The behind-the-scenes story of Interurban's "free wall"
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Interurban's "free wall" — where wheat-paste posters, stickers and graffiti create a large-scale, living installation — has become one of Portland's most recognizable landmarks.
The big picture: What began as an act of vandalism sparked a years-long collaboration between the neighborhood cocktail bar and some of the city's prolific street artists.
- It also reflects a growing shift among Portland businesses to work with, not erase, the city's underground creatives.
Today, tourists pose in front of it. Neighbors embrace it. And artists climb through a rooftop trap door to access it.
Context: It all started in 2011. Shortly after Interurban opened, owner Dan Hart noticed that someone kept putting up wheat-paste posters on the bar's bare brick exterior wall, no matter how many times he scrubbed them off.
- Then, one night, his bar manager caught the person in the act. It was Voxx Romana, known for his pop-art-style portraits.
- But instead of busting him, Hart invited him — and a few of his friends, including Portland-based Rx Skulls, Skam and Toastoro — to take over the entire span, plus the bar's back patio.
What they're saying: "Now they come back every year or so and bring these huge pieces that normally they wouldn't be able to do anywhere else," Hart told Axios. "This gave them a complete blank slate."
- Not everyone was on board at first. Some neighbors worried the wall would invite more graffiti, but Hart spent years emailing concerned residents to explain the project, eventually winning them over.
For Voxx Romana, who prefers to remain anonymous to allow his "art to speak for itself," Interurban's "free wall" is a community builder.
- "Street art can be a powerful asset not only adding character and visual energy to a business, but also enriching public interaction," he said via an emailed statement.
Between the lines: While murals remain one of the primary ways businesses express brand identity outwardly, others are becoming more open to letting guerilla-style art inside their doors.
- At Northeast Portland sandwich shop Lottie & Zula's, overlapping wheat-paste art decorates the interior walls and layered stickers act as placemats on the tables and chairs.
Meanwhile, several prominent dive bars — like Donnie Vegas, Hungry Tiger and Crow Bar — are more famous for the rotating graffiti in the bathrooms than what's on their menus.
The bottom line: More than a decade after it began, Interurban's "free wall" is part of the bar's DNA. Voxx Romana even designed special-edition T-shirts for the bar, and Hart plans to launch an ongoing series inside displaying work to purchase from local street artists.
- "It started off like, 'Goddamn it, these guys keep f-cking up our wall,'" he said. "Then it hit critical mass, so we just went full send on it."