Earlier this spring, on a nice sunny day, a friend of mine and I decided to track down and photograph some of the murals around Tacoma. We found LOTS of them, and only got part way through town.
All of the murals shown here were created at the request of a building owner or the City of Tacoma or some such like that.
There are many more murals around Tacoma than are shown here. There are also “traffic boxes” that the City of Tacoma has wrapped with unique and wonderful art work. So it’s likely I’ll be back out there wandering the streets in search of beauty and joy. I’ll put it on my list for a nice day this coming winter.
It’s a great, informal lunch place.
This store name reminded me of the Anne Murray song … and it’s a very attractive sign.
A mural recognizing (to the right) the Native people who lived by and on the water and depended on it for life … then (in the middle) Thea Foss who started the first commercial boat-building company in Tacoma and later named it Foss Tug … then (on the left) today’s commercial shipping industry and dockworkers, etc.
Notice the bosun’s whistle beside Thea.
My friend and I talked about how the inhabitants of this building had covered the insides of the windows with something, in order to provide privacy. I drove by there just the other day and took another look and now I realize that those windows aren’t real … they were painted on the wall. My gosh they looked real!
This was our favorite mural. Unfortunately, it was on a north-facing wall so would always be in shadow. Close-ups are below so you can see more detail. It was a wonderful representation of kids and older adults and their interactions.
Giving books to kids! I called his chair a “chairplane”.
Sharing sports equipment and musical instruments!
Helping kids be kids and sharing the fun.
Face to face with a ubiquitous Pacific Northwest banana slug … and face to face with wonder.
Notice Mount Rainier behind the salmon.
This mural was painted on an 8-10 foot high wall. The names of four of the five artists are painted to the left and right of the bear head.
This was my favoritest favorite. 🙂
These are all WONDERFUL! What a great idea to find them. Thank you for sharing. I don’t know how you stopped except that there are so many it would have been impossible to find them all in one trip. Hope you go back!
Ha! We stopped when we got hungry for dinner. And yet it was hard to stop even then. We’ll go back for sure. 🙂 Thanks Dawn.
Your town is really amazing. I love the murals.
I used to think Tacoma was just a big, dirty city, Ginger, but I continue to be surprised by so much that’s interesting and amazing in Tacoma or nearby. I sure hope that’s true of every other city and town.
Those are beautiful.
Glad you liked them Gene. I was very much surprised by the quality of the murals. Sure looking forward to finding more of them.
Spectacular! What a treat.
More to come Kristin! Might be a few months in the future because I have to go camping in the summer (tough duty, I know), but I will find more murals to show y’all later this year.
I’m wondering if one of the purple lettering areas might have 2 names mixed together, since I think there were 5 artists. I sure couldn’t sort ‘em out!
Maybe so. I hadn’t thought of that, Jan. On the other hand, it makes my brain hurt just trying to decipher the names that are for sure there. The last names of the five artists are: Wagoner, Keger, Zaeos, Kangoe, Karoe. Maybe a reader here has better eyesight (or a more free-wheeling brain) than you or I do. Have at it folks, are all five names on that mural? I think I see four of them, but not all five.