The Green Man of Portland

In Portland’s Chinatown, a collection of two sculptures and eight informative signs can be found along 5th and 6th Avenues. They tell of mysterious green archers, armed with arrows of fantastic power. If you are hit with one of them, you see aspects of the world that are hidden from most people. You witness flowers blooming from the heads of people around you, and enormous trees rising high above any building. This is the tale of the Green Man of Portland.

While the statues claim that these archers have been seen in Portland since the city’s founding, the legend has a clear beginning in 2009. That’s when these very same statues were installed, as part of an installation created by Daniel Duford. Readily admitting that the legend is “fake,” Duford says that the work was inspired by Works Progress Administration posters and horror comics from the 1970s. The term “Green Man” may itself come from the artistic motif of a face composed of or surrounded by foliage, which has obvious similarities. 

Duford said of his work “My great hope for this piece is that the Green Man of Portland will quietly twine itself into the fabric and many-layered history of the community.” To this end, the panels reference the history of Portland, and incorporate landmarks around the city. For instance, one of the visions caused by the magic arrows is that of a celestial white stag in the sky - possibly the famous neon sign over Portland’s Old Town.

Indeed, the panels not only lay out the lore of the Green Man, but ask for community participation. As the last panel says, “The Green Man is not one man at all, but everyone—and all at once. You may be the Green Man of Portland.” Even if you don’t happen to spot flowers growing out of anyone’s heads, it still makes for an interesting scavenger hunt.