Total disclaimer here. I live in Vancouver, Washington. I
love the history, the vibrant community and the brightly colored murals. I
thought I had seen them all until I did a mapped mural walk with the
All Weather Walkers. What I discovered, were more murals, more local history and a
great walk on a sunny September day.
The club was set up in the parking lot across from the
Columbian Newspaper building. Of course that was my first surprise. I had never
seen the newspaper mural! A paperboy delivers his papers as a dog runs behind him. In the background is the history of the newspaper that started out
as the Vancouver Columbian.
We walked through Downtown, through Uptown, crisscrossed the
route so we wouldn’t miss one (I still did!) and returned to the starting point
via the somber Remembrance Wall chronicling the wars and contributions by
civilians on the home front. Vancouver was the site of a huge WWII shipyard.
As I walked, I realized that Vancouver is one of those
cities where you can walk around downtown feeling safe. New construction and an
influx of businesses such as brew pubs adds to the positive vibe of the city.
I looked beyond the grape vines at Cellar 55 and saw, for the
first time, a mural celebrating Columbia River life… salmon, huge sturgeon
below the water and busy barges above. I’d been to Cellar 55 but always was
inside and missed this piece of art.
I rounded another corner and, only because I had a route
map, found a delicate painting of dancers practicing at the Barre, a Degas
look-alike on the side of a building housing a dance studio.
Another find was on the side of the Leupke Florist building.
The Leupke family no longer has a flower shop there but there is good news. A
developer purchased the art deco building and plans
to revitalize the
Luepke building and the florist shop and turn the area into “Luepke Station,” a
downtown area with a coffee shop, wine bar or tap room and upscale eatery
eventually rounding out the building. A bit of Vancouver history will be saved.
My favorite murals were no surprise.
I’ve studied their detail before as I visited downtown. The Columbia River triptych at 115 W. 7th St.
Vancouver, WA has a little bit of
history, a colorful depiction of Columbia River boat traffic and a fanciful
mural of recreation on the building. What I enjoy looking at are the details…
how the artists incorporated aspects of the building like windows and pipes
into the art.
 |
| I love how the window became a bird! |
The murals continue to be painted. The Clark County Mural Society website provides
the history, a map of the murals and news on future murals and opportunities
for artists.
And it all started with a desire to
draw people to central Vancouver. The founders talked about a small town in
British Columbia, Canada which had revived its economic fortunes after the
local mill downsized by painting murals on every available downtown wall. That
town was, and is, Chemainus. Murals
have an important role in drawing people to Vancouver’s vibrant downtown and
Arts District today.
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