A 150-foot mural depicting salmon, sturgeon and lamprey now stretches along Railroad Avenue in downtown Oregon City, arriving just as sockeye salmon are again returning to Willamette Falls.
The mural, officially titled "The Cycle of Life," was painted by muralist Ana Gabriela over 22 days of 12-hour shifts. It runs from near the pedestrian tunnel to 6th Street, across from the SoulFlags Art Community Center, the nonprofit that commissioned the project. Tima Carlson, co-founder of SoulFlags, partnered with Ana Gabriela on the effort.
"This project has been four years in the making," Ana Gabriela wrote on Instagram on Aug. 3. "My client, SoulFlags Art Center, applied for grants three different times, and on the third try, we finally got it!"
Funding delays pushed the project back an additional year after the grant came through too late for the originally planned summer. Three assistant artists helped Ana Gabriela complete the wall, and more than 300 community members participated in a public paint-by-numbers event to lay the mural's first layers, according to Oregon City Guide.
Beyond the fish, the mural features osprey, western meadowlarks, madrone trees, camas lilies and trillium flowers. A traditional fishing platform was created in partnership with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, honoring the Tribe's connection to the waterways.
The mural's completion coincides with another milestone for the waterway. Sockeye salmon are again passing Willamette Falls in 2026, and state biologists may open a limited fishery on the Willamette and Santiam rivers later this year, NW Sportsman reported.
Oregon City School Board vice chair Heidi Blackwell flagged the mural as a community highlight during the board's July 13 meeting, listing it alongside Concerts in the Park and Movies in the Park as free summer programming while the mural was still being painted.
The mural is one of at least two new public artworks downtown this summer. The City of Oregon City confirmed a separate piece by local artist Cathy Rowe at Elevate Plaza atop the Municipal Elevator.
The new art arrives as the broader riverfront transformation picks up speed. On July 30, the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and the city announced they selected Maul Foster & Alongi as lead design consultant for the riverwalk at tumwata village, the Tribe's redevelopment of the 23-acre former Blue Heron Paper Mill site. That phase is funded with $12.5 million in Oregon State Parks dollars from Oregon Lottery revenues.
A public unveiling for "The Cycle of Life" is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 22, at 10 a.m. at SoulFlags Art Community Center, 504 Main Street, Oregon City. No RSVP is required.
