heARTs of Wilsonville: Many Cultures, One Heart
heARTs of Wilsonville: Many Cultures, One Heart
Participating Artists include:
Elle Knight
Heart of Belonging
Sofia Park
My proposed heart design, titled “Heart of Belonging,” brings to life Wilsonville’s unity and diversity through vibrant, overlapping shapes and colors. Each abstract, nature-inspired element flows together to symbolize our shared experiences, values, and connections. The harmonious colors are both inviting and inclusive, reflecting the warmth and openness that define the city’s vision. By placing the words "You Belong" at the heart of the piece, I aim to echo Wilsonville’s welcoming spirit and commitment to inclusivity—inviting every resident
and visitor to feel valued and part of this shared space. This joyful design celebrates the diversity of Wilsonville, underscoring the message that while our individual backgrounds are unique, together we form one strong, interconnected community.
Addie Boswell
For the Dreamers
City of Wilsonville Library
My design is titled: For the Dreamers, For the Artists and features two children that represent the idea. Inclusion of everyone means the magical and the young as well! I am a muralist who also works in collage, and for this design, will use multilayer plastics -- aka food packaging trash -- and seal it with a thick varnish or epoxy that is marine grade.
Triesta and Chris Zuber
Ubuntu
Town Center Park
My drawing depicts faces of people in bright colors of different nationalities. The skull on the right represents many cultures and has a heart inside where the eye would be. The front side has a feather, a piece of jewelry and a braid of hair representing many cultures. The idea of this whole piece is the viewer decides the interpretation of the culture and gender.
I have had over 50 people look at this drawing and everyone gets something different from it. I hope to evoke a feeling that different cultures and different people can all come from one heart.
Eileen Begley
Wilsonville & Kitakata: Sister Cities
Memorial Park (near tennis courts)
As a former high school exchange student to Japan, I understand firsthand how eye-opening and meaningful it is to experience life in another culture. This design celebrates the Wilsonville & Kitakata Sister City relationship through conveying some of the things we have in common, a testament towards being open-minded and caring towards one another.
Abhinaya Sudharsanam
Unity in Diversity
City Hall
A bunch of people sharing a warm hug - just the way Wilsonville feels for the front design. An abstract representation of different people through a
confluence of colors and how they all come together to create a beautiful patchwork of hearts on the back.
Cathy Rowe
Season of Love
Tranquil Park
My design "Season of Love" highlights some of the seasonal beauty for which Wilsonville is well known. I have found that every culture has seasonal celebrations that allow people to focus on our heritage, ancestry, and community. In this design, I showcase how our diverse cultures are brought together through the celebration of nature and it's many changing faces.
Lonnie Garcia
Pacific Northwest Folklorico
Memorial Park (Nature Play)
My design centers around the concept of combining the beauty and majesty of Wilsonville's natural landscapes, flora, and fauna with imagery of traditional Mexican Folklorico dancing to make vibrant, eye-catching illustrations, celebrating both Wilsonville and its push to promote the city as an inclusive community. As a Mexican-American, I am pitching these paintings to celebrate the Latin-American community that resides in both Wilsonville and the rest of Oregon, and display the fact that Wilsonville is has its doors open to people from a variety of cultures and backgrounds. It would be imagery that is meant to be welcoming to any marginalized people in Wilsonville, and anyone who may be visiting the area.
Zak Ostertag
Wilsonville: Globally Grafted
Tivoli Park
My design highlights the richness of Wilsonville’s roots here along the Willamette and across Oregon, the United States, and the world. More than 1 out of 10 Wilsonville residents (11%) were born outside of the U.S. and nearly half in the U.S. outside of Oregon (46.2%).** The piece depicts a Douglas Fir, symbolic of the city, growing from roots reaching down into Oregon and out across the world. Color is used to extend the roots, wrapping around the edges of the heart and evoking imagery of national flags. The piece illustrates diversity and connectedness — the diversity of experiences that shape each of our households and our mutual connectedness in sharing in the same place at the same time. The symbology of the tree and its roots uplifts this diversity and connectedness as the source of the vitality, strength, and growth of our community.
Charlie Correales
Heart in Bloom
Engleman Park
The intent of this design is to evoke a sense of welcoming and inclusivity. One side of the heart is a whimsical experience full of color and wonder to allow your imagination to take over. The other side is a more literal representation of a heart, with floral designs representing the beauty and delicacy of our most important muscle in our body.
Angenette Escobar with Wilsonville High School Art Students
Flores del Istmo de Tehuantepec
City of Wilsonville Police Department
As a professional artist, the advisor to the National Honor Society and the teacher of Latino Art and Culture Dual Language Class at Wilsonville High School, my design will be created with the help of my two high school groups, one or more hearts with overlapping, bright and colorful floral designs. These floral designs are based on the beautiful floral hand embroidery found on the huipiles originating from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, Mexico. The huipil is the traditional garment worn by indigenious women from central Mexico to Central America. Our concept aims to weave together a visual representation of the rich cultural expressions of the Mexican people living, working and going to school in the diverse city of Wilsonville.
This project was made possible by the City of Wilsonville’s Arts, Culture, and Heritage Commission and funded by Wilsonville-Metro Community Enhancement funds.
Supporting Documents
heARTs of Wilsonville Map (2 MB) 