Rialto Poolroom
Portland, Oregon
Rialto Poolroom takes up two full city blocks downtown, which meant a lot of wall space and, honestly, an opportunity too good to hand to just one artist. We brought in six, each one picked to reflect the range of people who've walked through that pool hall's doors over the years, different cultures, different voices, different ways of seeing the neighborhood.
One of the six, an artist who goes by Calm, painted his own street name in a style he's known for all over Portland, blues, greens, purples, and yellows layered into geometric planes that bend and shift until the lettering barely reads as lettering anymore. It's the kind of piece people slow down for, half trying to figure out what word they're even looking at. Placed alongside the other five murals, it became part of a full outdoor art walk stretching around the building, something commuters and shoppers pass through on an ordinary Tuesday without expecting it. The six styles couldn't be more different from each other, but the color choices and layout tie the whole walk together.
Want to turn a stretch of sidewalk into something people actually stop for? Kali Grey can curate a group of artists suited to your space and manage the entire installation. Reach out and let's talk about what your walls could become.