Portland Memorial Mausoleum Mural: This project, which is probably the nation’s largest hand painted building mural, was personally significant because it began with my involvement in Oaks Bottom as a graduate student at Portland State University in 1970. At the time the city parks bureau wanted to fill the wetland as a site for a variety of uses. In 1988 colleagues and I presented a management plan to Portland City Council that was formally adopted and the wetland became the city’s first official urban wildlife refuge. The mural draws attention to the site as a significant natural area and as an important element of the city’s green infrastructure. The mural is so large it can be seen from more than three miles away, from across the Willamette River.

At the other end of the spectrum is the creation of The Intertwine and The Intertwine Alliance. What began as the Metropolitan Greenspaces Project in 1989 has revolved into an institutionalized effort to create a world-class parks, trails and natural areas system for the Portland Vancouver metropolitan region. The key partner in this work is Metro, the only directly elected regional government in the country where friends and colleagues I’ve worked with for many years are now ensconced, like Loeb Fellow Robert Liberty, who is now a Metro Councilor.

When I returned to Portland, the Harvard brand conferred increased credibility on me as a professional. The life-long friendships I established, particularly with Loeb roommate Rodolpho Ramina, are one of the most important benefits of my Loeb experience. Spending every Friday in drawing classes with the effervescent, ever ebullient Anne McGhee was a high point of the year.