Students armed with 18,000 plants plan to assault a Portland square this summer.
Just which students get the chance remains to be seen. Jurors chose four floral designs created by University students to compete for display in downtown Portland this summer during a gathering in Lawrence Hall on Monday evening.
Students from the School of Architecture and Allied Arts were organized into four- and five-member groups and given one weekend to design an artistic layout of up to 18,000 plants for display in June during the annual Pioneer Courthouse Square Festival of Flowers.
“Basically, we didn’t sleep for three days,” said Nate Otani, one of the winning students. “I’m pretty hyped.”
Event organizer Adrienne Moll said trees, vegetables and flowers will be arranged in the urban park.
The student groups made short presentations of their designs to the jurors and then waited anxiously for an hour while the jurors deliberaed.
Contest participant David Seltzer put his ear to the wall of the deliberation room in anticipation.
“Well, they’re laughing,” he said. “I think that’s good.”
The team of jurors, composed of professional landscape architects, designers and representatives from the staff of the committee that oversees Pioneer Courthouse Square, chose four of the 10 presented designs based on marketability and artistic merit. They also looked at “potential and spice,” said juror Cathy Corlett.
Jurors in Portland will choose a winner from among the four finalists on Monday.
The four winning designs were: “All Roads Lead To Portland,” created by Julie Stevens, John Gonzales, Justin Howland and Becky Bland; “Bursting Forth,” created by Kris Day, Otani, Ryan Heidt and Seltzer; “The Adaptable City,” created by Katie Brown, Newton Breiter, Ben Halpern, Caleb Laughlin and Betsy McLaughlin; and “Awakening the Senses,” created by Sam Jones, Jodie Mitchell, Allison Dew, Amy Doherty and Geni Middleton.
Donations, corporate sponsorship and proceeds from last year’s festival will pay for the 16,000-18,000 plants used in the display,Pioneer Courthouse Square Marketing Director Katie Brown said.
The plant design will be on display in the square for two weeks, after which the individual plants will be sold to the public.