Artist Chosen for Hollywood Library Community Mural

Library Partners with Street Art Alliance for Artwork

Multnomah County Library (MCL) and the Portland Street Art Alliance (PSAA) are expanding their efforts to bring community-centered artwork to libraries throughout Multnomah County. This work is part of the voter-approved 2020 Library building bond which will build, rebuild or expand eight library buildings. Smaller upgrades to 11 libraries are almost complete as part of the Refresh projects, which includes the beloved and active Hollywood Library. 

The work at Hollywood Library provides smaller but still important upgrades on a shorter schedule than some other projects. Hollywood is expected to reopen in winter 2025/2026. 

Exciting new features at Hollywood Library include improved shelf height to increase natural light, create more space for people, and enhance sight lines. The library also features an inviting children’s area with movable furniture, new reading room chairs with and without arms, and a Tech Bar where patrons can use the copy machine, scanner, and computers.

Additional updates include new meeting room tables and chairs designed for flexible use, automated materials handling to speed up check-ins and sorting, fresh paint and new carpet for an updated look, new artwork, refreshed restrooms, and new LED lighting throughout the building.

Hollywood Library’s Refresh includes some physical space changes to make room for a new Automated Materials Handling area near the library entrance. This technology is much needed, since Hollywood Library processes the highest number of holds in the system. The automation will get books and other materials to patrons much more efficiently.

As a result of the physical change to the space, the library is removing a wall displaying a map of the streets referenced in Beverly Cleary’s beloved children’s books. This wall, which is not a mural or artwork, was created by the architects when Hollywood was last updated in 2002.

The wall will be replaced by a vinyl transfer mural on the vestibule glass. The project team, along with Portland Street Art Alliance (PSAA), is excited to announce an artist to reimagine the theme of the street map and create new artwork that will be an homage to Beverly Cleary and the library’s place in her world. The library and Portland Street Art Alliance are also working directly with Beverly Cleary’s estate and HarperCollins to envision this new artwork. 

Announcing muralist Kyler Martz, a sculptor and tattoo artist living and working between Portland, Oregon, and Port Townsend, Washington. His prolific career has earned international recognition through commercial projects, large-scale public installations, gallery exhibitions, and tattoo art, all deeply rooted in the history and lore of the Pacific Northwest.

Though most recognized for his work with several Fortune 100 companies, his interest lies foremost in accessible work, through public art, printmaking, and tattoos.

Beverly Cleary's work was introduced to Kyler at an important time in his early life. Having fond memories of it when he was a child, his dad began reading The Mouse and the Motorcycle to him at bedtime.

“My brother and I were so fascinated with the world of Ralph S. Mouse that we immediately checked out the sequels from the library, followed by every one of her other books,” said Kyler. “My desire to build my own worlds like that of Henry Huggins was a huge part of why I began drawing around the same time, and inspiration from Cleary's themes of anthropomorphic creatures and mischievous household pets is still clearly visible in my work today.”

When Kyler moved to Northeast Portland, one of his first stops with his dad was the Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden in Grant Park, followed by the self-guided Beverly Cleary walking tour at Hollywood Library.

As part of a deep dive into everything Beverly Cleary, Kyler took an interpretive walking tour of the Irvington neighborhood with Portland State University Cultural Geography Professor Dr. Hunter Shobe. Many adventures for Cleary’s characters took place in this historic Portland neighborhood.

The tour began at the Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden in Grant Park, where Dr. Shobe gave a brief history of Cleary’s childhood in Portland. Next was a stop at Beverly Cleary School, which Cleary attended as a child, to view their display of Cleary artifacts, including their Henry Huggins neighborhood map and copies of some of Cleary’s most cherished works. Along the way, the group, which included Kyler’s family, learned about Beverly Cleary’s childhood in Portland and what life would have been like in that era. The tour also stopped at the two homes in the neighborhood where Cleary lived as a child. 

In addition, as part of the research and design process, PSAA has obtained original paper doll illustrations and numerous physical copies of Beverly Cleary’s books to provide visual inspiration for Kyler’s original mural design that will include many of these beloved characters and places.