Desperate for safety, Portlanders flock to artist’s slow down signs

Snail, sloth and turtle want you to slow down.
(Mike Bennett Art)

A north Portland artist has tapped into the wild popularity of safe streets with a series of whimsical “slow down signs”.

Mike Bennett is a visual artist who spent his pandemic year creating a zoo full of characters and placing cut-outs of them in his front yard in the Mississippi neighborhood. He’s also behind the “Planetary Promenade” installations you can find up and down Mississippi Avenue.

Wow!!! @MikeBennettArt is the best thing in Portland no question. People love him. Unreal turnout. https://t.co/L9iBRsRV4k pic.twitter.com/puBxBPC2tp

— Sam Balto (@CoachBalto) April 9, 2021

Now he’s turned some of his beloved characters into safe streets ambassadors.

After teasing images of the signs on his Instagram page last week, Bennett gave away 75 slow down sign cutouts for free to an enthusiastic crowd in northeast Portland today.

If you missed the giveaway, the yard signs are available for just $30 a piece at ShirtNerdery.com.

Portland is full of people who want safer streets. When the City of Portland offered “20 is Plenty” yard signs as part of a Vision Zero campaign in 2018, they had trouble keeping up with demand. Now they have a website where folks can request them.

In 2020, PBOT says they handed out 629 signs citywide.

Bennett might be onto something here. With an increase in speeding since pandemic lockdowns began last year and a lack of speeding enforcement, designer yard signs might become the hot summer must-have.

— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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