Thor, copper and redwood sculpture in Portland, US

Thor is an abstract copper-on-redwood sculpture by Melvin Schuler, completed in 1977 and standing at Southwest 6th Avenue and Southwest Taylor Street on Portland's Transit Mall. It measures 7 by 4 by 4 feet, its cubic, angular mass formed by hammering copper onto carved redwood.

Thor was completed in 1977 by American artist Melvin Schuler, funded by TriMet and the United States Department of Transportation. It was first placed on Southwest 5th Avenue between Washington and Alder before moving to its present site at Southwest 6th Avenue and Taylor Street on the Portland Transit Mall. The Regional Arts & Culture Council now administers the piece.

The title names Thor, the hammer-wielding thunder god of Norse mythology, though the work is abstract rather than a figure. The Regional Arts & Culture Council, which administers the piece, describes it as an excellent example of Schuler's hammered-copper-on-carved-redwood method. It stands beside the Mimir sculpture by Keith Jellum, another Norse god on the same transit mall.

Thor stands at the corner of Southwest 6th Avenue and Southwest Taylor Street on the Portland Transit Mall, so it is seen on foot while walking the mall blocks. It was moved here from its earlier spot on Southwest 5th Avenue between Washington and Alder. The copper surface is best read up close, where the hammered facets catch the light.

Thor was first installed at Southwest 5th Avenue between Washington and Alder before being moved to its present corner at Southwest 6th Avenue and Taylor Street. The relocation means long-time riders on the Transit Mall may remember it from a different block.