Portland Fire and Rescue / Regional Arts and Culture Council

Intersections Artist in Residence Program

I approached these paintings as folk art paintings because the firefighters have a mythic place in our society.   It is a profession children dream of doing and the lure is not diminished in adulthood.   The profession and good works are legendary. I felt for many reasons that fire fighters are folk heroes. It is the nature of their work to expect the unexpected, to answer every call with concern, respect, and heart and good humor. They are one of the select few who keep the same job for their entire careers.   To say there is the element of brotherhood among the fire fighter culture that includes all fire fighters is an understatement, being a fire fighter is a way of life.   The nature of their job is in itself, awe inspiring because of the danger involved, the fact that the fire fighters continued to have even temperaments and good humor despite the daily grind, was personally moving and compelling.

The 911 call response was the biggest surprise of my residency, both in the variety of calls and how often it is misused. I was stunned by how many different duties the fire fighters perform in our city.

Through this residency I saw the fire fighters as individuals and am amazed by how many diverse personalities, different sorts of people become firefighters.

I wanted the central image of each painting to be a fire-fighting scene since fighting fires is what originally brought most of the men and women to this profession and remains foremost in their hearts.

Surrounding the fire scene are various small paintings depicting daily events, 911 calls and life within the fire station.   Since humor is such good medicine and fire fighters love a good joke, my approach was also a lighthearted one.   I tried to include in each painting something unusual and funny which is particular to that station, a mascot or symbol of some sort.   I tried also to include both geographic and historical elements of importance to each fire station painting making each unique.

I am proud and honored to be a part of this residency project.

It is with the utmost respect, admiration and pleasure that I made these works for the fire fighters, Portland Fire and Rescue and City of Portland.

Mary Josephson
April 2005