As southbound drivers approach Exit 252 on Interstate Highway 5, they may catch a glimpse of a towering mural on the side of The Jake Apartments.
Titled “Kelp Forest,” the 85-foot-tall mural depicts a lush underwater ecosystem spanning across the base of the building and rising to the top, where a small kayaker rows along above the expansive sea.
This is one of several murals recently painted on apartment buildings in Bellingham.
The artist of “Kelp Forest,” Gretchen Leggitt, has contributed to several of these projects, such as the murals on the side of Velo Apartments and the Laurel Forest apartment building. In 2018, Leggitt took a leave of absence from her job as an art teacher to paint the largest mural in Washington on the side of the Encogen building in Bellingham.
It was only the third mural Leggitt had painted, but something stood out that she hadn’t experienced at gallery and coffee shop art shows before.
“While I was painting them, I was experiencing a unique thing that I had never known in the art world, and that was positive feedback from the community,” Leggitt said. “For the first time with these public arts projects, I realized that it wasn't just me sharing my voice, but my creative voice was transforming a place.”
Leggitt started receiving requests for murals from local businesses. She began painting five to six murals a summer for a few years until she used her position to give opportunities to other emerging muralists in Bellingham.
Leggitt compiled a directory of local artists for businesses inquiring about murals. Not long after, Leggitt and co-founder Nick Hartridge started the Noisy Water Mural Festival, a yearly public art contest in Bellingham.
Leggitt has now painted over 20 murals in Bellingham. Parents tell her they bring their kids to check up on the murals. Others have said that the art makes their walks to work better. People have told her that her murals have turned buildings that were once an eyesore into a source of joy, according to Leggitt.
Another of Leggitt’s projects was a collaboration with local artist Jason LaClair. The two have now worked on three projects together, including “Salmon Run,” the mural that stretches along North Forest Street.
Their third collaboration, a mural titled “Salmon Woman,” was one of three murals funded by Opportunity Council to go up at the Laurel Forest apartment building.
The Opportunity Council selected muralists via a call for artists earlier this year and funded the projects, two murals on either side of the Laurel Forest apartments, and one in the interior lobby.
“[Opportunity Council] had people painting while people were also moving in, so I think there was a sense of invested community interest in the project,” said Turner Campbell, assistant housing developer of the Opportunity Council. “I got a lot of feedback from our property management team saying that the residents were really enjoying that activity and the product.”
Opportunity Council has plans for a few mural projects, including multiple murals on an affordable housing building going up near Bellis Fair Mall, a mural on the Opportunity Council building at 1111 Cornwall Ave., and a refurbishment project that has been halted because they have been unable to find the original artist of a mural at 1419 Cornwall Ave.
Although Bellingham’s mural uptick is recent, Toppenish, the “City of Murals,” has nearly 35 years of mural history. The city has amassed 80 murals depicting scenes based on historical events of the town and surrounding Yakima Indian Reservation.
Starting in 1989, the Toppenish Mural Society would host a “Mural-In-ADay” event every year. Beginning around 8 a.m., one lead artist and anywhere from 12 to upwards of 20 artists would collaborate to paint a mural. By 5 p.m., the mural would be finished. The events would bring in hundreds of viewers,” said Toppenish Mural Society President Janet Mayer.
“[The community] made a big deal of it. People would sit on bleachers and watch,” Mayer said. “This event became a tourist event, not just the community coming out, but other people learned about it.”
In 2018, the “Mural-In-A-Day” event was canceled after the Mural Society lost members. New members joined in 2020, but the event’s return was sidelined due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
After the pandemic, Mayer and the Mural Society have been touching up old murals and covering them in a protective sealant. They also started a project to compile pictures and the stories behind all the murals in Toppenish on the Ottocast App. This effort will help preserve the history of the city’s art.
Similar to the art found in Toppenish, Bellingham’s newer murals have already touched community members, both Leggitt and Campbell noted.
“What things like murals do, and other pieces of public art do, is they help define a sense of individuality and unique character and culture,” Leggitt said. “They give our community a sense of heart.”
Milo Whitman (he/him) is a campus reporter for The Front and is planning to major in journalism and minor in film studies. He enjoys playing music, watching movies and sports. You can contact him at milowhitman.thefront@gmail.com.
