At the invitation of the city, artist Ashley Montague created this unique mural on the Fanno Creek Trail in downtown Tigard. This Saturday, Montague will lead a demonstration of graffiti art creation as part of Tigard's second annual Art Walk.
A closed frame shop in downtown Tigard will host an unusual demonstration this weekend: a chance to watch graffiti artists create distinctive murals in real time.
Supported by a $5,000 grant from Metro's Enterprising Places program, the event is part of a strategy by Tigard community leaders to support a livelier downtown by creating a stronger sense of place.
Six graffiti-style art panels measuring eight feet by eight feet will be created by different artists, and made available for sale or display in storefronts and vacant spaces around downtown.
The panels are funded through a district transformation grant from Metro's Enterprising Places program, which seeks to help emerging commercial districts around the region attract customers and build economic resilience.
The graffiti demonstrations, most of which will occur this Saturday, are part of the Tigard Downtown Art Walk, a 2-week festival featuring art in many downtown businesses, a juried show and a "pop up" art gallery in the former frame shop at 12260 SW Main Street from May 1 to 15.
Bigger crowds expected
The Art Walk was inaugurated last year as a strategy to attract customers downtown during a major Main Street reconstruction project, said Steve DeAngelo, president of the Tigard Downtown Alliance, a booster organization of business and property owners, residents and others interested in revitalizing the historic downtown of Washington County's third-largest city.
That reconstruction project, which was funded by a Metro allocation of federal dollars, improved sidewalks and crosswalks, replaced streetlights and added "green street" features like bioswales to Main Street.
Related: Ribbon cutting in Tigard celebrates completion of $3 million green streets project
Now that the dust has settled and downtown activity has returned, organizers hope to capitalize on the investments with a bigger Art Walk, said Elise Shearer, who chairs the Downtown Alliance committee organizing the event. She hopes for 300 to 500 attendees over the two weeks – more than double last year's attendance.
The graffiti project was inspired by a smaller project along a new section of the Fanno Creek Trail, which passes through downtown Tigard, Shearer said. To discourage tagging on a new retaining wall, the city hired urban artist Ashley Montague to create a spray-painted mural that emphasizes motion and beauty instead of vandalism.
Making a destination
There is more at stake for Tigard than art. "We're trying to make downtown a destination," Shearer said.
The downtown alliance and elected officials in the city hope that the Art Walk and related activities represent more than a reason to visit downtown Tigard once. They are seeking to use such events as a catalyst to attract repeat visitors to the area, perhaps by peeling off some of the thousands of cars that bypass downtown daily on Pacific Highway but also by getting people to come directly downtown as a place in itself.
"We all benefit when events like these happen because [they] bring more people, more shoppers, more attention," said Carine Arendes, chair of a citizen advisory committee for downtown Tigard's urban renewal area. "It's a really important component of having an active, lively urban area."
The alliance is also using a $52,000 grant from the Washington County Visitors Association to install glass float hanging baskets, new bike racks and benches throughout downtown.
Tigard Mayor John Cook praised the alliance's efforts to boost the area through events like the Art Walk.
"It's going to attract people, whether they're just driving through or read about it in the paper and say, 'There's something down there. I need to see what it is,'" Cook said.
Metro Councilor Craig Dirksen – himself a former mayor of Tigard – agreed with the need to make people more aware of what downtown Tigard has to offer.
"People in the region are so used to driving by downtown Tigard without it's noticing it's there," Dirksen said. "Once people know it's there, they'll recognize it as a valuable asset. But you need to make them aware."
Learn more about the Enterprising Places program