Stack Stalk, Public art sculpture at Eastbank Esplanade in Portland, United States

Stack Stalk is a 25-foot abstract lamp post on the Eastbank Esplanade, built of mild and stainless steel with stacked cylinders that narrow toward the top, a glass float and an electric light. Six thick rings divide the rust-brown column, which rises from a square base panel beside a concrete bridge structure.

This sculpture was developed in 2001 for the Eastbank Esplanade project as part of a city art support program. The work came from a collaboration between an artist and an architecture firm.

The Regional Arts & Culture Council, which administers the piece, states that it commemorates the river-port's hybrid nature, where eastern Oregon's agriculture met ocean-bound ships: a stalk of barley fused with a rustic smoke stack, holding a Japanese glass float aloft as a reminder of the river's link to the Pacific.

This sculpture stands right on the pedestrian walkway of Eastbank Esplanade, directly by the river and easy to reach. The lighting makes it visible in the evening and at night.

Stack Stalk was one of four works by the firm Rigga on the Eastbank Esplanade, alongside Alluvial Wall by Peter Nylen, Echo Gate by Ean Eldred and Ghost Ship by James Harrison. The piece was funded through the City of Portland Development Commission's Percent for Art program.