Murals... when I saw this topic, I thought, hmmm...could be very interesting as I've seen their popularity grow over the years. It seems they have the graffati artists' respect as most often the murals are left untouched in the Portland area. Less graffiti, more murals is a good thing is my book.
Today is the first day that the blue of the skies can be seen as forest fire smoke has dominated of late with its grey-white haze. But with the smoke still wafting about in the mountains, I thought it would be fun to visit murals. Turns out that the 'net has a number of "Portland murals maps" and this one gave me some ideas:
Murals in Portland | Street Art Map & Artists | FindMASA
It gave me a nice circular route that I followed:
At the site, you can click on the circles and it will show the mural, the address, a few details about the artist. I made a list of 15 different ones and typed out their addresses. After finishing a quick errand (appropriately to pick up some spray paint), I began my route, starting off with...
Too bad they covered up the elephant's head with the silly banner.
It was fun to plug in the next address, then try to remember the route as I don't have a cell phone holder on the bike. Very scavenger-hunt like. I would also find others too good to pass up on the way to the one I was looking for:
NE Portland is known for having a lively African-American culture and many of the murals reflect that:
Prince!
This one must have been done awhile ago, as the internet photo shows how it looked orginally
The internet site gives the name of the artist, and you can select his/her name and then it shows you other murals done by the same artist.
Jackie Robinson
Such amazing art work to be completed on the side of a building with weeds overgrowing the path next to the mural:
Looking from the street, in
There were 100s of murals that I passed up and it was hard to exlcude some because they were really well done. There were some murals with strong political messages that I'll not upload to respect forum rules, but again, very well done and thought provoking.
But I couldn't leave out the Pink Panther
Cycling, motorcycling...both are are great two wheel travel!
I found the first 9 or 10 murals w/out issues, but then I searched for a few that had been painted over and others that I simply couldn't find. But it was quite fun, and the route took me through areas I otherwise have no good reason to visit. There were so many interesting food places where I could have stopped for lunch, but I was drawn on by more murals...
And with the temps rising and nearly 3 hours of mural hunting, I was starting to feel a little burned out just as one does when looking at museum paintings and sculptures for too long. Still...ride on for a few more!
Perhaps my favorite...right among many sad-looking homeless and the down-and-out lving in the streets.
And time to head home after one last one
Portland is divided north to south by the Willamette River, which runs into the Columbia. All these murals are found on the east side of the Willamette. There are hundreds more on the west side, the downtown area of Portland...maybe for another day.
Great stuff and thanks for sharing the moments. David
