Never Look Away

Never Look Away is a mural in Portland, Oregon. Description Never Look Away is a mural of eight LGBT activists, installed at the intersection of Northwest Broadway and Couch Street near the North Park Blocks in northwest Portland's Pearl District. Depicted Oregonians include Rupert Kinnard, an openly gay African-American cartoonist who created the first African-American LGBT comic strip characters; David Martinez, a founding board member of the Q Center and a co-founder of Portland Latino Gay Pride (now called PDX Latinx Pride); and activist and musician Kathleen Saadat. Other national figures include gay liberation activist Marsha P. Johnson and transgender rights advocate Angelica Ross. According to Claudia Meza of Oregon Public Broadcasting, the mural is the "first public art project in the state dedicated to LGBTQ+ community achievements and progress". KOIN's Emily Burris said the mural is the city's first "dedicated to queer heroes". She wrote, "The mural is made up of colorful abstracts representing the struggle, growth and progress in a city known for its progressive policy, while acknowledging the work still to be done." The mural is approximately three stories tall and wide, according to lead artist and producer Cassandra Swan. History Zoe Piliafas met Oregon LGBT rights activist Kathleen Saadat at a bar six years before the mural's installation. Piliafas has recalled: