Willow tunnel installed at Vestal Elementary School
Depave Board Members and staff installed a beautiful willow tunnel at Vestal Elementary School with instruction by Flora NW.
In another installation of the Vestal Elementary School green schoolyard project, Depave Board Members and staff gathered at the outdoor learning space on Saturday to learn from Flora NW how to weave live willow stakes to create a living Scouler’s willow tunnel in the greenspace.
Alex Slakie from Flora NW demonstrates bending willow to form the dome shape.
The group organized stakes by size and then used a tool called a dibble to push the willow stakes into the ground. The tunnel now stretches over a rock pathway leading to the north of the greenspace, providing students with a playful, exploratory experience.
The 3,900 square foot depaved area next to the school and 82nd Ave is now in the final phase of build out and as native plants are being added to the site.
Zoé Walker Aparicio, Depave’s Community Project and Stewardship Manager uses a Depave prybar to prep a hole for a willow stake.
Stay tuned for Depave’s community volunteer planting event at the site on March 14 from 10am - 1pm, for a chance to get your hands dirty and contribute to the school’s greenspace!
Depave Board Member Shawn Perez and Communications and Engagement Manager, Katherine Rose, install willow stakes.
Indigenous art partnership receives Metro Community Placemaking grant!
Depave and Klamath artist receive Metro Community Placemaking funding to support indigenous mural at Future Green Plaza at 7th and Sandy.
In an exciting new installment of Depave’s ongoing work in creating a community plaza in the street in Central Southeast Portland, the organization has received funding to uplift and strengthen the growing partnership with the Portland Indigenous Marketplace (PIM). The funding will support the painting and installation of a mural with original art by Rowena Jackson, a member of the Klamath Tribe. Depave, in partnership with Jackson, applied for and received the Community Placemaking grant from Metro for $15,000 to support an indigenous mural project at the future plaza at SE 7th Avenue and Sandy Boulevard. This project merges and connects the plaza with the future site of the Portland Indigenous Marketplace, adjacent to the plaza on the east side of the space at 737 SE Sandy.
The c'waam fish (Deltistes luxatus), OPB 2021.
The mural project will display Rowena Jackson’s beautiful, culturally meaningful artistic design of a c'waam fish. The c'waam fish (Deltistes luxatus), is a fish found only within the Upper Klamath Basin and is a federally recognized endangered species. These fish hold cultural significance to the Klamath Tribes, are a vital part of the ecosystem, once a key part of the Klamath Tribes’ diet (Klamath Tribes News). Jackson’s art “truly reflects her vision and journey to protect and preserve our fish relatives. The Klamath Tribe maintains a strong presence in the Portland area today, with tribal members holding leading positions throughout the region. Rowena is a shining example of the great work the Klamath tribal members are doing in Portland,” said PIM Executive Director Lluvia Merello and Rowena Jackson.
The developing plazas in inner southeast Portland represent a thrilling next step for the Portland Indigenous Marketplace and Depave’s long, ongoing work at the site. For more than seven years, PIM has existed without a home base and staff and community members have hauled tables, tents, and inventory across dozens of pop-up locations, despite limited resources, and delivered many incredible Indigenous-run community market events. The future marketplace and plaza space represents an opportunity for PIM to exist permanently, creating a strong presence in southeast Portland where their existence will be “impossible to ignore,” creating a plaza where “our (PIM) community finally gets a home. It’s not just a venue; it is a 24/7 cultural space where anyone, at any time of day, can encounter Indigenous and Black art, plants, stories, and educational installations,” stated Merello and Jackson.
Stay tuned for more information about this project and the community mural painting project event at the site, slated for May 9!
Project develops at Family Peace Center
Depave receives Oregon Community Foundation grant to support future work at Family Peace Center in Hillsboro, the first-in-the-nation co-located hub uniting 20+ agencies under one roof to provide wraparound services for survivors of domestic abuse and their families.
In early December, 2025, Depave received the Oregon Community Foundation “Community Grant” to support the the design and development of a budding depave project at the Family Peace Center in Hillsboro! Depave will work with the Family Justice Center of Washington County (FJCWC) to transform 1800 square feet at the new Family Peace Center in Hillsboro into a nature-filled healing play garden for children and family survivors of domestic violence. "We're thrilled to have the opportunity to work with the Family Peace Center and support them in their important work with survivors. We look forward to seeing this outdoor healing space take root here and provide a safe connection to naturre,” says Zoé Walker Aparicio, Depave’s Community Projects and Stewardship Manager.
The center is the first-in-the-nation co-located hub uniting 20+ agencies under one roof to provide wraparound services for survivors of domestic abuse and their families. Depave will leverage local government and private funding to collaboratively design and develop a FPC healing play garden. The preliminary FPC healing play garden concept incorporates soft-surface play areas, a log climber, shade trees, drought-tolerant and low-maintenance landscaping, and 1-2 raised beds for food gardening. Stay tuned for more information as this project develops!