I’m going to do something a little different today. I love piecing together articles on street art wherever I can. It’s a great way to get to know a place! I had a hunch that Portland was going to have some really cool street art, but to my surprise and slight disappointment, I didn’t find quite the density of murals that I would have needed to merit a full article.
However, as I walked around the city, I began to notice that nearly half of all public surfaces that I walked past—be they street signs, telephone poles, or brick walls—were absolutely PLASTERED in stickers. And I’m not talking about some garden-variety smiley face stickers. Each of these was custom-made, artistic, and—for the most part—completely outrageous. Seriously, viewer discretion is advised. This collection of stickers would make my childhood pastor WEEP!
I couldn’t help but start hunting for them everywhere I went. By the time I left PDX, I had a hilariously large collection of these photos. So get ready for 200+ ridiculous stickers.
There ya go! Normally, this is where I would provide a list crediting every artist that I was able to track down. Usually, I am doing this via the signatures or social media tags represented in each mural. However, in this case, I didn’t really see any of those. That’s how indie Portland is. Pretty much ALL of these stickers are completely unbranded. 😂
Nevertheless, I would still love to be able to credit as many of the artists responsible for these stickers as I can. So, if you have any information about who is responsible for all of the craziness above, please send me a message!
As raunchy as some of these stickers are, I do want to emphasize how much I really do appreciate them. Because much the same as the murals I usually cover, these stickers turn Portland into something of an open-air museum. Instead of art being vacuum sealed into a sterile museum environment, you get to see it in its true context.
Portland is notable, first and foremost, for its weirdness. And these sticker artists fucking delivered.
Although none of these stickers made me laugh quite as hard as this one I found in Minneapolis the next month.
We’re going to finish this 2-article series on Portland strong with the obvious choice. You may recognize this song from the Portlandia intro. It’s honestly such a fitting song for that show and this place.
We’re not done in Oregon though! Up next we’ll be driving eastward, over the Cascade mountain range, up to the high deserts of Oregon where we will spend some time exploring Bend and trekking the Sisters wilderness. Get your hopes up!
This place is DENSE with street art. I have a ton to show you, and I didn’t even get all of it. I mean, I doubt that I ever get 100% of this stuff, but I at least try to exhaust everything that I am aware of. But I have never knowingly left so much on the table as I did in Denver. There were lots of incredible murals that I saw out the window of a car, or when I didn’t have my camera with me, and I was never able to circle back to capture them. So as much as I have for you, this does not NEARLY cover it.