A new mural is coming to Hillsboro’s Cultural Arts District.  

Featured on the Walnut Street facing façade of M&M Marketplace, the new mural will create a welcoming entryway at the cultural hub — celebrating its vibrancy and diversity of cultural offerings.

Li Tie, a Portland-based Chinese American artist, was selected as the muralist. His design (shown above) features people, a strong sense of family, food, culture, dance, music, and hope for a bright future.

	The center of the design celebrates a bounty of various food offerings and a gathering of people coming together around a shared meal.
	This central image is flanked by a landscape scene to the left, showing agricultural areas surrounding Hillsboro, with an uplifting and inspirational image of a female soccer player lifted up against the figure of an eagle.
	To the right, the scene is inspired by the cultural festivals hosted at M&M, a dancing couple and a flute player are surrounded by a graphic-style image of the Mayan god, Kukulkan.

The entire scene is set against a dramatic sky of the Tualatin Plains — with cloud forms producing a classical Chinese pattern representing harmony and Magnolia flowers representing prosperity. 

Work on the mural will begin in mid-August and will wrap up at the beginning of September. Community members are encouraged to stop by the Marketplace during their open hours, Friday through Sunday, to observe the painting process. 

Art Selection

The art was commissioned by the City of Hillsboro — in partnership with M&M Marketplace — as the last mural in a three-part series of improvements through the public-private partnership.

A community-based committee guided the artist selection using the Hillsboro Mural Roster and design process. The committee included the owners and vendors of M&M Marketplace, along with community stakeholders, the local arts community, and the Hillsboro Arts & Culture Council.  

Between mid-July and the beginning of August, over 250 community members provided feedback in both English and Spanish about the two proposed design concepts. The selection committee reviewed the feedback provided by the community and project logistics proposed by the two artists.

Li Tie was selected for the commission based on the overall concept of his design, which celebrates the bright aspirations of M&M Marketplace and its connection with community. 

About Artist Li Tie

Li Tie works full-time teaching, painting, and exhibiting his works. He loves working at a large scale, as it affords him the ability to express complex ideas in a community setting. Murals, for Li, are the ideal platform for sharing and communicating ideas about social and cultural issues — and the most democratic means of making art accessible to everyone.