Portland's Public Murals—A Tale of Intrigue and Triumph

Cruise around Portland by bike, bus, or car, as you do, and you're bound to see a few murals. Share the Road by lead artist Sara Stout on Southeast Hawthorne and 43rd. Amanecer de Monarcas by Hector Hernandez on Southeast 49th at Division; the Alberta Community Mural project coordinated by Donna Guardino at the 29th Avenue alley. There are plenty more public art marvels in town, and plenty of recent installations (Multnomah Arts Center's Arts in the Heart of Community, and the Mirador mural dedication) and projects in the works now that the rules about mural legislation have changed.

It wasn't always easy to get a mural project up and running in a city that claims its dedication to the arts (and free speech, and being weird, among other things). Way back in 1998, the beginnings of a lengthy legal "conversation" focused on the difference between art and signage, and the question of who really gets a voice in public (and via public art) became the talk of the town. The Rose City sought to reduce the number of billboards, and billboard companies opposed this so vehemently that they set their sights on the sign code with a series of lawsuits focused on strict regulation. The City of Portland was actually sued by AK Media (Clear Channel), who claimed discrimination because the City exempted wall murals from usual sign regulations. The corporation argued their case of free speech violation, and the court actually agreed, noting the unconstitutionality of "discriminating between two types of free speech" (art and signage). The City's solution at the time was to regulate murals as signs with standard size and permit specifications for all to follow. Any existing mural as well as its location was grandfathered in to this legislation, also known as Ordinance 172882 (passed November 18, 1998).

You can imagine how upset the arts community was at the time (and is even now). From this "conversation," Portland Mural Defense (PMD) emerged as a group of concerned artists, muralists, and community members, to fight for the right of art and most importantly, access to avenues of public expression. "Who gets a voice in public?" asked Joanne Oleksiak, key co-founder of the impassioned group. "This query actually segued for me out of the political conversation at the time [in 2003, with the US bombing of Iraq] in which I wondered who wasn't being heard. Among the many, I realized that artists had no voice, either." The National Coalition Against Censorship, an important advocacy group, supported the group's cause, too, which greatly helped the Portland team in dealing with serious First Amendment issues.

For years, zoning and regulations and sign code were all hot topics, adding fuel to the fire. Commissioner Randy Leonard supported changing sign code in 2003. In 2004, Mayor Vera Katz worried about non-enforcement of sign code but certainly wanted to work towards a solution that encompasses all key stakeholders. More citations were issued. More artists were enraged. "It behooves the City to figure out access of public expression... giving a certain number of billboards to artists isn't the appropriate response," notes Oleksiak of the compromises on the table at the time.

Finally, Katz hosted a mural work group, and from that effort, the Public Art Mural process emerged from this discussion, which allows murals/muralists to be exempt from the sign code if their work is part of the City's public art program. The program is
to be administered by the Regional Arts and Culture Council. Once murals are selected via this new process, the artwork becomes part of the City's public art collection. Not the building. Not the wall. But the art bestowed upon the surface as canvas. All for public display and enjoyment.

This solution was considered a good one, but even more questions emerged: What about the process criteria? What actually merits good art? What conditions truly blur the lines between sign and advertisement, art and mural? And, what about private property as part of the public domain?

PMD became dedicated to arts advocacy and the free expression for muralists, and sponsored (and continues to do so!) events that brought attention to the plight. With attention from all over—a mural conference in Philadelphia and a summit in Mexico City, censorship and art was being discussed, and through these serious discussions, international collaborations were sparked. "It was an incredible experience," says Oleksiak.

Since that decision and program implementation, many murals have been installed with the RACC/City program. But then in 2006, Clear Channel popped back into the picture.

"The original 1998 case had been subject to appeals back and forth between the City and AK Media, concerning both the decision and the monetary reward. Initially, AK Media won not only the lawsuit but $1 million from the City of Portland."

"We are assaulted by visual stimuli... very little of which is public art." John Frohnmeyer stated in the Clear Channel v City of Portland October 2006 trial.

When the case was revisited, artist/activist and Portland Mural Defense member Joe Cotter was able to represent art and muralists and the Portland cause. The outcome? Signs and murals are finally to be regulated differently. From this decision, then-Commissioner Sam Adams and Mayor Potter, key members from the artist/muralist/activist coalition, the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, and the City Attorney's office, created a new program (2008)—the Original Art Murals Project. Finally winning City approval in July 2009, this new mural program offers a permit processes that our community—artists, activists, mural lovers, City officials, business owners—seems to be able to live with. PMD's dream of a "viable mural process by 2009" became a reality.

The Mirador Community Store mural (artist Gwyllm Llwydd) on Southeast Division—which received three City citations over the years—was reintroduced to the community on October 9, and serves as a symbol greater than its original artistic intention. The Multnomah Arts Center will host an Open House event with mural dedication ceremonies on November 6th. Celebrating murals is in the air. There's so much history, artistic talent, fine craftsmanship, social and political statements on view captured by so many of our City's murals. The Bishop's Barbershop mural on Northeast 28th showcases the expression of two amazing German graffiti artists; Parkrose High School's mural Horses Through History and World Cultures (at Northeast 122nd and Shaver) and is a symbol of community pride and collaboration between student and artist volunteers; the interior mural at the Ram's Head Pub on Northwest Hoyt and 23rd honors partners in "unlikely music"; another interior mural housed in the Portland Building downtown represents images from Portland's parks. And the murals list goes on. New neighborhood projects are gaining momentum. Joe Cotter has been busy at work on his latest creation at Southeast 12th and Morrison. Art on Alberta's Art Hop event slated for May 15, 2010 will be providing a community-focused murals creation project with volunteer neighbors, guiding artists, nonprofit organizations hosting murals venues, and local businesses and nonprofits supporting the work via sponsorships.

October 15th at Zaytoon on Northeast Alberta Street was the venue for this month's Art Spark event that RACC sponsors every third Thursday at a different venue. The casual event spotlights an arts organization and October offered Portland Mural Defense a time to shine. There was a raffle for various mural related books, including Robin Dunitz's new postcard collection of two dozen Portland murals in a book called Portland Walls. There was a community mural project for Art Sparkers, too, which is part of the appeal of the happy hour (it's not just networking, it's fun and informative). Each participant grabbed some crayons, a blank 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper, and a small square cut out from a larger picture to recreate that same image on the white paper. All sheets were numbered, so once the individual's fine artwork is complete, it was posted to the wall in order, and, voila! A community mural was created in fewer than two hours.

Along with the activity and displays, plenty of neighbors, art lovers, activists, artists and muralists were in attendance. Chris Haberman chatted it up with Joe Cotter. Adriene Cruz connected with Art on Alberta board members. Robin D. showed off her hot-off-the-presses publication. Joanne Olesiak raved about the Mirador mural unveiling that occurred the previous Friday night. Robin Corbo commanded attention later in the evening, asking each and every muralist introduce themselves and some of their work. It was thrilling to see so many muralists in one space and to realize that they've helped to make Portland a more colorful, rich experience for all of us who enjoy public art.

For Robin Dunitz's postcard book of 24 Portland murals, Portland Walls, email: rjdunitz@comcast.net or pick your copy up at the Portland Art Museum gift shop. Other shops around town, including McMenamins, will soon be carrying this great tour of art-around-town. The proceeds—aside from covering the printing and publications costs—will fund the further work of Portland Mural Advocates, helping to discover, document, and advocate for public art.

 
Please note: Portland Mural Defense is continuing on as Portland Mural Advocates and can be reached at their original email address: portlandmuraldefense@yahoo.com. What began as the Portland Mural Defense Fund (to support the legal battle) morphed into PMD, who remained committed to "defending the right of murals to exist for over five years". Even though the climate has changed, there is still the need to advocate for public art, Joanne insists. Hence the organization name alteration (again) as the group shifts from working on the murals book and legislation this year, to new projects like marketing the book successfully and creating a comprehensive murals map. You can certainly count on hearing more about murals in the future!

View the slideshow for more images of portland murals, or visit our Flickr gallery:

Photos © 2009 Amaren Colosi