On an unseasonably warm Friday in December, The BLACK Gallery hosted the opening of a new exhibition called If We Could Talk. The collection of black and white images and writing was created by residents of the Dr. Darrell Millner Building in North Portland.

The affordable apartment community was funded in part by Metro’s housing bond and was co-developed by local non-profit Self Enhancement, Inc., who partnered with Metro on the workshop. The apartment complex is also part of the Portland Housing Bureau’s N/NE Preference Policy, a city initiative that aims to address the harmful impacts of urban renewal by giving preference to housing applicants with generational ties to the area.

Artists Gwen Hoeffgen and Domenic Toliver led the Metro-funded project, which offers a new perspective on the housing constructed with the help of this bond, through the eyes of the people who live in it. If We Could Talk is part of the Metro housing department’s Community Voices storytelling series.

Over the course of eight workshops, the participants used 35mm black and white film photography, creative writing and community conversation to explore what ‘home’ really means. They also learned how to develop film and make darkroom prints in a day-long workshop at Franklin FOTO in St. Johns.

For residents of this building, exploring the theme of home meant asking questions like, is home a place? Is it moveable? Is it people, family, or culture? Is it a feeling? And is it still here?

The Black community in the Albina area has maintained resilience in the face of decades of systemic disinvestment, followed by displacement and gentrification. As beloved local institutions and neighbors continue to disappear, those who remain must find a sense of home in their absence.

Participant Yolonda Lampkin reflected on how the project “showed me that our community is a place where we return to our strength again and again – rooted in connection and held together by love.”

At the opening, several participants shared remarks about their experience. 

“If We Could Talk” is more than a photography project. It’s a space where stories, memories, and truths rise to the surface. As we listened to one another and created together, we weren’t just making images. We were documenting pieces of a community that has endured generations of displacement, resilience, and reinvention.

 Quentin Staples

For Black people in North and Northeast Portland, the idea of “home” has never been simple. Our neighborhoods have changed faster than our stories could be held. Gentrification didn’t just reshape blocks, it reshaped belonging. It uprooted traditions, pushed families apart, and placed our culture in a constant fight to be seen, heard, and remembered. And still, we remain. Our presence is the proof.

The residents who participated in this project reminded me that home is not just a building or a street, it’s the people who carry history in their voices, pride in their steps, and hope in their creativity. Their stories speak to injustice, but also to survival and self-determination. They speak to the need for continued investment in arts programs, storytelling spaces, and community-centered work, especially for Black communities who have been underserved and overlooked for far too long.

So I want to say thank you. Thank you to everyone who created, who shared, who trusted this process. Thank you to the organizers who made this space possible. And thank you to every person in this room who chooses to listen.

My hope is that this project encourages not only reflection, but action. That we continue funding classes like this, fostering spaces like this, and honoring the voices that have been here all along.

Home isn’t gone. It lives in us. And tonight, you’re witnessing it speak.”

The participants are Andre Conroy, Kennedy Conroy, Daunice Davis, Valencia Edwards, Alice Forbes, Wynter Forbes, Yolonda Denise Lampkin, Amani Hart-Lampkin, Oris Shaw and Quentin Staples. The exhibition is up through February 16, 2026 from noon to 5 p.m., Thursday through Sunday. To make a free appointment to visit The Black Gallery, email [email protected]. A free 40-page publication of the work is available at the gallery while supplies last.

On an unseasonably warm Friday in December, The BLACK Gallery hosted the opening of a new exhibition called If We Could Talk. The collection of black and white images and writing was created by residents of the Dr. Darrell Millner Building in North Portland.

The affordable apartment community was funded in part by Metro’s housing bond and was co-developed by local non-profit Self Enhancement, Inc., who partnered with Metro on the workshop. The apartment complex is also part of the Portland Housing Bureau’s N/NE Preference Policy, a city initiative that aims to address the harmful impacts of urban renewal by giving preference to housing applicants with generational ties to the area.

Artists Gwen Hoeffgen and Domenic Toliver led the Metro-funded project, which offers a new perspective on the housing constructed with the help of this bond, through the eyes of the people who live in it. If We Could Talk is part of the Metro housing department’s Community Voices storytelling series.

Over the course of eight workshops, the participants used 35mm black and white film photography, creative writing and community conversation to explore what ‘home’ really means. They also learned how to develop film and make darkroom prints in a day-long workshop at Franklin FOTO in St. Johns.

For residents of this building, exploring the theme of home meant asking questions like, is home a place? Is it moveable? Is it people, family, or culture? Is it a feeling? And is it still here?

The Black community in the Albina area has maintained resilience in the face of decades of systemic disinvestment, followed by displacement and gentrification. As beloved local institutions and neighbors continue to disappear, those who remain must find a sense of home in their absence.

Participant Yolonda Lampkin reflected on how the project “showed me that our community is a place where we return to our strength again and again – rooted in connection and held together by love.”

At the opening, several participants shared remarks about their experience. 

“If We Could Talk” is more than a photography project. It’s a space where stories, memories, and truths rise to the surface. As we listened to one another and created together, we weren’t just making images. We were documenting pieces of a community that has endured generations of displacement, resilience, and reinvention.

 Quentin Staples

For Black people in North and Northeast Portland, the idea of “home” has never been simple. Our neighborhoods have changed faster than our stories could be held. Gentrification didn’t just reshape blocks, it reshaped belonging. It uprooted traditions, pushed families apart, and placed our culture in a constant fight to be seen, heard, and remembered. And still, we remain. Our presence is the proof.

The residents who participated in this project reminded me that home is not just a building or a street, it’s the people who carry history in their voices, pride in their steps, and hope in their creativity. Their stories speak to injustice, but also to survival and self-determination. They speak to the need for continued investment in arts programs, storytelling spaces, and community-centered work, especially for Black communities who have been underserved and overlooked for far too long.

So I want to say thank you. Thank you to everyone who created, who shared, who trusted this process. Thank you to the organizers who made this space possible. And thank you to every person in this room who chooses to listen.

My hope is that this project encourages not only reflection, but action. That we continue funding classes like this, fostering spaces like this, and honoring the voices that have been here all along.

Home isn’t gone. It lives in us. And tonight, you’re witnessing it speak.”

The participants are Andre Conroy, Kennedy Conroy, Daunice Davis, Valencia Edwards, Alice Forbes, Wynter Forbes, Yolonda Denise Lampkin, Amani Hart-Lampkin, Oris Shaw and Quentin Staples. The exhibition is up through February 16, 2026 from noon to 5 p.m., Thursday through Sunday. To make a free appointment to visit The Black Gallery, email [email protected]. A free 40-page publication of the work is available at the gallery while supplies last.