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e a s t c o u n t y l e a d e r
july 2013
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SPOTLIGHT
continued on 5
Gresham Art Walk’s founder plans to move behind the scenes after 12 years, to take life a little slower
Most community traditions are
born from the blood, sweat and tears
of one individual. But anyone who has
coordinated a large-scale event will tell
you the devil is in the details.
In 2001, Gresham businesswoman
and patron of the arts Judy Han rallied
a group of volunteers to help her intro-
duce the Gresham Art Walk. She was
thrilled when 28 area artists signed on
for the inaugural event, and figured her
worst challenge was behind her. But
now, laughing at the recollection, Han
admits she way underestimated the
community’s response to a sidewalk art
gallery.
“I think there were somewhere
around 1,000 people that first year,”
Han said. “But I didn’t think to call the
garbage company, so afterward, we
ran around town shoving garbage into
empty city cans. And the Porta Potties!
Who would have thought that many
people would show up! It was a riot.”
Flash forward 12 years. Gresham’s
Art Walk is now a streamlined, enter-
taining and highly anticipated affair.
Nearly 12,000 people meander along
Main Avenue the third Saturday in July,
soaking up the talents and treasures of
regional artists. The show’s signature
shoe poles, once simply advertising
teasers, add to the lighthearted whimsy
of the event, which is listed on the Na-
tional Fairs and Festivals Registry.
But having successfully launched
her “baby” into independence, the Art
Walk’s birth mother is stepping down.
Han plans to take a more behind-the-
scenes role with the event and rediscov-
er more relaxing pastimes such as float
tubing, camping and fly-fishing with her
husband, Sunny.
Han refers to herself as “the Golden
Gofer” — one who takes direction in-
stead of giving it. But to anyone who
knows Judy Han, she clearly has no
clue how to simply “sweep streets and
do grunt work.”
A Portland native, Han, 65, moved
to Gresham in the late 1970s. She pur-
chased acreage near Southeast 182nd
Avenue and Powell Boulevard, and
promptly opened a wholesale manufac-
turing silk floral design business. For 17
years, she ran the business from a barn
on the property. She also became a
highly respected vendor at national gift
shows, most notably in NewYork City.
The subtle European influence to her
work also put her in demand as over-
seer for lobby gardens at local hotels
such as the former Thunderbird/Red
Lion chain.
A b l o o m i n g f r i e n d s h i p
But Han also “dabbled” in interior
design. In the mid-1980s, while doing
a small job for a restaurant around the
corner from her home, she unknowingly
redesigned her own life.
“Sunny is a self-taught fine din-
ing chef, and he was working at Wok
Heaven on Powell (Boulevard) and
182nd (Avenue),” Han recalled. “We
met while I was doing some interior
work there. It was just a friendship that
evolved.”
The couple married in 1991. Two
years later, on June 10, 1993, they cel-
ebrated Han’s birthday by opening Sun-
ny Han’s Wok and Grill on North Main
Avenue.
Han calls herself a “shy wallflower,”
adding it’s “agonizing” for her to lead
anything. But that’s hard to fathom,
considering how she immersed herself
S t o r y b y A n n e E n d i c o t t
The art of stepping aside gracefully