win free passes to the 2024 Waterfront Blues Festival.
If you were looking to find time to finish up your holiday shopping, join us Saturday for some holiday cheer as we sing the blues!
Portland Streetcar's Art on Board program has installed another piece, this time by local artist Bobby Fouther entitled "United Stories." The piece was originally done in acrylic on canvas and is a combination of two works joined together "to connect a feeling of the inner and outer self," says Fouther.
Fouther continues:
I am a visual and performing artist. Through multiple mediums I love to tell stories on the canvas and the stage, sometimes with paint and sometimes with movement. I have created photos, videos, music, costuming to tell all types of life’s moments from birth to death. My mentors are many both local and international and I say thank you for the blessings … ASHE … Miss Dunham, Mr. Pomare, Ray Eaglin, Charles Tatum, and many others for giving me with wisdom to pass it on.
Dedicated to Ellen Elizabeth Preston for giving me sight and insight and teaching me to use my gifts to the best of my ability on a daily basis.
The Art on Board program began in 2020 and supports local artists through hiring them to create new or repurpose existing works to be displayed on the Portland Streetcar as it provides transit service to Portland's central city.
Live music is returning to Portland Streetcar! Local musicians will perform live on NS Line streetcars between Portland State University and NW 23rd Avenue the afternoon of Wednesday, April 19, beginning at 4:00 p.m.
Portland Streetcar is going beyond sponsoring the Portland Winter Light Festival this year by transforming into a rolling installation. Every Portland Streetcar will be adorned with LED illumination throughout regular transit service during the festival. This effort will help brighten the central city and provide a moving embodiment of the 2023 festival theme of STARS.
“We received such a glowing response from the community about our lit-up holiday streetcar that we decided to take it a step further,” said Dan Bower, Executive Director of Portland Streetcar, Inc. “By putting LEDs on all our vehicles we can bring light and joy to the city during what can typically be Portland’s grayest time of year.”
Rides on the streetcar will be free after 5:00 p.m. February 3-11 for the festival, offering attendees an electrified, illuminated way to enjoy the exhibits.
“The Portland Streetcar has long been a participant in the Portland Winter Light Festival, providing convenient and easy transportation around the citywide event,” said Portland Winter Light Festival Executive Director Alisha Sullivan. “We are thrilled that the streetcars will be lit up with LEDs this year! The light festival would not be possible without community partners like Portland Streetcar coming up with creative ways to brighten and connect the community by enhancing the nighttime landscape of our city.”
The Portland Winter Light Festival is an annual event that began in 2016 to enrich the public realm through Artful Lighting. Portland Streetcar began service in 2001 and operates three transit lines through Portland’s central city on 100% renewable electricity.
Need to tackle your last-minute holiday shopping? The Portland by Streetcar Tour App provides Streetcar riders with an interactive map of restaurants and service/retail shops located within a three-block radius of Portland Streetcar's three lines (A-Loop, B-Loop and NS Line) that are open for business during the holidays.
The listings may be viewed on a map or in an alphabetical list. Businesses may place and update listings for no cost by contacting us. The app is also “location aware,” which means that as a user rides on Streetcar with the app open, their screen will update on its own to show all relevant attractions around them, with a simple touch of the screen providing more detailed information.
Ready for March Madness men's basketball in Portland? Ride the streetcar A Loop from downtown to the Moda Center—and the B Loop back after the games. Games in Portland are scheduled for Thursday 3/17 and Saturday 3/19.
Portland Streetcar's tour app has a new feature, and it's helping riders support local businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The "We're Open!" feature provides Streetcar riders with an interactive map of restaurants and service/retail shops located within a three-block radius of Portland Streetcar's three lines (A-Loop, B-Loop and NS Line) that are open for business during these challenging economic times.
The listings may be viewed on a map or in an alphabetical list. Portland Streetcar and all businesses listed are following CDC guidelines, requiring masks and social distancing. The app will be updated as guidelines change. Businesses may place and update listings for no cost by contacting us.
The app is also “location aware,” which means that as a user rides on Streetcar with the app open, their screen will update on its own to show all relevant attractions around them, with a simple touch of the screen providing more detailed information.
The 10th annual Portland Streetcar Mobile Music Fest will happen the afternoon of Saturday, November 2, bringing local bands live on the streetcar.
Between 1:00 and 4:00 p.m., local artists will entertain and delight streetcar riders on the NS Line between Portland State University and NW 23rd Avenue. New and returning acts will provide live music as the streetcar moves through town, for the cost of a regular streetcar fare.
Bands will board at the PSU Urban Center Plaza (SW 6th and Mill) and play until finishing their sets at SW 5th and Montgomery. See below for a list of artists and when they'll start playing.
We've never done a full-streetcar wrap graphic--until now! For the Portland Trail Blazers' 50th season in the NBA, we teamed up to give Car 004 a new look. See how it came together below!
The next time you watch an episode of The Simpsons, created by native Oregonian Matt Groening, be sure to take a Streetcar ride through NW Portland’s Alphabet District immediately after and examine the street signs – look familiar? They should, as Groening named some of his famous characters after the district’s street names, including Flanders, Lovejoy and Quimby.
This piece of local trivia and dozens more are included in Portland Streetcar’s new app “Portland By Streetcar,” which provides Streetcar riders with an interactive tour of various landmarks, historical sites and points of interest located within a three-block radius of Streetcar’s three lines (A Loop, B Loop and NS Line).
The app features an interactive map containing photos and audio recordings of more than 80 attractions around the Streetcar lines. The app is also “location aware,” which means that as a user rides on Streetcar with the app open, their screen will update on its own to show all relevant attractions around them, with a simple touch of the screen providing more detailed information.
“In addition to providing an affordable and readily available transit option for the city, the Portland Streetcar lines have the potential to attract significant tourist interest,” said Portland Streetcar Executive Director Dan Bower. “Because of the lines’ proximity to popular areas, ‘Portland By Streetcar’ will support major public attractions along the lines and provide Portlanders old and new with illuminating facts about their city.”
The 9th Annual Portland Streetcar Mobile Music Fest will be held on Sunday, July 22nd.
Beginning at 1:00pm, every A Loop Streetcar beginning at the Portland State University Plaza will have live music from local artists on board. For the price of your Streetcar fare you can enjoy performances from returning favorites and new acts.
This year we are calling on local artists in the community for assistance with our first ever Mobile Music Fest T-Shirt Contest! Submit your entry for a chance to have your design chosen as the official t-shirt for the 2018 Portland Streetcar Mobile Music Fest.
Below are the rules and guidelines:
1. All submissions must be received by June 6th at 5pm.
2. A hard copy of each entry should submitted to the Portland Streetcar Customer Service Office at 1031 NW 11th Avenue. A jpg of the artwork should also be submitted to info@portlandstreetcar.org for posting and online voting.
3. Entries will be available for viewing/voting during the First Thursday event at the Portland Streetcar Customer Service Office on June 7th.
3. By submitting an entry, contestants agree to allow Portland Streetcar to have intellectual property rights over the image and to adjust the submission in any way necessary for screen-printing.
4. We will only accept digital entries in three colors. We prefer final art to be vectored, color separated and in either .ai or .eps formats with PMS colors defined and noted for accuracy.
5. Each artist must acknowledge that each entry design is: (a) wholly original; (b) does not incorporate or include any material that would require the consent of any third party; and (c) does not violate any copyright, trademark, publicity right, privacy right, or any other right of any third party.
4. Please use adequate judgment in your designs. Any submissions deemed to have inappropriate material will be removed from the contest.
5. All submissions deemed appropriate will be on display and available for the public to vote on from June 7 – June 15. The final decision on design will be made by Portland Streetcar, Inc.
The winning artist will receive two tickets to a production in the Armory's 2018/2019 season and a $100 gift certificate to Paragon Restaurant.
The Streetcar Mobile Music Fest is an annual event that brings local musicians live on the Streetcar. For the price of a regular Streetcar fare, riders can enjoy some of Portland's most exciting artists performing while traversing the central city. This year's fest will be Sunday, July 22, in conjunction with the Green Loop Sunday Parkways.
