Apple Store Archives, 2021 by Mika Martinez

It took 2 hours for the first mural to go up. Within two days it became a collaborative memorial that brought together artists and community members as a form of collective healing and protest through art. In 2020 it was easy to find narratives that were violent and angry. The reclamation of the boarded-up Apple Store in Portland Oregon’s Pioneer (Colonizer) Square Mall became a national symbol. Described as a monumental piece, when the mural was being removed the opportunity to document how it was being preserved felt just as momentous as the artwork itself. The dismantling of the work and care that was given to each panel, each screw, and each artist was just as historical as the piece itself.