Erickson Saloon

This building and location in Portland are imbued with fantastic lore and legend. Our artist team set out to tell some of the stories through art installations across two connected buildings. We told the story of the infamous 1894 flood with a large custom chandelier sculpture fashioned from a wood skiff of the same era. In that same atrium two colors of paint meet at approximately the level of that historic flood so residents and visitors can imagine what it might have been like at that time. In the large atrium we repurposed some materials from the original bar and created vignettes, frozen in time, of a bar, a lounge, a campfire, a climbing/logging totem, a "Bigfoot" spirit fashioned from cast iron ceiling joist brackets found onsite and a massive, interactive mobile made of Tyvek clouds, cast weights, boat oars, old baskets and Jars that held cast counterweights) that allow residents to control the colors and light of the clouds to suit their moods. Many of the shots below are from the public opening event.

"Erickson’s Workingman’s Club, also known as Erickson’s Saloon, was a Portland landmark opened in the 1880’s by August “Gus” Erickson. Taking up most of the block between Burnside/Couch and Second/Third Avenues, Erickson’s was legendary for its 684-foot bar and free smorgasbord lunches with a five cent beer. It boasted five elegant entrances, a grand pipe organ, and 50 bartenders…”

“…When the river rose in 1894, Erickson’s served patrons from a barge at NW 2nd and Burnside. Fred Fritz operated several of his own establishments in Old Town, including Fritz’s Theater and Saloon, a grand theater known for its cabaret performances. Fritz was an early investor/partner of August Erickson and eventually took over ownership of Erickson’s in 1907."