Women’s Shelter Mural
In May 2016, Multnomah County and Our Just Future set out to open a women’s shelter in east Multnomah County to accommodate the rising number of houseless women. A temporary shelter was about to close, so an abbreviated design and construction schedule was necessary to seamlessly transition residents of the temporary shelter into the new one.
Safe Shelter in Gresham
Holst completed the design and permitting for The Gresham Women’s Shelter in just eight weeks, a renovation of a 1969 single-story office building on East Burnside Street in Gresham, Oregon. The scope of the renovations included space for 90 beds, accessibility upgrades, four new showers, a new warming kitchen, renovated restrooms, new laundry facilities, and new and repaired interior finishes. The extent of the interior renovations left no room in the budget to update the drab exterior. The building needed a more positive presence for its neighbors and daily commuters alike, given the site’s adjacency to a bustling MAX Light Rail station and high-traffic intersection; thus, the idea of a mural came about.
Creating the Mural
A small project team set out with three parameters for the mural: it had to be simple enough for a group of volunteers to execute, be eye-catching, and wrap around the three prominent facades. Numerous configurations and roughly a half dozen color schemes were explored and presented to Our Just Future, the nonprofit managing the shelter, and Multnomah County, the shelter owners.
The result is a vibrant, beautiful mural that residents and the community can enjoy.
