Last Thursday at the opening night party of the American Institute of Architects Gallery in Portland, Maya Lin (Season 2) presented an exhibit of drawings and models produced for her Confluence Project.
Begun in 2000, the Confluence Project is a series of seven artworks along the Columbia River Basin that were commissioned by the Pacific Northwest Native American tribes and civic groups from Washington and Oregon to honor the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804-06. The Confluence Project takes a pro-environment, proactive stance designed to preserve the area’s natural and cultural resources while rethinking what the commemoration of the bicentennial could be.
Later this month, two other Confluence events will also be held. On the morning of August 23, Lin and fellow architect John Paul Jones will follow children over Land Bridge near the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. Later that day, a second walk continues to a bird blind at the Sandy River Delta that will conclude with the third project’s dedication.