McMinnville Art Alley

Since 2017, Andy Phillips’ painting of a woman with flowers in her hair has been the only mural in the concrete canyon of an alley that runs between Davis and Evans streets, but now they have plenty of company.

This summer, nine local and regional muralists left their spectacular mark in the alley, thanks to an effort led by the McMinnville Downtown Association and aided by Visit McMinnville. The MDA landed a $50,000 T-Mobile grant for the project, and the tourist group matched with cash and a project manager, Olivia Rovang.

“Everyone’s been referring to it as McMinnville’s ‘art alley,’ and that’s something we decided to keep,” Rovang said. “I’m hoping it sticks with some of the signage we’re looking at.”

The artists include the sibling team of Jessilyn and Lucas Brinkerhoff and Murphy Phalen, all of Portland, Central Oregon artists Karen Eland and Katie Daisy, who have collaborated on many projects there, and locals Atma Roshni, Natalie Fletcher, Joel Holmes and Colt Bowden, the latter of whom has the single largest tableau, an 84-foot-long piece on a south-facing wall on the east end.

“For a long time, I’ve wanted to do a greetings postcard-style mural for McMinnville,” said Bowden. “The length they gave me was perfect to stretch out and do some landscape and foliage stuff on either side. I wanted to do something that was fun and helped people remember the fun things they do in McMinnville, and what they love about it.”

Each letter in “McMinnville” is filled with recognizably local images — the Spruce Goose, a UFO, farmworkers, the Mack Theater, a scene from the local Lunar New Year’s celebration, Serendipity Ice Cream, Buchanan Cellars, and others. 

Bowden was one of two artists whose mural was sufficiently large or complex enough to require assistants. The other was local art teacher Joel Holmes, who got some help on a Mandela image from his students.

“This part of town is also theirs, so bringing them into a project that is positive and beautiful seemed like an appropriate way to allow them to be a part of giving back to the community,” Holmes said. “Art plays a powerful role in dividing or bringing communities and peoples together. The hope is to achieve the latter.” 

Several pieces include celebrations of the natural world. Passersby entering from the east end are greeted by flora that include a Pacific rhododendron stem surrounded by bees and an apple branch. Next to that is a giant fiddle. This was created by the Brinkerhoff siblings.

“The left focal point that draws viewers into the alley is of me holding my fiddle, which ties into the Make Music McMinnville,” Jessilyn said. “We grew up in rural Southern Oregon as a musical and creative family, so native species, landscapes and Americana music informs our work today.”

Further down is local artist Atma Roshni’s celebration of Fender’s Blue Butterfly, which — thanks to preservation efforts — has rebounded in recent years from being placed on the endangered species list. Eland and Daisy’s contribution is a piece that also highlights local flora and fauna. Murphy, who designed a deck of McMinnville playing cards (sold at downtown shops and the McMinnville Downtown Association) to raise money for downtown twinkle lights, adapted the design from the card box for his mural.

All are selfie-friendly and Instagramable. 

“We’re wanting to create more safe public spaces downtown that people can enjoy,” said Visit McMinnville’s James Howe, who serves on the Art Alley and public art committees.  “Years down the road, when the Third Street Improvement Project is happening, those businesses are going to be using their back entrances for people to enter. Our alley is going to be a way to pull people in and encourage them to support the businesses there. That’s part of the strategy.”

An official grand opening/unveiling for the public will be held from 4-6 p.m., Friday, Sept. 6, during which most of the artists are expected to be in attendance.

David Bates (he/him) is a McMinnville writer whose work can also be found online at Artlandia.

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