Mural project in Ballard brings color to boarded up shops

A group of artists will be busy bringing murals to Ballard in the coming week.

Ballard Alliance has organized a number of the artists that will be painting up the neighborhood. Mike Stewart, director of Ballard Alliance, says that once they started seeing businesses boarding up their windows to prevent theft, the Alliance started working on a program to transform the plywood boards into community art.

“The intent of the program is to not only discourage graffiti and property damage, but to also brighten our Ballard storefronts with artwork and instill a sense of community spirit and hope during the midst of this crisis,” Stewart tells My Ballard.

There have been other artists reaching out to businesses directly to create murals— artist Josephine Rice painted the below mural at Venue, where she used to show her art.

“The goal was bright and color to cheer up the neighborhood in these odd times—to make a statement that we are not shut down, but coming back as soon as possible,” Rice tells My Ballard.

The Alliance has organized six artists to paint murals at 13 businesses, with donated paint and supplies from Cole Palea, owner of Novo Painting and Property Services.

The artists and respective businesses include:

Andrew Miller (IG- @mantisart77)

• The Market Arms
• Ballard Annex
• Tractor Tavern

Katie Kulseth (IG – @achene.eye)

• Camelion Design
• Percy & Co.
• Studio RA

Stevie Shao (IG – @stepfrae)

• The Standard Goods
• Hazlewood
• Bitterroot BBQ

Taylor Reed (IG – @tay_reed)

• KAVU

Tori Shao (IG – @torikinn)

• A&Be Bridal Shop
• Horseshoe

Nikki Frumkin (IG @drawntohighplaces)

• Ascent Outdoors

The murals will be going up in the coming days; we’ll update with photos as we can.

Featured photo: Ascent Outdoors on Instagram