A Mural Depicting Groundbreaking Women in Portland History Has Been Defaced

The property owner says he will get it cleaned up.

Someone has defaced the Women Making History in Portland mural.

The mural, located at 2335 North Clark Ave., was painted in 2007 by the artist Robin Corbo. It is 18 feet high and 60 feet long and features women who've made significant contributions to the life of this city.

Other Words Women's Books and Resources organized efforts to erect the mural, which is owned by the City of Portland and in Regional Arts & Culture Council collection.

As of at least today, the mural is covered in graffiti.

Peggy Kendellen, Regional Arts & Culture Council public art manager, says it's the responsibility of property owners to address vandalism on murals, though RACC can connect the property owner to the correct people.

The building is occupied by Advanced M&D Sales, Inc., a flooring business. Both the building and business are owned by Stan Herman.

Herman says he first noticed the graffiti a couple of days ago.

"I have some friends in the system and I'll call them up and get it cleaned up," he says. "It's not a big deal. We gotta do what we gotta do. It just happens."

Kendellen says the mural could need repainting.

"The mural probably didn't have any anti-graffiti coating on it, so it might need to have some repainting," she says, noting that one of Corbo's murals was vandalized last year, and she had to go back to do more work on it.

Kendellen says that back in 2007, when the mural was painted, the incidents of graffiti on murals was very low and has seen more of an uptick lately.

"I have seen murals getting tagged more often in the last few years," she says. "It's really unfortunate that it happened."

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