Tattoo conventions are not a new phenomenon, but their history goes back further than you may imagine.

“Back in England a long, long time ago, there were tattoo clubs, so people would get together and just show off their tattoos,” said Brian Wilson of Wilson Brothers Tattoo. “We didn’t really start seeing conventions in the states until I would say a little bit into the seventies, then definitely in the eighties, that’s when the national conventions started really taking place.”

But after nearly three decades as a tattoo artist, Wilson saw these grassroots gatherings start to change.

“Tattooing in general has gotten a lot more corporate, surprisingly enough, with something that is still handmade,” he said. “From supplies to the conventions themselves, you see a lot more large, corporate settings because it’s a way for people to make money.”

That may be especially true in Oregon, where the state’s restrictive licensing laws have made it much more expensive to put on a convention that artists from out of state would be able to tattoo at.

“Oregon might be one of the only states that requires a guest license besides Hawaii,” explained Olivia Britz-Wheat. “In order to come from another state and tattoo, you have to go through the state health department to get a temporary license, and you have to obtain a temporary facility license to tattoo anywhere that’s not in your shop.”

Tattooer Britz-Wheat owns Mortal Emblem and is Wilson’s collaborator for the Void Tattoo Fest. The pair has nearly 50 years of experience between them, and wanted to see the tattoo convention be put back in the hands of artists.

“The honest truth is that we have been creating this to make something we would be stoked to go to,” Wilson said.

The event over Memorial Day weekend is an invitational, each artist vetted before an invite was extended.

“Every artist is going to be super special, really thoughtful, a true professional,” said Britz-Wheat. “Not just anyone who’s willing to pay money to us gets a booth.”

The tattoo styles will run the gamut from fine line and anime to traditional and Japanese. And Britz-Wheat said they wanted not just the art offerings to be diverse, but also the tattooers themselves. “We still go to tattoo conventions and I noticed that it’s mostly still a sea of white men and that doesn’t really reflect the accurate representation of contemporary tattooing,” she said.

The three-day event will feature live tattooing from more than 150 different artists, set up in an unconventional space: the Jupiter Hotel. About 25 rooms will be set up as mini tattoo studios, each with between 2 and 4 artists, and a small ballroom will house even more tattooers.

But the Void Tattoo Fest isn’t just for folks wanting to get tattooed. One of the unique hallmarks of the event will center around education for the artists. Licensed tattooers in Oregon need 10 hours of continuing education credits to renew their license every year, and Britz-Wheat says those can be hard to come by.

“There’s very few seminars that come up because it’s up to us to put them on for our community,” she said. “So we felt like this was also a really great way to get people there continuing education credits.”

The seminars range from tax preparation for small business owners to a workshop created by Jaylind Elizi called “Skin Deep,” which focuses on how to tattoo on darker skin tones.

“[Portland] is the whitest city in America, and a lot of tattooers unfortunately don’t have that skill set,” Britz-Wheat said. “You have to be able to tattoo every single person who walks in the door, and if you don’t know how to tattoo darker skin safely, then you aren’t doing your job as a tattooer.”

But if you’re not a tattoo artist or someone who wants to get inked, there will still be plenty to do. A non-ticket market on Saturday will have a full roster of local artists and craft vendors, in addition to music, food, and even a car show.

Plus, many tattooers work in other mediums like ceramics, glass etching, vinyl toys and metal casting — all also available at the festival. And for Britz-Wheat and Wilson, that’s the whole point: to focus on the artists themselves.

“The artists aren’t just like a revenue stream for us. They’re people. They create things that are incredibly unique,” said Brian Wilson. “We want to take care of the artists and say that we appreciate them being here and share all of the coolest things that we know about the city with them.”

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/05/23/void-tattoo-festival-artist-art-portland-oregon-convention-jupiter-hotel-event/