Rendering of the exterior of the southeast-facing exterior on Grand Ave. and the northwest-facing entrance. (Image provided by Scott Edwards Architecture)
The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC), in partnership with Multnomah County, invites artists or artist teams to submit qualifications for two site-specific exterior murals at the future Sobering & Crisis Stabilization Center, located at 440 SE Stephens St., Portland, OR.
This opportunity is part of Multnomah County’s Percent for Art Program and is approximately a total of $140,000 – $150,000 for both murals. This project is located at a highly visible and socially complex site. The Sobering & Crisis Stabilization Center serves individuals experiencing behavioral health and substance-related crises. The exterior artwork will play an important role in shaping a sense of care, dignity, and public perception of the space. Artists are asked to approach this opportunity with sensitivity, awareness, and a trauma-informed lens. The deadline for submissions will be Wednesday, August 19, 11:59 PM.
Timeline
- July 24 2026: Call Opens
- August 19, 2026: Call Closes
- August – October 2026: Panel Review, Interviews, and Artist Selection
About the Sobering & Crisis Stabilization Center
Multnomah County is developing a new 24/7 Sobering & Crisis Stabilization Center, scheduled to open in Fall 2027. Located in Portland’s Central Eastside, the center will help fill a critical gap in care that has existed since the closure of the previous sobering center in 2019.
The project includes the renovation of an approximately 25,000-square-foot facility, designed by Scott Edwards Architecture and constructed by Fortis Construction.The facility is designed to provide deflection, sobering, withdrawal management, medication assisted treatment, and crisis stabilization services, supporting individuals in accessing pathways toward stabilization, care, and recovery. By offering an alternative to jails and emergency rooms, the center plays an essential role in a more humane and effective behavioral health response by offering a community-centered response to crisis care. The artwork plays a role in aligning to this broader public vision.
Art Opportunity
Exterior Murals (2 Sites)
This call focuses on two exterior mural locations that will serve as highly visible public-facing elements of the building.
- Mural #1 – SE Grand Exterior Is a A large-scale mural facing SE Grand Avenue, one of the site’s most prominent and high-traffic corridors. The mural composition on this elevation will begin at approximately 14 feet 2 inches above grade, aligning with the building’s canopy on the north wall. Artists should consider this as the starting point for the mural when developing concepts and compositions.
- Mural #2 – NW Corner Entrance A smaller mural located at the building’s northwest corner near an entrance point. There will be a canopy installed here. The mural composition on this elevation will begin at approximately 10 feet 2 inches above grade, aligning with the building’s canopy. This wall is highly visible to cars heading over the bridge.
These murals will contribute to the building’s identity and presence within the neighborhood, serving as a visual threshold between public space and a place of care, dignity, and transition.
Note: Artists or teams applying are encouraged to specify which site they would prefer, or both.
Community Engagement Process
Selected artist(s) will be expected to incorporate a community engagement component into their design process. This may include gathering perspectives, ideas, and feedback from community members, stakeholders, and individuals with lived experience connected to the center.
Engagement approaches should be thoughtful, accessible, and appropriate to the context of the site, and may include small group conversations, or potentially art activities/workshops developed in coordination with the project team.
Engagement efforts should meaningfully inform the direction of the artwork. The goal of this process is not to reach consensus, but to inform the direction of the artwork in a way that reflects community presence, dignity, and shared experience.
Site Visibility & Traffic Considerations (SE Grand Exterior)
Due to the mural’s location along SE Grand Avenue – a high-traffic corridor – artists must consider how the artwork will be experienced by drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians.
Artwork should maintain a strong visual presence without creating excessive visual complexity, optical illusion, or movement-based effects, optical effects, or elements that may distract or interfere with roadway safety. The final design will be reviewed with consideration of its impact on the surrounding traffic environment. Artists should demonstrate awareness of how scale, contrast, and composition function within a fast-moving visual environment.
Selected artist(s) will be expected to participate, as appropriate, in project-related communications, including contributing to public updates as coordinated by Multnomah County and RACC.
Project Goals
Artists are encouraged to develop artwork concepts that align with the goals below. Work considered may include imagery that is abstract, representational, or hybrid of both, but should clearly support the environment and community context, allowing for open interpretation rather than overly prescriptive narratives.
Selected artwork should:
- Reflect community-informed perspectives and lived experiences
- Support a welcoming, calm, respectful, and non-stigmatizing environment
- Reflect themes of care, dignity, recovery, and humanity
- Be appropriate for a site serving individuals in vulnerable or transitional moments
- Contribute positively to the public-facing identity of the facility
- Integrate thoughtfully with the architecture, scale, and urban context
- Artists should balance strong visual identity with sensitivity to the emotional and functional context of the site.
No single artwork is expected to represent all experiences. The selection panel values thoughtful, grounded artistic approaches over literal representation.
Trauma-Informed Approach
A trauma-informed approach is central to this project. The artwork does not need to be simplistic, it can be visually compelling and conceptually strong while remaining emotionally accessible.
Artists should consider:
- Emotional safety and visual grounding
- Composition, scale, and imagery appropriate for high-sensitivity environments
- Cultural sensitivity and inclusivity
- Creating work that supports calm, stability, reflection, and a sense of dignity
- Awareness of impact of imagery, scale, and visual intensity
Individual Wall Budgets and Dimensions
Mural #1 – SE Grand Exterior: $75,000
Links to photos/video of texture, walking perspective
- South side: 302 sq ft
- East side: 773 sq ft
- TOTAL: 1,075 sq ft
Mural #2 – NW Corner Entrance: $65,000 – $75,000
Links to photos/video of texture, walking perspective
- 2 North-facing sides: 716 sq ft (310 sq ft and 406 sq ft)
- West-facing side: 761 sq ft
- NW Corner (North + West) TOTAL: 1,477 sq ft
Budgets are inclusive of all project-related costs, including:
- Artist fees
- Design development
- Materials and fabrication
- Installation
- Site coordination and safety planning
Artists should account for all costs associated with community engagement, design development, fabrication, and installation within the proposed budget.
Due to the complexity and visibility of the site—particularly along SE Grand Avenue, safety planning and coordination are critical components of this project.
Artist Eligibility
This opportunity is open to artists or artist teams with expertise creating murals on multi-floor elevations and challenging locations. Artists who have experiences with houselessness, substance and/or mental health challenges will be prioritized.
Artists should demonstrate:
- Experience creating large-scale or public-facing work
- Ability to navigate complex site conditions and installation requirements
- A trauma-informed approach to artmaking
- Experience with or openness to community-engaged or participatory art processes
Artists must demonstrate the capacity to work within a highly visible, publicly scrutinized, and operationally complex site. Artists located in Oregon and Washington are eligible. Artists who have a connection to the Portland region and Multnomah County are strongly encouraged to apply.
Selection Process
Applications will be reviewed by an Artist Selection Panel composed of artists, community members, and project stakeholders, with guidance from RACC staff.
The panel will:
- Develop project goals and evaluation criteria
- Review applications and select semifinalists
- Conduct interviews
- Select artist(s) for each mural site
Panelists will apply an equity-centered lens throughout the process. Evaluation will consider both artistic excellence and the artist’s approach to community engagement, site responsiveness, and trauma-informed practice.
How to Apply
All application materials must be submitted through the RACC Opportunity Portal, an online application system. Applicants will need to create an account, or log into their existing account at racc.smapply.org. If you are applying as a team, please assign one person to apply and be the contact on behalf of the team.
For first-time users of the portal, view a brief video learning how to register here.
Application Materials
- Statement of Interest Based on the information given, please address the following:
- Interest in the project and connection to its mission and values
- Which site/s you are interested in
- Approach to trauma-informed design
- Relevant experience with similar projects
- Approach to community engagement and how it may inform your design process
- If you’re working as a team, describe how you anticipate working together
There are two options in submitting these responses:
-
- Written Statement: 3000 characters or less
- Oral Statement: Upload a video/voice recording no longer than 2 minutes
- Resume/CV
- Up to 8 Work Samples: These images are the primary way the quality of your art work is evaluated. Provide no more than two images per artwork. For each artwork, please provide title, year produced, budget, media, dimensions, location. Conceptual information is desirable but not required.
Timeline
- July 24 2026: Call Opens
- August 19, 2026: Call Closes
- August – October 2026: Panel Review, Interviews, and Artist Selection
Informational Session
Recording coming soon. Check back in the coming weeks
Questions & Accessibility
For questions or application support, please contact:
Mario Mesquita Director of Advocacy & Engagement | Project Manager
Regional Arts & Culture Council
mmesquita@racc.org
Interpretation and translation services are available upon request, please email info@racc.org.
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