Overview
Address A once-overlooked service alley off NE 3rd Street, reborn in 2024 as a free open-air gallery — eleven murals by local and regional artists, open to anyone from sunrise to sunset. Hours McMinnville Reservations Q: Where is McMinnville Art Alley?
A: In the alley between NE Davis and NE Evans Streets, running between NE 3rd and NE 4th in downtown McMinnville. The alley has no street address of its own; navigation apps point to 424 NE 4th St, the Visit McMinnville office at one end.
Q: How much does it cost to visit?
A: Nothing. Art Alley is free and open to the public — no ticket, no reservation, no set entrance.
Q: When can I go?
A: Any day, sunrise to sunset. Daylight is worth planning for: the alley is narrow and the murals lose their color once the light goes.
Q: How many murals are there, and who painted them?
A: Eleven are currently featured, by Andy Phillips, Colt Bowden, Katie Daisy & Karen Eland, Atma Roshni, Murphy Phelan, Natalie Fletcher, Joel Homes, Jessilyn Brinkerhoff, Jillian Bird, Kitana Connelly, and Saiyare Refaei. Artist statements for each are on mcminnvilleartalley.com.
Q: How did Art Alley come about?
A: Andy Phillips' 'Chicken Lady' mural stood alone here from 2017. In summer 2024 the McMinnville Downtown Association won a $50,000 T-Mobile Hometown Grant, Visit McMinnville matched it with funding and project management, and the alley was transformed.
Q: What is the Alley Galley?
A: An indoor, multi-use arts space inside the Visit McMinnville offices at 424 NE 4th St. It hosts community art projects and exhibitions by local artists, and keeps regular weekday office hours rather than the alley's sunrise-to-sunset schedule.
Q: Is it worth a trip on its own?
A: It is a short walk — most visitors pair it with Third Street, which is a block away and full of tasting rooms, restaurants, and shops.
Q: Who do I contact about the murals or the space?
A: info@visitmcminnville.com, or (503) 857-0182.
For years the narrow service corridor running between NE Davis and NE Evans Streets, off NE 3rd, held exactly one piece of art: Andy Phillips’ 2017 mural of a woman with flowers in her hair, known around town as The Chicken Lady. Artists working in the shops backing onto the alley used to say the blank concrete back there ought to be covered. In the summer of 2024 it was. The McMinnville Downtown Association won a $50,000 T-Mobile Hometown Grant, Visit McMinnville matched it with cash and a project manager, and nine local and regional muralists turned a service alley into McMinnville Art Alley — an open-air gallery that is free, unlocked, and open to anyone walking past.
The murals are deliberately about this place. Colt Bowden, a McMinnville sign painter, filled a long wall with a postcard-style ‘Greetings From McMinnville,’ painted across from the town’s oldest surviving ghost sign. Katie Daisy and Karen Eland assembled a portrait of local flora and fauna — Anna’s hummingbird, Kincaid’s lupine, and the rare Fender’s Blue Butterfly. Atma Roshni gave that same butterfly its own wall. Murphy Phelan adapted his McMinnville playing-card design into a loose narrative of winemaking, UFOs, ghost stories, and Beverly Cleary. Natalie Fletcher, whose shop sits around the corner, keyed her palette to a late-summer wine country sunset. Work by Joel Homes, Jessilyn Brinkerhoff, Jillian Bird, Kitana Connelly, and Saiyare Refaei fills out the rest.
The project has since grown beyond the walls. The Alley Galley, a multi-use arts space inside the Visit McMinnville offices at 424 NE 4th St, hosts community art projects and rotating exhibitions by local artists. The alley itself asks nothing of visitors — no ticket, no hours to plan around, no gatekeeping. It is a ten-minute detour off Third Street that most people end up spending half an hour in.
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