The Portland Street Art Alliance has opened a second site for its Ladies Up Project, a program that provides dedicated mural walls to female, femme, and nonbinary artists in a field long dominated by men.

The new location at 135 SE Main St. in the Central Eastside Mural District features two wall spaces for rotating murals. First Tech Credit Union funded the expansion through a grant, and the Kalberer Company donated the walls. Two artists have already put paint up.

What's on the walls

Artist Ren Kyles inaugurated the site in summer 2026 with two murals titled "Rose Will Be A Rose."

In spring 2026, Indigenous artist Kitana Connelly, a member of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde with ancestral ties to the Molalla and Klickitat tribes, painted "Wetlands Spirit."

The mural features native Pacific Northwest flora surrounding an Indigenous woman spirit wearing a dentalium headdress.

How the program works

Ladies Up launched in summer 2020 at Morrison Place, 1401 SE Morrison St., with a straightforward model: rotating murals give new and emerging artists a chance to practice their craft on real walls.

PSAA selects female, femme, and nonbinary artists because those groups remain underrepresented in access to public painting space. The program added a site in Hillsboro in fall 2024, also with First Tech support.

Tiffany Conklin, who co-founded PSAA in 2012 with Board President Tomás Valladares, discussed the expansion alongside artist Kyra Watkins on OPB's "Think Out Loud" on Wednesday, July 22.

Watkins painted one of the original Ladies Up murals at Morrison Place in 2020 and now mentors foster youth in mural art. She started as a mural apprentice at age 15 in Cincinnati.

In a 2026 profile by 1001 Colors, the youth arts organization where she got her start, Watkins reflected on what access meant for her career: "Growing up, I hadn't seen anyone in my immediate circle making a living as an artist. During my years with 1001 Colors, I was surrounded by peers, project managers, and lead artists who were building real lives around their art. That perspective changed everything."

That ethos drives Ladies Up. The murals rotate periodically so new artists get wall time, building skills and visibility they might not find elsewhere.

Where to see the art

The Ladies Up murals at 135 SE Main St. are free and visible from the street. The original Morrison Place murals remain at 1401 SE Morrison St. along SE Alder Street and SE 15th Avenue. Residents interested in the program or supporting PSAA can visit pdxstreetart.org.