VANCOUVER WATERFRONT WELCOMES VIBRANT NEW MURAL
VANCOUVER, WASHINGTON
In August of 2024, muralists Jeremy Nichols and Hayden Senter worked two-stories above the skyline in Vancouver, Washington collaborating on their latest public art mural. This beautiful piece covers the corner of the new Port of Vancouver’s Terminal 1 development at 330 W Columbia Way, which is part of the re-envisioning of Vancouver’s waterfront.
This project was long in the making. In 2022, PSAA began consulting with the Lincoln Property Company (LPC) team regarding site artwork for the two new mixed-use buildings. The idea was to include wall murals, artistic wayfinding, rotating gallery space, and more. In the end, LPC reserved two prominent walls on both buildings for hand-painted murals. Other cool features of this site include a public boardwalk, green space, public seating, historic boardwalk, and bike/walking paths along the waterfron
PSAA provided LPC consultation on the proposal process and helped spread the message about the open RFQ. PSAA applied with 3 teams, and the winning concept from Jeremy Nichols and Hayden Senter was selected for Mural 1, which now graces the NE corner of Cascade & Columbia Streets. The artists worked with Star Rentals Vancouver and Robertson & Olson Construction to navigate around this active construction site in a challenging spot over an awning.
Photo courtesy of the artists.
Photo courtesy of the artists.
“We wanted to create a mural that grabs the viewers attention, sparks curiosity, and brings the community together to start a conversation. We went into this knowing that our imagery needed to represent the area's history, culture, geography, nature, industry, and growth. The mural needed to be able to tell stories in a subtle manner in order to leave room for people to discover something new from their own perspective.” – Artists Jeremy Nichols and Hayden Senter
Starting with the background of the mural, Hayden and Jeremy chose a color that would compliment the surrounding architecture and give a natural, fluid feeling. The use of large graphic rain drops helps break up the composition and adds to that rainy feeling of the Pacific Northwest. The background depicts a darker blue organic graphic, which not only provides the mural with natural movement, but also a graphical rendering of the Columbia River from a topographical map. The lines are also a nod to the Hispanic population, who were some of the the first to create in-depth topography and scientific studies of Washington State.
In the center of the east facing wall, is a giant Purple Martin bird. The Port of Vancouver has worked with the nearby Ridgefield Wild National Refugee to increase their nesting grounds at the Columbia River Wetlands Mitigation Bank to increase the population of this rare migratory bird.
The use of tall grass throughout the mural represents these essential Vancouver wetlands and the Port’s Habitat Enhancement Program. The depiction of the Purple Martin represents the growth of Vancouver and its sustainable-minded approach to future community-building.
Above the Martin is a floating black beaver hat. This hat is a subtle representation of the fur trade, and the Hudson Bay Co’s. beaver hats, that were an essential part of men's fashion and were extremely valuable. Hudson Bay Company, who occupied the Fort of Vancouver for a time, was an important contributor to the fur trade and played a large role in the port's establishment and relationship with Asia.
The North facing wall features flora and fauna to tell Vancouver's story. The cherry blossom blooms in the upper right corner reference the 100 cherry trees Japan gifted to the City of Vancouver to commemorate Washington's 100th anniversary of statehood.
The purple Camas flowers that appear on both panels are a subtle nod to the indigenous tribal communities. The flowers reference the Native American story of Grandma Camus, who in order to save her family and community from starvation, transformed into camas bulbs. Camas are native flower species to Washington and were a food source for Native tribes for several generations. Before sugar was introduced, roasted camas flowers were used to sweeten other food. Lastly, sitting atop an old pier log is the American goldfinch, Washington’s state bird
The remainder of the images are representative of the industry and the port itself in more of a literal way. At the corner of the wall the artists used a large RxR sign to represent the BNSF train yards/Amtrak across the way.
Down the street from the mural site is a large cannery and metal scraping plant represented by two rustic looking cans. These images were included to represent what existed at the site before the new waterfront. Other design elements honoring the site's history include pier logs and red nautical rope that weaves through both panels of the mural, tying the panels together.
RIBBON CUTTING
Muralists Hayden Senter and Jeremy Nichols.
Ribbon Cutting Ceremony.
On Thursday September 19, 2024, a well-attended ribbon cutting ceremony was held at the new Terminal 1 development in Vancouver, Washington. The celebration included the artists and principles for the project.
Muralists Jeremy Nichols and Hayden Senter.
“PSAA was excited to partner with the Port of Vancouver and Lincoln Property Company on this new piece of public art at Vancouver’s waterfront district. Being on the planning team for this project gave us an early understanding of what the goals were for the artwork and site flow. Muralists Jeremy Nichols and Hayden Senter were a perfect fit to blend this site's unique history and geography. We always love an opportunity to blend nature and industry, and the artists did this masterfully well.” – Tiffany Conklin, Executive Director, PSAA
“When considering the Terminal 1 development and how it would find its place on the Vancouver Waterfront, we knew that we would need to adopt an aesthetic that provided individualism as well as a critical tie to the important stories of the area. The Port of Vancouver site, rich with history of commerce and connection to the river, needed artwork that reflects those themes and the prominence of the development. We love the boldness and color that Hayden and Jeremy's mural brings to our building at a critical and visible intersection. We are proud to have such an original piece showcasing our building and hope that it brings joy to the waterfront community.” – Aaron Van Dyke, Senior Vice President, Lincoln Property Company
ADDITIONAL PHOTOS
