Portlandia

Portland, Oregon, United States

Public art

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Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

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Portlandia is a hammered-copper statue by Raymond Kaskey, based on Lady Commerce from the Portland city seal, above the Fifth Avenue entrance of the Portland Building. The Portland Tribune gives her height as 34 feet 10 inches and weight as 6.5 tons. She was unveiled in 1985.

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Portlandia

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Site-level location · 45.5157° N, 122.6787° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

Portlandia is described by the Portland Tribune as the second-largest hammered-copper statue in the United States after the Statue of Liberty, yet Willamette Week reported that her sculptor's copyright keeps her off most souvenirs.

She crouches above the Fifth Avenue entrance of the Portland Building, 1120 SW 5th Avenue, the city office building designed by Michael Graves and constructed in 1982. Raymond Kaskey's figure is based on Lady Commerce from Portland's city seal. The Tribune gives her height as 34 feet 10 inches and her weight as 6.5 tons, a steel frame covered in hammered copper sheeting; Portland Monthly says she weighed nine tons.

KATU reports that Kaskey built her in Washington, D.C., and that she was put together piece by piece after arriving in Portland, floating down the Willamette River before being moved to the building. Willamette Week says she was unveiled atop it on 6 October 1985. The Tribune puts the cost at a $198,000 city commission plus a reported $100,000 in private donations; Willamette Week says Kaskey was paid $228,000 in public funds.

Willamette Week reported in 2014 that in March 1985 the city amended Kaskey's contract to transfer the copyright back to him, and that he had often threatened to sue over commercial use of her image.

The building reopened in 2020 after a two-year reconstruction. The Regional Arts & Culture Council says the statue was rededicated in 2019 and described a publicly accessible balcony for a closer look, plus a smaller 3-D-printed version at the top of the second-floor stairs. Portland Monthly wrote in March 2026 that she still crouches at the building, and the city's page says she gazes down at visitors along Fifth Avenue. KATU's 8 October 2026 anniversary report describes her above the entrance.

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WHAT TO EXPECT

The statue is mounted on the Portland Building, a city office building on SW 5th Avenue, and the city says she gazes down at visitors along Fifth Avenue. In 2020 the arts council described a public balcony and a small 3-D-printed version inside.

ACCESS

Above the Fifth Avenue entrance of the Portland Building, 1120 SW 5th Avenue, Portland, seen from the street below. A public balcony nearer the statue was described in 2020; current access to it is unclear.

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