Archives West Finding Aid

From 1948 to 1952, Greek American Tom E. Stefopoulos, a watchman for the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway who had earlier worked as a commercial artist, painted scenes relating to Greek mythology and history on ten supporting pillars of the Lovejoy Viaduct in Portland, Oregon, during his spare time. In 1999, plans to demolish the Lovejoy Viaduct prompted local artists to call for the preservation of the pillars that Stefopoulos had painted, called the Lovejoy Columns. Among those campaigning for their preservation were members of the architectural collective Rigga.

Although efforts to prevent the columns' demolition were successful, plans for conserving them as public art ran into funding difficulty, despite benefit events such as performances by writer Andre Codrescu and musician Elliott Smith, and a documentary film by Vanessa Renwick. The columns were instead kept in storage beneath the Fremont Bridge. In June 2001, Rigga disbanded, but member James Harrison continued to campaign for the conservation and public display of the columns. In 2005, real estate developer John Carroll agreed to have two of the columns located on the plaza by the Elizabeth condominium building, and paid for their transportation and installation. These two columns are still standing on the Elizabeth Plaza on N.W. 10th Avenue as of 2022.

Sources: Articles in the Oregonian and Oregon Journal, 1948-2006.