“Daylight on Ice”

48” x 30” acrylic on canvas

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As a kid I listened to Portland Trail Blazer games in our family kitchen in Bend. Few games were televised and many were losses anyway. The post-game show was like dessert after dinner. My amazingly cool Uncle Ken treated me, along with two friends, to our first live Blazer game in March 1975. After the game we crowded down to the floor to witness Bill Schonely’s interview for real! It was a Sunday afternoon. In the awesomeness of the moment I noticed a strange light enveloping the floor as if someone opened a door to the outside. I looked up to see a large curtain opening behind the upper red seats of the Memorial Coliseum. “What thuh?” I remember thinking.

The Memorial Coliseum opened in 1960 to help usher a mid-sized city into relevance. It was renamed the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in 2011 to remind us of this building’s original mission. The wall of names underneath the main entrance remains a somber tribute to WWII and Korean War Veterans. A free standing structure surrounding an unattached concrete arena, architects describe it as a bowl inside a glass box, to novices like me. Apparently the rooftop (the size of four city blocks) being supported by just four columns is a highly complex engineering feat. It’s a simple yet bold design that reflected modernism in the dawn of the space age.

The NCAA Final Four was played there in 1965. A few months later the Beatles paid their only visit. The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Pavarotti, Led Zeppelin and many many others followed. The biggest moments for the VMC were centered around the NBA and the Portland Trail Blazers when the Blazers won its first major league championship in 1977, then later returned to the NBA finals in 1990 and 1992.

In 1995 the Rose Garden (aka Moda Center) opened and the VMC was relegated to a supporting role. It remains the primary home of the Portland Winterhawks, as depicted here, as well as the starting point for the Rose Parade. Various music and entertainment acts, high school graduation ceremonies, trade shows and other events also fill the void. In recent years there has been a great deal of support to save this unique structure, but its future remains uncertain.

This painting is currently on display at Culmination Brewing where it is available for purchase.