
PHOTO: Fahd Sadiq's pomegranate-themed mural adorns both sides of the Eastside Jewish Commons' sliding glass doors. The mural was commissioned in collaboration with local nonprofit Gather:Make:Shelter. (Rockne Roll/The Jewish Review)
By ROCKNE ROLL
The Jewish Review
Passing by the front of the Eastside Jewish Commons in Northeast Portland, you may notice a new look.
The popular Jewish communal space, once a rusty orange color, is now a bright, radiant blue and the pillars around its entryway bear a mural of pomegranates. The mural is the work of Fahd Sadiq, a Portland artist who is also featured as the first exhibition in EJC’s new dedicated art gallery space.
The seeds for the project were planted two years ago when Howie Bierbaum, EJC’s Executive Director, was connected to Dana Lynn Louis of Portland arts nonprofit Gather:Make:Shelter.
“She’s Jewish, she’s awesome, she runs this cool nonprofit. It’s the right fit for you. You both have the same vibe,” Bierbaum recalls being told of Louis and her organization.
Founded in 2017, Gather:Make:Shelter works to, “bring housed and unhoused people together in creative and extraordinary ways,” using art to work toward solutions on issues of housing and poverty in the community.
Louis had already worked with Sadiq, a queer refugee from Pakistan who fled to the United States when his life was threatened due to his sexual orientation. He made his way through Florida to Portland, Louis explained, where he was then carjacked and ended up living in the Queer Affinity Village shelter project in Southwest Portland. Louis connected him to Rabbi Ariel Stone of Congregation Shir Tikvah who was working with a separate program to help LGBTQ Pakistanis escape persecution – they immediately hit it off.
Sadiq is a lifelong artist, working in a variety of mediums, including calligraphy in the multiple languages he speaks. When EJC was able to secure funding for a mural through the Schpee Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation, established by Shir Tikvah member Howard Shapiro, z”l, the collaboration came to fruition and Sadiq received his first solo public art commission.
The mural starts with pomegranates, Louis explained, with the fruit’s skin peeled back “in such a way that it’s become like a rendering of a three-dimensional peace sign. Growing off the top of it is a shin (the Hebrew letter) and the Hebrew word for peace, hello and goodbye, shalom. It’s very subtle, it is very poetic.”
“In Hebrew and in English, he wove in some of the values and themes of both EJC and Shir Tikvah--community, love, respect,” Bierbaum added.
The mural particularly pops against EJC’s new paint job, a color fittingly labeled “dynamic blue” by its manufacturer.
The artwork is integrated into the color of the outside of the building,” Bierbaum said. “It’s the most vibrant building on Sandy Boulevard right now.”
Coinciding with the mural’s official unveiling is the opening of Sadiq’s show, “Eye in the Sky,” now through Dec. 4 in the EJC’s new gallery in the westernmost corner of the building.
“They’re impressionistic and abstract,” Bierbaum said of the paintings that make up “Eye in the Sky.” “He’s heavy with texture.”
The room has been known unofficially as the “the gallery room,” even as it has been used for other purposes – and there’s a reason why.
“It’s got northern light, it’s the right size, it’s got lots of wall space,” Bierbaum explained. “You can hang about 20 pieces, depending on size, so it’s sizable.”
Bierbaum gave credit to EJC Events Coordinator and Cultural Arts Ambassador Eric Stern for developing the gallery’s vision, as well as the team at Co/Lab, whose Art/Lab program will open a group show in the space early in December.
“The art gallery space was something I was looking at for a while with [Stern}, and it finally, it all coalesced and came together,” Bierbaum said, “because there was a demand for it, so it kind of forced us to get off our butts and make it happen.”
Following Art/Lab’s show, the gallery will feature an exhibit by Portland artist and Shir Tikvah member David Schroeder. While the space is notable as Portland’s first dedicated Jewish art gallery, there’s a certain degree of flexibility that accommodates exhibits like Sadiq’s.
“We want to be a showcase for Jews,” Bierbaum explained, “but there’s ‘Jewish-adjacent,’ and if you support our values of justice, charity, community, we can then, quote-unquote, bend a little.”
“Eye in the Sky” will be open through Dec. 4.
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