2023 Building Stories | Annual AHC fundraiser
Our biggest fundraiser comes “home” this year to the Architectural Heritage Center for a series of new events that celebrate the stories of Portland’s historic places.
Join us in person at the historic West’s Block to enjoy festivities and to preview three all-new original video shorts created by Pacific Northwest filmmakers that share some extraordinary and little-known stories about Portland’s unique history, architecture, and culture.
You’re also raising important funding for the Architectural Heritage Center’s work to support Portland’s historic built environment through our exhibits, tours and public programs, advocacy efforts, and more.
2023 Building Stories includes two events to choose from (or come to both!)
Join us for a fabulous and fancy night out! Enjoy hors d’oeuvres, desserts, drinks, and the first look at this years videos.
Tickets: $140
Step out for a fun afternoon with movie snacks, drinks, trivia, and screenings of this year’s featured videos!
Tickets: Choose $15 – $25
Thank you to our sponsors!
Collective Bid
Join together to raise funds for the AHC! Your donation will be recognized at all Building Stories events. Donate Here. Your gift is welcome even if you are unable to attend. Thank you!
Featured 2023 Building Stories video shorts
A SNEAK PEEK of this year’s videos! To see the full videos, reserve your tickets to one of our Building Stories events. See the video descriptions below for more information on this year’s productions.
When the Mikado was Home
The Mikado Hotel and Bathhouse opened in the heart of Portland’s historic Japantown in 1908 and was a center of retail and activity until it closed in 1942 due to Executive Order 9066, which forcibly removed 110,000 Nikkei from the West Coast and incarcerated them in various confinement sites. When the Mikado was Home shares recollections of this special place through an intergenerational conversation between Joni Kimoto, whose family operated the Mikado, and her granddaughter, writer Lauren Yoshiko Terry.
This video was created by Derek Edamura, a Seattle-based documentary editor, teaching artist, and community organizer who creates meaningful partnerships that empower emerging artists to tell the stories that are important to them and represent their authentic experience. Over the past thirteen years, he has worked for corporate clients, non-profits, short independent films, and feature-length documentaries. Derek has worked as a teaching artist for secondary schools, community centers, and summer programs. Currently, he is the Digital Storyteller for the Port of Seattle focused on expanding the video program and integrating community storytelling into narratives.
Parkway Manor
For almost a century, Parkway Manor has been a valuable neighbor contributing to the South Park Blocks. The apartment building opened in spring 1931 at the start of the Great Depression and offered “exclusive, but not expensive” housing, including weekly rentals to those unable to pay a month’s rent. Today, the Art Deco building faces demolition. Parkway Manor journeys through the past, present, and unfortunate future of this historic building.
This video was created by Portland’s Aedin Powell, of Aedin Powell Media, whose work highlights important issues from environmental advocacy to urban planning to indigenous rights. Aedin is the director and editor of Views from Burnside Bridge featured in our 2022 Building Stories event. The narration is voiced by Madeline Tran, local actor, singer and fight choreographer.
The Terra Cotta Grotesque: An Artifact Story
A curious glazed terra cotta grotesque ornament once lived on the exterior of the Eastern Outfitting building constructed in 1929 at SW 10th & Washington in downtown Portland. Follow the story of this fantastical artifact as it weaves through an early relationship with a prominent Jewish pioneer and merchant in Portland, its connections with other historic buildings in our city, and a discovery that shed light on its story. Today, the large ornament is part of the AHC collection and appears in our current exhibit. The Terra Cotta Grotesque video short includes participation by Judy Margles of the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education and Val Ballestrem, the AHC’s educator and historian.
This video was created by KJ Moore, a filmmaker based in Portland who focuses on working alongside, and for, historically underrepresented communities through exceptional storytelling. Their filmmaking goal is connection and collaboration with other creators who are seeking to tell authentic stories.
The 2023 Building Stories videos were created and produced in collaboration with the Architectural Heritage Center.
While you’re waiting for 2023 Building Stories to launch, check out our video shorts from prior years!
2022 Building Stories video shorts
Northeast Conversations, directed and edited by Devin Boss, Northeast Production
Views from Burnside Bridge, directed and edited by Aedin Powell, Aedin Powell Media
The 301 Stained Glass: An AHC Artifact Story, directed and edited by Shannon Doran, Doran Film/AV Department
2021 Portland House Party video shorts
A Grand Old House, by Tom Cook, and featuring Walter Cole, also known as Darcelle
One Site at a Time, shot, directed, and edited by Devin Boss, Northeast Production