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.