Here’s what’s behind the fresh paint and new plants at Arleta Triangle Square – and how it’s powering a summer of neighborhood gatherings …
As an Earth Day activity, volunteers are freshening the flowers in a traffic‑control planter at Arleta Triangle Square.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
On a summerlike Saturday morning, April 25, volunteers converged on the Arleta Triangle – officially known as Arleta Triangle Square – at SE 72nd Avenue and Woodstock Boulevard in Southeast Portland’s Mt. Scott-Arleta neighborhood to pull weeds, repaint planters, and get the space ready for another season of community events.
The tidy‑up effort took place during Earth Week, but the focus stayed on neighbors and their gathering place, rather than the environmental holiday. Several people set to work cleaning and repainting the traffic‑diverter planters that ring the small plaza, while others weeded the planted area and tucked in new native starts. By late morning, the once‑drab barriers and beds were starting to look ready for summer.
This trio of volunteers tending the plantings at Arleta Triangle Square: Todd Davis, and co‑curators Matchu Williams and Darlene Chirman.
“Arleta Triangle Square”, identified in the Mt. Scott-Arleta Neighborhood Plan nearly three decades ago, had long been envisioned as a community gathering hub. Neighborhood association Board Member Matchu Williams, who coordinated the project, framed the work as “delivering on a community vision, and a promise from the City Council from 30 years ago” to make the Triangle the neighborhood’s gathering hub, and “make the vision happen.”
Williams, project coordinator for Arleta Triangle, and treasurer of the Mt. Scott-Arleta Neighborhood Association, characterized the clean‑up as both cosmetic and ecological. In the spirit of Earth Week, volunteers installed flowering native plants to support pollinators and “help restore the landscape … to what was before it got more developed.”
Neighbors also rolled new bands of color across the concrete planters, covering recent graffiti and reinforcing the Triangle’s identity as a small public square.
The work, Williams observed, was about “making a welcome space for community activities” as much as it was about tidying up.
Volunteers turn graffiti‑covered concrete traffic barriers at Arleta Triangle Square into a splash of neighborhood art, brightening the planter with fresh bands of color.
Summer events return to the Triangle
The April clean‑up also set the stage for a full schedule of warm‑weather activities at Arleta Triangle Square.
Williams outlined recurring Arts and Crafts Kaleidoscope “maker pop‑up markets” on the second Saturday and Sunday of each month through August, featuring local artists, makers and musicians. These markets, like those on June 13 and 14 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., will turn the Triangle into a family‑friendly fair – with paintings, ceramics, jewelry and other handcrafted work, along with food vendors, and live and DJ music.
In addition to the arts markets, the association plans to bring back its popular children’s clothing swap in August. Williams recalled it “was a big hit last year”, with dozens of families exchanging outgrown clothes and picking up new items.
By the end of the clean‑up, newly planted native species ringed the refreshed planters, graffiti had disappeared beneath bright coordinated paint, and the compact public square looked ready for another season of markets, music, and family‑focused gatherings.
You’ll find dates and details for upcoming Second Saturday/Sunday Arts and Crafts Kaleidoscope and other summertime events neighborhood’s webpage: CLICK HERE.
© 2026 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™
