Increasing Program Reach with Arts

Several people stand on both sides of a long table, where colorful balloons sit on top of cups, as the individuals attach paper to the balloons, making paper mache shapes

The pilot draws on Maybelle Center’s expertise in providing wrap-around services to introduce art into affordable housing, with a specific focus on building belonging with Old Town residents

"This saved my life," whispered local Portland artist Maureen to Maybelle Center staff after the art piece she co-created was revealed earlier this summer. Hanging in the lobby of the Pacific Tower, an affordable housing building in downtown Portland, the piece called “Ge(ode) to Belonging” is a display of delicate paper mache eggs, or “geodes,” that are painted to match the lobby colors, glazed, and glued into an artistic array.

It might not be surprising to hear an artist say that when they participate in art, they feel alive. But it’s uncommon to hear the reverse. Maureen, 69, has reported feeling increasingly isolated lately because her health challenges have limited her involvement in her hobby and other places where she can connect with others. So, when her building passed out a flyer with an opportunity from Maybelle Center to create art right in the lobby, she was all in.

Maybelle Center’s Program Expansion Pilot (PEP) was a small-scale test to increase the depth of partnerships with local affordable housing buildings in downtown Portland. The goal was to bring a snippet of what Maybelle Center does in its building on 6th Avenue into the homes of residents.

White, yellow, and pink balloons sit on top of red cups atop a table, while people stand and sit around the table. A person in a grey shirt and with a mask on, reaches across the table while a person standing at the end of the table in a black shirt and yellow beanie gives directions

As we are working together, and our hands are getting messy-painting, gluing- we are all getting to know each other. Conversations naturally come up, and we bond as we work towards this final moment.
Even those who maybe didn't get their hands dirty but came down and spoke with us-they helped us create this. That's what we mean by co-created. Every little piece really made this happen.

Jennifer (Maybelle staff)
Referring to the final art piece created over five weeks. Left: Jennifer leads paper mache process

Yes, opportunities to participate in the arts are limited when you experience financial poverty and even more so if you live with a mental illness, as is the case with many Members at Maybelle Center. While art was ultimately selected, Maybelle Center staff presented Pacific Tower’s manager with a menu of activities they could run on-site, all with the goal of creating a container where connections among residents and a sense of belonging could grow.

"It's not really about art," interjected Jennifer, the staff member who oversaw the artistic direction. It was the process of creating together and providing space where belonging could be felt that was the purpose.

We designed the project so it could be completed during short periods of time, over five weeks. There were steps required, of course, but none that were so intricately involved they would require undivided attention as they went along, allowing for conversations to naturally occur while everyone's hands were busy each week, assembling or working.

Small bouquet of red, pink, and purple flowers with a yellow note reading 'Art Heals! Thank You Maybelle Center'
Individuals stand around a table covered in white paper, with many paper mache cups on top. The paper mache cups are black on the outside with colorful interiors, and the individuals standing around are touching them, laying them out on the white paper

Impact and process photos (left to right)
A gift of gratitude and flowers from Marueen, the note reads: "Art Heals! Thank you Maybelle Center"
Members, volunteers, and staff lay out the artwork before final mounting
Ge(Ode) to Belonging finished and on display! 

The back of a person's head looking up at an artwork hanging inside on a pillar. The artwork is a large red background, covered in different colored paper mache cups, black on the outside with their colorful interiors facing out towards the viewer

It is well-documented that providing eviction support and other wrap-around services to improve residents’ lives is crucial for ensuring housing stability and a driver for buildings to collaborate with us. Shane, our Member Inclusion Coordinator, advocates that:

A big part of what sets us apart from many practitioners who come into buildings and provide classes is they don't know who they are serving or the environment they are walking into. We've been working in the neighborhood since 1991. We know who the residents are, so we're not going in blindfolded.

We use this hard-earned knowledge to create opportunities tailored to our neighborhood's unique challenges that provide the scaffolding for connection and belonging to bloom.

While providing wrap-around services in affordable housing buildings in the social health quadrant is the wheelhouse of Maybelle Center, our main obstacle is elevating the recognition of social health's significance. Many don’t know that social isolation is as harmful to our health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. And that social health impacts the other delicate pillars of health like our mental and physical wellbeing. That’s why this project is so important.

With Maureen’s health issues, being able to just come downstairs to participate each week was really beneficial, as it was for other residents who physically helped to make the art piece or who stopped by to say hello at some point during the process. Every one of those interactions was a part of co-creating this art piece. And each connection is integral in building the foundation of belonging and improving social health.

At the celebration "gala" in June, amidst mingling, cheese and crackers plates, and drinks donated by a cafe neighbor, participants shared what the project meant to them:

yellow, green, and pink balloons sit on top of red plastic cups, atop a table next to a small bowl of white glue, while an older persons' hands work on pasting paper onto the balloon in front of them

This artwork is the art of love, and we hope that you enjoy it for many years to come...It was a pleasure to meet all of you. We are a family, joined together out of love.

Stanley (Maybelle Center Member)
Speaking at the unveiling event about the piece he co-created. Left: Stanley mid paper mache process

But surely the highlight of the evening was the unveiling of the final art piece, which had been permanently installed by the building manager, Chris, because he was so pleased with the work. So now, every time Maureen and other residents go down into their lobby, they see the Ge(ode) to Belonging, something beautiful they helped to create, and a reminder that they matter, and that their voice matters.

Would you consider a gift today to bring art into more buildings so residents like Maureen can build connections and belonging in their own spaces?

Starlight Apartments on 6th Ave has already requested to be the next building!