The program began at Portland on the Park (PotP), located in the Historic Roosevelt Neighborhood, Roosevelt Row, greater downtown Phoenix and adjacent to Margaret T. Hance Park. It is home to 149 residences and three commercial tenants.

In 2018, the Portland on the Park Arts Program was created to connect the residents to the arts and culture community. An Arts Working Group comprised of POTP residents was created to manage the program, and an Art Fund was established in partnership with Artlink Inc. for the purposes of developing a Portland on the Park art collection curated from the Arizona artist community.