Beaverton Art and Mural Trail

Two Blondes and a Redhead by Blaine Fontana

It may have come up because of looking for more information on the Trinket Trail, but we saw a thing for a mural trail:

https://content.civicplus.com/api/assets/577730dc-cbb6-4cf6-8f61-55f97e8a7902 

A Muyazaki Moment by Blaine Fontana

(I don't know if that is a joke or a typo; there are reasons to think a typo is more likely.)

Well, there were only eight mural on it, and they are pretty close by. That should be doable.

School of Outdoor Learning by Angelina Marino - Heide

It's never that simple, is it?

A Portrait of Resilience by Drew Merritt

A big part of that complexity was that I had previously gotten a Tualatin Valley Public Arts Trail Brochure. I had a print copy but there is a digital one available:

https://issuu.com/oregonstualatinvalley/docs/tualatin_valley_public_arts_trail_digital_guide 

There were some mismatches.

Ribbon by Jason Klimoski and Leslie Chang

Naturally, some of that was that there was art that was not murals.

Embrace Your Inner Light by Angela Ridgway

 But there were other things, like name differences.

Beaverton Cultural Dance by Jon Stommel and Travis Czekalski

 

This mural is listed as Rather Severe in the Tualatin Valley guide, but that is the name of the studio the artists work from.

 

Hampton Rodriguez Mural by Hampton Rodriguez

 

Two murals were listed in the Tualatin Valley guide, but were not part of the mural tour. Is that because of when they were painted? Or because they didn't have titles?

 

 
Untitled by Susan Charnquist

 

For me the saddest is one that is listed in both places, but differently.

 

 

This is either Water Lilies or the Larry Kanga's Mural, and while Larry certainly worked on it, it was completed by Sandy Kanga and Allison McClay. 

 

 

 

I can only assume he died before he could finish it, and that is sad, but also it is tucked in between two buildings, where you can't really get a good view of it, even though the business sign on the building kind of echoes it.

 

Three Creeks, One Will by Devin Laurence Field

Woo Woo by Gina Wilson

 

Anyone else get a Keith Haring vibe? 

Singing Sky by Richard Taylor

 

There were two other frustrations with my art quest.

 

Rest Note by Matt Burney

 

Rest Note is supposed to be interactive and musical (and also part of a series of four). I could not get any music.

 

 
I assume this crank is supposed to be involved, but turning it did not do anything. There was a plaque, but it did not appear to have instructions.

 

Common Threads by Addie Boswell, Van Cooley, Sara Siestreem, and Antwoine Thomas

 

Then, there was a misprint of the address for one of the murals.

 

Gather by William Schlough

 

The mural tour lists Hope for the Future by Hector Hernandez (and 15 Merlo HS students) at 12590 SW Broadway, which is where it is.

 

However, the Tualatin Valley guide lists Hernandez Mural at 2590 SW Broadway. Well, some of the artists have more than one, and there was another mural further down... I thought it was this:

 

That is one thing, there is always art that is not listed, though someone put it there and probably knows about it.

 

Also, there is unofficial art. Maybe people get inspired and create their own, even if it will not last. 

As it was, the last mural explained something for me. I had seen it before and wondered what was on the other side. The building seems to get really narrow.

First of all, there's a Chinese restaurant there, Chen's Dynasty. I always like knowing about those.

And the reason that it never seemed to fit is that having been on Farmington/Beaverton Hillsdale many times, which is where I have seen it, and Canyon/TV Highway many times, I sort of forgot Broadway existed. I have been on Broadway, but not nearly as often. 

I like exploring and I like art. If this endeavor had some frustrations, it still worked out. I am pretty good at noticing things, but this took me a few places I don't normally go.

COVID: While these are all outdoors, you will notice as you go around that the inspiration affects others, and there are some pretty cool murals indoors as well. Dos Hermanos Cafe looked worth checking out.

Accessibility: Pretty good, except that sometimes to get a good view you might stand on a railroad track for a while, or want to climb in between buildings for Water Lilies.

 

Beaverton: The Beverly the Beaver Trinket Trail

We first encountered a Beverly the Beaver Trinket Box at Ome Calli. 

What could this be? Well, the Beaverton Downtown Association has a mascot to help publicize events and local businesses and generally promote our town, which is "West of Weird."

This includes some of the businesses having boxes where visitors can take and add trinkets. Stickers are very popular.

The web site does show Beverly stickers, which seems to be the only Beverly-specific merch, though there were also some beaver keychains, not too hard to come up with in Oregon.

We spent a day visiting six boxes and adding trinkets. Some needed it more than others.

Will it increase traffic to these businesses? I don't know. It may well make visiting these businesses more fun, especially for kids. That's all right. 

COVID: There are mostly indoor boxes with businesses where you would eat. However, the 1st Dining Commons and the Wu Wei Wellness boxes are outdoors.

Accessibility: This is mostly good, but it can vary by location. 

https://downtownbeaverton.org/meet-beverly-the-beaver/ 

https://www.instagram.com/beavertondowntownassociation/ 

PDX -- Sneaky Sasquatch PDX Art Hunt

I could have done better with the Sneaky Sasquatch hunt if I'd understood it better before I started, but that's how I learned.

It's Oahu all over again.

Part of that was the limited time, with Geek Week only lasting for about one week, as the name implies. I don't know how much advance notice there was in general, but I only found out about it two days before.

I do think some of the art was already there.

It's a completely different experience from something like Follow the Crows, which has a longer time period and corporate sponsors and more publicity.

There is also less conformity, with all types of art turning up.

There were some places where the hunt overlapped.

This hunt can introduce you to local artists, but it can also introduce you to local geek-friendly businesses.

Some of the places were very nice and fun to visit. I appreciatee the interactions at the Portland Visitor Center, Bring! Barkery, the Heathman Hotel, Spaceroom Lounge, and Excalibur Comics. 

There were frustrations. One was that I did not understand that the Venderia Side Quest meant that there were trading cards in vending machines. They still would not have had any idea what Sneaky Sasquatch was at the Hawthorne Hideaway, but I could have looked for a vending machine.

Then, at one place, you had to hunt for the Sasquatch, which would get you an upgrade on your drink. I get that was to make it more fun, but it wasn't.

Also, I am not sure that this is actually the right art for Urbanite. They said it was outside, but there was a lot of art outside and this was the part that seemed closest.

They were able to direct me to the interior art exhibit by various participating artists, though that part was not so much Bigfoot-themed.

One other difference from the Crow hunt (which I will write about) is that many of the Sneaky Sasquatch displays are indoors. The nature of some of the artwork makes this necessary, but that can make for limited access.  

That includes City Hall being closed weekends and evenings; I was only able to see that one because they held him over for another week.

Many of the spots are pubs and taprooms with restricted access for minors.

It probably accomplished its purpose, but there were some adjustments. 

Probably the best way to have done it would have been to pick one section per day and visit those places -- perhaps with friends -- never trying to do too much at once.

COVID: Very indoors, so it's good to mask.

Accessibility: There were so many different locations that it can be hard to say. Most of them seemed to be pretty accessible at least for entry. How easy it was to find Sasquatch after that was another question entirely. 

https://www.geekweekpdx.com/sneaky-squatch-pdx-art-hunt

https://hoodline.com/2026/09/31-sasquatch-sculptures-invade-portland-for-geek-week-s-first-city-wide-hunt/