About us

Nearly 18 years ago, my husband, his business partner at the time, and myself set out to host a tattoo convention in our beautiful State of Oregon only to find out that we could only host Oregon-licensed tattoo artists. The reason being that prior to this, tattoo artists had understandably banded together to protect their trade against so-called "kitchen magicians" and "scratchers," which led to state creating the Board of Electrologists and Body Art Practitioners which now governs tattoo artists and piercers here in the State of Oregon. 

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That year, we were able to host a tattoo convention for Oregon-licensed artists only and it was a smashing success. Encouraged by the artist's absolute enjoyment of Oregon Ink and that weekend of being together with colleagues, sharing tips and tricks and in general creating amazing art together -- as well as everyone telling us how much they wished for change but didn't have the wherewithal to start the long and tedious legal process -- we decided to battle the then HOLA (now the HLO) to prove to them that the creation of a temporary tattoo license would not only be beneficial to the tattoo industry itself  but would be an economic benefit to the State of Oregon as a whole. Due to our dogged efforts in lobbying and petitioning the State of Oregon, a bill was passed in 2007 which finally allowed us to be able to realize our dream of hosting an international tattoo convention in Oregon: the 1st Annual Portland Tattoo Expo was held in October of 2008. Today, artists from all over the world can legally tattoo in Oregon by applying for and receiving the Temporary Tattoo License, and can guest spot at their friends' shops and even other tattoo conventions solely due to the hard work we put in so long ago.

The Portland Tattoo Expo is the realization of our passion project which continues to be a source of joy in our lives: creating a weekend where artists and collectors come together to create high-caliber art that empowers and heals the soul is what drives us to host this show year after year. We are now in our 14th year of hosting this event after being down two years during covid. Although it's not an invitational per se, only accomplished artists and those who wish to seriously level up their art attend our event. We are deeply honored to have been able to create such positive change in our state that everyone -- artists and lovers of tattoos --  can take advantage of and benefit from! 

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Teresita and Brandon Ingram

Promoters of the Portland Tattoo Expo

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