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North Pole Studio continues its yearslong collaboration with TriMet with the unveiling of the transit agency’s new Lift buses wrapped in art designed by three studio members. Lift buses are specifically designed for riders with physical disabilities, which perfectly meets North Pole Studios’ mission to share work by artists with physical and mental disabilities.
Art by Davis Wohlford, Nathan Ueno and Dan Tran will drive around Portland on Lift buses indefinitely, according to North Pole co-founder Sula Willson. She tells WW that many of the studio’s members already use Lift buses to get around town.
“The buses bring joy to everyone who sees them,” she says. “We joke that spotting one of the art buses is like spotting a unicorn.”
North Pole first submitted work to TriMet in 2022 as part of a broader artist call to mark Disability Pride Month. But TriMet staffers say they were so moved by North Pole’s mission that the collective was immediately fast-tracked to decorate Lift buses.
“Working with North Pole Studio has been an absolute joy and a true partnership in every sense,” Eileen Collins-Turvey, TriMet’s director of accessible transportation programs, said in a statement. “Their designs not only captured the heart of our service, but also celebrated the diversity of the community we serve.”
Wohlford, another North Pole co-founder, was inspired for his wrap by his love of the Oregon Zoo. He needed around four weeks to make The Great Outdoors, which features animals like elks, moose and pigs. Ueno’s wrap, titled City of Portland, shows different drawings of buildings in front of vibrant shades of yellow and blue. Tran’s wrap, Sunflowers, adorned in large yellow sunflowers with green stems and text reading “Making the inside visible,” offers a nod to the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower program, which helps people with disabilities connect with resources to make their lives easier, whether their conditions are visibly obvious or not.
“I am so thrilled people will see it as the bus will see work on it drives by,” Wohlford says. “I have started making art ever since when I was little. Why? Because I can draw anything I like to draw. It makes people happy.”
North Pole Studio’s exhibition Tell ___ hi for me is on view at Portland State University’s Littman Gallery through Aug. 28. The touring exhibition and TriMet’s collaboration are just some of the ways the collective boosts its members’ profiles. Tran and Ueno also have artwork featured at the Jan Campbell Transit Mobility Center, which opened last fall near Lloyd Center.
“We look forward to continuing this meaningful collaboration for years to come,” Collins-Turvey said.
