Two blocks down the hill from Montgomery Park — in the heart of the Guild’s Lake Industrial Sanctuary — lies a sprawling complex of World War II vintage buildings formerly home to Northwest Marine Ironworks. In its 1970s heyday, NWMIW was a 100 million dollar company that machined parts for the maritime industry and some of the world's largest public works projects, including the Aswan Dam, Bonneville Dam and Portland's own Steel Bridge.

Hand-crafted wooden patterns for some of these parts are still displayed on the premises. NWMIW went belly up in the late 1980s and the vacant and decaying complex would have been bulldozed into oblivion if it weren’t for Ken Unkeles, who transformed the site into 80 artist studios. “NW Marine Art Works” is now home to a thriving community of over 100 artists and makers.