DID YOU NOTICE the huge displays of art that popped up all over Portland this summer? Those murals were the work of Forest for the Trees, a not-for-profit public art project that promotes public visual expression, collaboration, and community engagement with contemporary art and the creative process via murals. In August 2013, when Forest for the Trees debuted, the organization united 17 international artists to paint 10 Portland murals.
For this year’s event, over 20 artists gathered in our city to paint 16 pieces on public walls throughout the city, aiming to bring new opportunities for local and visiting artists to share their gifts on a large scale. Portland is the perfect backdrop, already known as a creative hub and home to many talented artists.
Participating artists include locals like Blaine Fontana, Gage Hamilton, and Maryanna Hoggatt, but be sure to check out the full list of participating artists who have traveled from as far away as Brazil and Japan. You can download a map of all the locations at
forestforthetreesnw.com, as well as two bike routes (one for Northeast and one for Southeast) that will take you past the murals. Check out the city’s new ink!
People are really pissed off about Blaine Fontana’s mural on Alberta Street that says, “You are confined only by the walls you build yourself.” I hear people saying it is tone deaf to the displacement of the former Black community there. And it is as BIG AS A WALL.