Walk down a city street, and any step you take could land you on a spot where something important happened in the past. Not necessarily the stuff of history books, but smaller events in the personal lives of those who walked there before you. In one Portland neighborhood, those moments have been quietly captured and embedded in the sidewalk.
You could say Elise Pepple is a kind of narrative archeologist. When she walks around the India Street neighborhood, she doesn’t just see apartments, restaurants and other businesses, she sees — or rather hears — stories.
Pepple spent two years collecting people’s stories for a public art project called Portland Brick. The result is 30 personal memories, events and wishes spread across several blocks on the edge of downtown Portland.
“It’s kind of like walking through a symphony. I can point over there and say, ‘Jay and George planted trees that then led to general replanting of this neighborhood.’ I can say, ‘Right over there, Rabbi Sky started Jews Without Borders.’ I can say, ‘Right over there, Heather stood up for what she believed in.’ So it feels like walking through the poetry of this place, made by the people who live here,” she says.
The project begins at the base of India Street, just a stone’s throw from the waterfront. The bricks in the sidewalk here tell five different stories to give a sense of the layers of history to the neighborhood.
“So our first brick in this project says ‘All of these spots are Wabanaki land,’” Pepple says.
Another brick says, “On this spot in 1680, India Street became one of Portland’s first streets.” The India Street neighborhood has historically been a gateway to the city and home to many immigrants. In a nod to that history, one brick marks the story of a more recent immigrant.
“On this spot every year, Ghassan Hasoon celebrates becoming a U.S. citizen,” says Ghassan Hasoon. As Pepple collected stories, she recorded them and is posting them on the Portland Brick website, giving the project another dimension.
“I always go there to acknowledge and be inspired by my accomplishment,” Hasoon says.
Pepple says she and her collaborator, ceramic artist Ayumi Horie, wanted to combine high tech and low tech in the project. People can explore the neighborhood online, or by walking on the bricks that were made and stamped by Horie.
The bricks blend in so well to the sidewalk, they’re actually easy to miss.
“We kind of wanted the streets to be whispering these stories, and we like this kind of element of discovery that’s not announcing itself,” Pepple says.
In the two years that Pepple has collected stories, the project has captured the neighborhood’s evolving history, including one recent controversy.
Pepple walks to a brick outside the India Street Public Health Center, which reads, “On this spot in 2011, the free clinic fought to remain open, and continues to remain strong to his day.”
This spring, Portland councilors decided to transfer management of the city-run clinic to a private nonprofit.
Along with chronicling past and present stories, Portland Brick also collects future visions for the neighborhood.
“On this spot in 2019, there was an outdoor market like they have in Italy. #LaDolceVita,” says Jeff Reali, the son of Italian immigrants who lived — and fell in love — on India Street.
After visiting Italy, Reali says he can imagine that an outdoor market might revitalize some of what’s been lost in the city.
“It would bring back a lot for older culture, for us younger people, would start a new culture,” he says.
Pepple and Horie have their own wishes, too. They hope the bricks spark something in people that see them.
Maybe a brick will provide inspiration. Maybe it will help connect people to each other, or prompt someone to do a similar project in their own community.
