Weather Machine

Weather Machine is a lumino kinetic bronze sculpture that serves as a weather beacon, designed and constructed by Omen Design Group Inc.{{Cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/pioneer_courthouse_square/|title=Pioneer Courthouse Square|access-date=May 8, 2013|encyclopedia=The Oregon Encyclopedia|publisher=Portland State University, Oregon Historical Society|first=Elaine S.|last=Friedman|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521000419/http://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/pioneer_courthouse_square/|archive-date=May 21, 2014|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|title=This Man's a Reliable Source of Information|page=D02|date=August 7, 1998|first=Dan|last=Hortsch|work=The Oregonian|location=Portland, Oregon}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.thesquarepdx.org/design_features.htm |title=Design Features |publisher=Pioneer Courthouse Square |access-date=May 8, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111164436/http://www.thesquarepdx.org/design_features.htm |archive-date=November 11, 2013 }} Contributors included Jere and Ray Grimm,{{Cite web|url=http://www.pdx.edu/raps/sites/www.pdx.edu.raps/files/2012AprilRapsSheet.pdf|access-date=May 18, 2013|page=5|title=In memoriam: Raymond Max Grimm, 1924–2012|work=The Raps Sheet|publisher=Portland State University|date=April 2012|first=Victor C.|last=Dahl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111164841/http://www.pdx.edu/raps/sites/www.pdx.edu.raps/files/2012AprilRapsSheet.pdf|archive-date=November 11, 2013|url-status=live}} Dick Ponzi, who won a 40-entry international competition to design the machine for Pioneer Courthouse Square (1984),{{Cite news|title=The Main Vane|date=August 23, 1988|first=Rick|last=Bella|page=C01|work=The Oregonian|location=Portland, Oregon}}{{Cite news|title=They Told Him He Was Crazy|date=January 11, 1995|first=Jonathan|last=Nicholas|page=D01|work=The Oregonian|location=Portland, Oregon}} and Roger Patrick Sheppard.{{Cite news|url=http://obits.oregonlive.com/obituaries/oregon/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=162510260|title=Roger Patrick Sheppard: Obituary|access-date=May 9, 2013|date=January 20, 2013|work=The Oregonian|location=Portland, Oregon}} The group described their efforts as "collaborative", but Sheppard considered Ponzi the "maestro" of the project. Ponzi did the engineering and hydraulics, and the machine was assembled at his vineyard near Beaverton. The sculpture was inspired by Portland-born-and-based writer Terence O'Donnell, who suffered from osteomyelitis during his childhood,{{Cite news|last=McInerny|first=Vivian|date=October 16, 1988|title=63-Year-Old Local Scribe Rises From Bedridden, Troubled Youth to Dance Literary Waltz of Words|page=L01|work=The Oregonian|location=Portland, Oregon}} and his "funny Irish jig".{{Cite news|url=http://blog.oregonlive.com/fashion/2008/12/terence_odonnell.html|title=Terence O'Donnell: Dance Literary Waltz of Words|date=October 16, 1988|first=Vivian|last=McInerny|access-date=May 9, 2013|work=The Oregonian|location=Portland, Oregon|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111170559/http://blog.oregonlive.com/fashion/2008/12/terence_odonnell.html|archive-date=November 11, 2013|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|title=Auel, O'Donnell Head Speakers List at Annual Writers Convention|date=August 7, 1989|first=Paul|last=Pintarich|page=C06|work=The Oregonian|location=Portland, Oregon}} Weather Machine, which took five years to plan and build and cost $60,000,{{Cite news|title=Scott's Fans Beat the Sun to Greet Him|date=August 25, 1988|first=Edwin|last=Garcia|work=The Oregonian|location=Portland, Oregon|page=A01}}{{Cite news|title=Sunshine in the Square|date=August 26, 1988|work=The Oregonian|location=Portland, Oregon|page=C12}} was installed in the square in August 1988.{{Cite news|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2012/03/in_downtown_portland_pioneer_c.html|title=In downtown Portland, Pioneer Courthouse Square's Weather Machine under repair|first=Anne|last=Saker|date=March 21, 2012|access-date=May 8, 2013|work=The Oregonian|location=Portland, Oregon|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111165053/http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2012/03/in_downtown_portland_pioneer_c.html|archive-date=November 11, 2013|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1356&dat=19890521&id=ob9PAAAAIBAJ&sjid=twYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5039,5569098|title=The Pacific Northwest's lush metropolis|access-date=May 18, 2013|date=May 21, 1989|first=Peter|last=Carlin|page=3F|work=Ocala Star-Banner|location=Ocala, Florida|issn=0163-3201|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170505234744/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1356&dat=19890521&id=ob9PAAAAIBAJ&sjid=twYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5039,5569098|archive-date=May 5, 2017|url-status=live}} Today weatherman Willard Scott broadcast live from the square to dedicate the sculpture on its August 24 opening.{{Cite news|title=10 Years of Serendipity|date=April 4, 1994|first=Randy|last=Gragg|page=A06|work=The Oregonian|location=Portland, Oregon}}{{Cite news|title='Today' Entertainer Uses Weather as Prop|date=May 22, 1989|page=D07|first=Peter|last=Farrell|work=The Oregonian|location=Portland, Oregon}} Two thousand people were present as early as 4 a.m. for the dedication. Financial contributors included Pete and Mary Mark, the AT&T Foundation, Alyce R. Cheatham, Alexandra MacColl, E. Kimbark MacColl, Meier & Frank, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, David Pugh and Standard Insurance Company. Information about the donors was included on a plaque added to the sculpture's stem in the weeks following the dedication.{{Cite news|date=October 2, 1988|title=Developer 'Pete' Mark Puts Portland First: Making a Mark|work=The Oregonian|location=Portland, Oregon|page=L01|first=Janet|last=Filips}}{{Cite news|title=If You Don't Know What the Weather's Like, Come to the Square|date=September 1, 1988|first=Edwin|last=Garcia|page=B02|work=The Oregonian|location=Portland, Oregon}}

File:Weather Machine - Portland, Oregon (2013) - 02.JPGs. Pictured is the blue heron symbol, which indicates transitional weather.]]

Each day at noon,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/30/travel/what-s-doing-in-portland.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|title=What's Doing In; Portland|access-date=May 18, 2013|date=May 30, 1999|work=The New York Times|first=Sam Howe|last=Verhovek|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114150306/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/30/travel/what-s-doing-in-portland.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|archive-date=November 14, 2013|url-status=live}} the columnar machine performs a two-minute sequence that begins with a trumpet fanfare of the opening bars of Aaron Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man,{{Cite web|url=http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/portland-city-guide4.htm|title=Portland City Guide|first=Susan|last=Hauser|access-date=January 6, 2019|website=HowStuffWorks|date=29 September 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120907095802/http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/portland-city-guide4.htm|archive-date=September 7, 2012|url-status=live}} and produces mist and flashing lights. It eventually reveals one of three metal symbols: a stylized golden sun ("helia") for clear and sunny weather, a blue heron (Portland's official bird){{Cite journal|date=May 1990|title=Pioneer Courthouse Square|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QDIEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA26|journal=The Rotarian|publisher=Rotary International|volume=156|issue=5|pages=26–27|issn=0035-838X}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2008/05/great_blue_heron_week_celebrat.html|title=Great Blue Heron Week celebrates Portland's official bird|access-date=May 9, 2013|first=Shelby|last=Wood|work=The Oregonian|location=Portland, Oregon|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111164938/http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2008/05/great_blue_heron_week_celebrat.html|archive-date=November 11, 2013|url-status=live}} for drizzle and transitional weather, or mist and a "fierce, open-mouthed"{{Cite web|url=http://www.portlandonline.com/parks/finder/index.cfm?PropertyID=515&action=ViewPark|title=Pioneer Courthouse Square|publisher=Portland Parks & Recreation|access-date=May 8, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130310014417/http://www.portlandonline.com/parks/finder/index.cfm?action=ViewPark&PropertyID=515|archive-date=March 10, 2013|url-status=live}} dragon for heavy rain or stormy weather. The fanciful symbols change at the same time every day,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/20/travel/what-s-doing-in-portland.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|title=What's Doing In; Portland|access-date=May 18, 2013|first=Suzie|last=Boss|date=March 20, 1994|work=The New York Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114150310/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/03/20/travel/what-s-doing-in-portland.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|archive-date=November 14, 2013|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|title=Tour Guide's Knowledge Is the Power of Observation|page=C09|date=December 10, 1997|first=Terry|last=Richard|work=The Oregonian|location=Portland, Oregon}} representing weather predictions for the following 24-hour period.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VCebCKYWPysC&pg=PA96|title=Downtown Portland's Cultural District|page=96|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|first=Karl|last=Samson|date=2010|isbn=978-0-470-64572-7}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.siguccs.org/Conference/Fall2001/tips.htm|title=Portland Tips|access-date=May 9, 2013|publisher=SIGUCCS|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131111191046/http://www.siguccs.org/Conference/Fall2001/tips.htm|archive-date=November 11, 2013|url-status=dead}} "Helia", described as "gleaming", was designed by Jere Grimm; her design would later be applied to one of her husband's pots, exhibited in 1989.{{Cite news|title=Potter's One-Man Exhibition Shows Greek, Korean Influences|date=March 30, 1989|first=Stan|last=Federman|page=04|work=The Oregonian|location=Portland, Oregon}} The trumpets are allowed to play at noon due to a waiver of Portland's noise ordinance for that time period. Ray Grimm constructed the blue heron symbol, and the group collaborated on the dragon symbol based on his drawings. In order for the machine to display an accurate weather prediction, as reported by The Oregonian in 1988, employees of Pioneer Courthouse Square contact the National Weather Service each morning at 10:30 a.m. for the forecast, and then enter information into the machine's computer, located behind a nearby door.

The machine, whose height is reported to be between {{convert|25|and|33|ft|m}},{{Cite news|last=Carlin|first=Peter|date=April 23, 1989|title=What's Doing In: Portland, Ore.|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/23/travel/what-s-doing-in-portland-ore.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|url-status=live|access-date=May 9, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114150301/http://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/23/travel/what-s-doing-in-portland-ore.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|archive-date=November 14, 2013|issn=0362-4331}} includes two bronze wind scoops that turn in opposite directions. It also indicates the temperature (when {{convert|20|F|C}} or above) via vertical colored lights along the sculpture's stem. Measured by an internal gauge, the machine displays blue lights for temperatures below freezing, white lights for above freezing and red lights to mark every ten degrees (°F). Referring to an additional light system (below the stainless steel globe) that indicates air quality, The Oregonian reported in 1988 that a green light indicates good air quality, amber reflects "semismoggy" air and a red light indicates poor air quality. However, in 1998, one writer for The Oregonian warned: "you don't want to breathe so much when the white light is on".{{clarify|reason=What did this mean? The only reference to white lights I see are to the "above freezing" lights.|date=December 2018}} Pioneer Courthouse Square employees enter air quality information into the machine's computer following routine checks with the Department of Environmental Quality.

In addition to its pre-dawn dedication on national television, Weather Machine had a public dedication at noon on August 24, attended by Mayor Bud Clark and other city officials. On that day, the machine displayed the sun symbol and a green light for good air quality, and indicated a temperature of {{convert|82|F|C|0}}. Following the fanfare, known officially as "Fanfare for Weather Machine with Four Trumpets", jazz singer Shirley Nanette led the crowd in a rendition of "You Are My Sunshine". Portland had good weather in the days following its dedication, preventing visitors from seeing all three symbols for an extended length of time (though all three symbols are displayed briefly during the daily two-minute sequence). This prompted the executive director of Pioneer Courthouse Square to consider altering the machine's schedule so that the public would have a chance to see all three symbols. The sculpture maintained good operation until winter 1995, when its mechanical performance temporarily began deviating away from noon and the temperature gauge had difficulties working properly.{{Cite news|title=Under the Weather|date=December 1, 1995|page=C01|work=The Oregonian|location=Portland, Oregon}} In 2012, the machine malfunctioned and stopped operating for about a week.

File:Occupy Portland (Downtown PDX).jpg protest in 2011]]

In the weeks following Weather Machine{{'s}} dedication, an estimated 300 to 400 people gathered at the square daily to witness the noon sequence. Following the dedication, The Oregonian wrote: "It takes nothing from its fascination to know that a human on the staff of the square will be making the daily phone calls to the Weather Service and the Department of Environmental Quality, and pushing the necessary buttons to cue the pillar's performance ... They have given Portland an attraction no other city has. We're going to like it."

Ponzi described the machine as "light-hearted ... active, distinctive—and fun". O'Donnell, who inspired the sculpture, called it a "gentle spectacle" and described the work as "a cartoon contraption, an odd little thingamajig. It has bells and whistles and other mechanized wonders that confirm rain sometime after the downpour and proudly announce sunshine in the bright light of day." In 1994, The Oregonian reported that O'Donnell regarded Weather Machine with a "mixture of wonder and embarrassment" and stated that he "[didn't] think it [was] all that attractive".{{Cite news|title=Are We All Wet?|date=March 3, 1994|first=R. Gregory|last=Nokes|work=The Oregonian|page=D01|location=Portland, Oregon}} The publication's Vivian McInerny said of O'Donnell and the machine: "Practical people may wonder why the square needs such a silly weather machine when a glance out the window works as well .... And these practical people may be the very ones who make the world go 'round. But it is the less practical people, the dreamers like O'Donnell, who make it worth going 'round."

In 1995, The Oregonian{{'s}} Jonathan Nicholas wrote, "To this day, nobody is exactly sure what happens when the thing sounds off each day at noon. It's like having a governor in blue jeans. We can't really explain it: It just happens." Grant Butler of The Oregonian gave the machine's trumpet fanfare as one of three examples of ways in which people could be certain it was noon in Portland.{{Cite news|title=Dining Cheap Eats Saigon Kitchen Cart|date=June 28, 2002|first=Grant|last=Butler|work=The Oregonian|page=17|location=Portland, Oregon}}

The machine is considered a tourist attraction, recommended in visitor guides for PortlandVisitor guides:

• {{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=58VK_IPHEGsC&pg=PA13|title=Secret Portland (Oregon): The Unique Guidebook to Portland's Hidden Sites, Sounds, and Tastes|page=13|last=Burgess|first=Ann Carroll|date=2003|publisher=ECW Press|isbn=1-55022-586-3}}
• {{Cite news|url=http://travel.usnews.com/Portland_OR/Things_To_Do/Pioneer_Courthouse_Square_43630/|title=Pioneer Courthouse Square|access-date=May 8, 2013|work=U.S. News & World Report|issn=0041-5537|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103110603/http://travel.usnews.com/Portland_OR/Things_To_Do/Pioneer_Courthouse_Square_43630/|archive-date=2013-11-03|url-status=dead}}
• {{Cite web|url=http://www.viamagazine.com/destinations/your-perfect-portland|title=Your Perfect Portland|date=September–October 2012|access-date=May 8, 2013|first=David|last=Sharp|work=Via|publisher=AAA Northern California, Nevada & Utah|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130101052907/http://www.viamagazine.com/destinations/your-perfect-portland|archive-date=January 1, 2013|url-status=live}} and included in walking tours.Walking tours:
• {{Cite news|title=Walking Is the Only Way|date=April 14, 1989|first=Phil|last=Hunt|page=H24|work=The Oregonian|location=Portland, Oregon}}
• {{Cite web|url=http://www.livestrong.com/article/144617-things-to-do-in-downtown-portland/|title=Things to Do in Downtown Portland|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120417220531/http://www.livestrong.com/article/144617-things-to-do-in-downtown-portland/|archive-date=April 17, 2012|access-date=December 8, 2013|date=December 7, 2010|first=Heather|last=Vecchioni|publisher=Livestrong Foundation}} One travel contributor recommended a visit to the sculpture for people with children seeking a "perfect family day".{{Cite web|url=http://news.travel.aol.com/2010/08/27/portland-with-kids/|title=Portland with Kids: A Perfect Family Day|first=Nicole|last=Fravel|access-date=May 18, 2013|publisher=AOL|date=August 27, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130930221550/http://news.travel.aol.com/2010/08/27/portland-with-kids/ |archive-date=September 30, 2013}} Weather Machine has been compared to a giant scepter and has been called "bizarre", "eccentric", "playful", "unique",{{Cite news|last=Hunt|first=Phil|date=April 12, 1991|title=Downtown Portland Public Art|page=R26|work=The Oregonian|location=Portland, Oregon|issn=8750-1317}} "wacky", "whimsical", "zany", and a "piece of wizardry".

• 1988 in art
• Allow Me (Portland, Oregon), a bronze sculpture also located in Pioneer Courthouse Square

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Weather Machine}}

• [http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=14118431M2Y5O.1669&profile=ariall&uri=link=3100009~!1566485~!3100001~!3100002&aspect=Browse&menu=search&ri=22&source=~!siartinventories&term=Weather+Machine%2C&index=ALTIT Weather Machine, (sculpture).], Smithsonian Institution
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120618130657/http://www.thesquarepdx.org/pdf/PCS_GroundsMap.pdf Grounds map] (PDF), Pioneer Courthouse Square
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20130911064622/http://americansforthearts.org/pdf/about_us/2003AmericansForTheArtsAnnualReport.pdf Image showing "helia" symbol], Americans for the Arts (PDF, p. 7)
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20131214125550/http://www.thesquarepdx.org/documents/PCS-Summer09-Brochure.pdf Summer at the Square] (PDF), Pioneer Courthouse Square (2009)

{{Public art in Portland, Oregon}}

{{Portal bar|Oregon|Visual arts|Weather}}

Category:1988 establishments in Oregon

Category:1988 sculptures

Category:Bronze sculptures in Portland, Oregon

Category:Interactive art

Category:Kinetic sculptures in the United States

Category:Outdoor sculptures in Southwest Portland, Oregon

Category:Sculptures of birds in Oregon

Category:Sculptures of dragons

Category:Sound sculptures

Category:Stainless steel sculptures in Oregon

Category:Steel sculptures in Portland, Oregon

Category:Weather prediction