Anyone who has been in downtown Bellingham recently may have noticed the profusion of new murals that have appeared on previously plain building walls. The public art installations were orchestrated by nonprofit Paper Whale, sponsored by local businesses and painted by winners of last year’s Noisy Waters Mural Fest.
2023 Noisy Waters grand prize winner Dom Laporte and project manager Anaϊs Labrèque, who together make up the Ottawa-based Drift Mural team, came west this month to add two large murals to Bellingham’s increasingly colorful landscape. First up was a towering 30-by-24-foot building wrap on the Industrial Credit Union building on State Street, which was a $10,000 commission. Once Laporte finished with that, he moved his operation a couple blocks over to the ESO building on Railroad Avenue, where the software and research company had commissioned its own large-scale art piece.
Laporte said his experience at Noisy Waters was “dreamy,” but after sticking mainly to the waterfront for those three days of intensive art creation, he said it’s been enjoyable to visit for a month, stretch out and experience more of what Bellingham has to offer.
“Everyone has been super encouraging and nice,” he said. “We have nothing bad to say about Bellingham.”
ESO was not one of the original prize wall sponsors but local employees advocated for the corporate office to commission a piece by Laporte. The Bellingham ESO branch primarily develops products that support firefighters and EMTs, so the team chose to honor firefighters in the mural. The dynamic piece depicts area-specific elements like native fireweed flowers and Bellingham Fire Department’s Engine 1.
“I love the color palette he uses and the way he incorporates nature into these larger scenes,” said ESO developer Leigh Woody, who is also an artist. “I also feel like his work really tells a story.”
But slapping a mural on a building isn’t as simple as getting a thumbs up from the business, and that’s part of what Paper Whale does — connecting artists with sponsors, managing permits and negotiating with property owners.
“There was some reticence from the landlord and from our corporate office, but our confidence level was high going through Paper Whale,” ESO senior director of engineering Bryan Brown said.
Paper Whale brokered the location and sponsorship of three prize walls well in advance for last year’s festival winners, but Executive Director Nick Hartrich said more projects arose organically, as other businesses requested their own large outdoor art fixtures. As a result, six new pieces came to be in June, created by four artists from around North America who took the top honors in 2023.
Gallery: New murals arrive in Bellingham
In addition to Laporte’s ICU and ESO murals, Emily Beaudoin of Calgary, Canada, painted Greene’s Corner Store and Chuckanut Builders; Shogo Ota of Camano Island painted the Portal Village Mural; and Erika Rosendale of Santa Cruz, California, painted the Blackburn Office building.
“I feel like Bellingham is going through a ‘seeking inspiration’ phase,” Hartrich said. “I envision the community heading toward many more murals on walls, but people need to see it to understand it. That’s one benefit of the mural fest — it’s not just a three-day event where we galvanize 6,000 people together for a party. It’s a pay-it-forward model where ultimately residents and visitors benefit in the long term.”
Prize walls have already been secured for the 2024 Noisy Waters Mural Fest, happening Aug. 16–18. Eight international finalists have been hand-picked from a pool of nearly 200 applicants, with six runners-up set to create “exquisite portraits,” painted panels with cut-outs for selfies. The Indigiversal Collective project is back and bigger than ever — young artists from tribes across North America will collaborate on a 24-foot-tall triptych. The festival will have an upcycled fashion show, live bands and DJ sets, a maker’s market, mural tours, team-building happy hours and spray can workshops.
Paper Whale will be also leading live art and installations during the Northwest Tune-Up Festival from July 12–14.
Julia Tellman writes about civic issues and anything else that happens to cross her desk; contact her at juliatellman@cascadiadaily.com.
