Teeny weeny horses run rings around S.E. Portland history

By Rita A. Leonard

The Bee, Sep 6, 2006, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Woodstock artist Scott Wayne Indiana installs some of his “conceptual art”--miniature horses, tethered to antique iron “horse rings” on Portland sidewalks--here, along Woodstock Boulevard. The “Portland Horse Project” also encourages neighbors to join in, as a way to celebrate Portland’s history.

Rita A. Leonard / THE BEE

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Back in the 1800’s, long before before today’s high gas prices curtailed our travel plans, horses were the main mode of transportation. Across Portland, iron “horse rings” were embedded into the curbs of sidewalks to help tie down your steed. History buffs are rediscovering these quaint reminders of the horse-drawn era, and a new movement referred to as the “Portland Horse Project” has sprung up to highlight these charming signs of antiquity.

Woodstock conceptual artist Scott Wayne Indiana set the project in motion last fall--by tying a miniature plastic horse to a curbside horse ring to draw attention to the Portland history underfoot. “I loved the rings, and felt that people just weren’t noticing them,” says Scott. “This was an attempt to shake people out of their routines and get them to notice their surroundings.”

Since then, the “Horse Project” has been joined by Brooklynite Kim Upham, and by Laura Kemp, and others. Horses have appeared in pedestrian-friendly sites across the city--but mostly on Portland’s east side. “We’d like people to adopt the project in their own neighborhoods,” says Upham, who has tethered over 150 teeny weeny horses in the area. Her tools are a hammer, strips of small gauge wire rope, and compression ferrules. “The sales folks at Westmoreland’s True Value Hardware store are especially helpful with supplies,” she says. “They’ll cut 1-1/2 foot lengths of wire rope for you, and explain how to attach the metal ferrules.”

The metal tethers keep the miniature ponies reined in, but rustlers occasionally round up and steal the strays. A palomino that appeared in front of Brooklyn’s Aladdin Theater in mid-June only lasted a few weeks, and others wired to rings along Division Street and Woodstock Boulevard have also escaped. “The one in front of the Pearl Bakery in NW Portland disappears all the time,” notes Upham. “Scott is very Zen about their transience though. We even left a laminated note there for the horse thief.”

Scott Wayne Indiana has been creating art and exhibitions for about eight years. “I’m a late bloomer to the Art world,” confesses the 32-year-old artist. “I’m now focused on participatory art, where the concept is the beautiful thing.” He recently participated in a one-day Art Show at Mt. Scott Park called “In Clover”. “It was scheduled on the same day as their block party,” he says. “Twenty artists from Portland, L.A., Seattle and Chicago helped bring Art to the Park.”

Indiana has created other Conceptual Art installations, such as a post and unfinished chain stretching east from Joshua Tree, California. “People are invited to add links to the chain as a way of becoming involved in the Art,” he says.

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