New mural brings splashes of color to Blair Avenue

Blair Avenue has a new pop of color. Two Poulsbo artists, Josh Fisher and Cory Bennett, visited Friday Harbor during the first week of August to paint a new mural on the empty wall next to Earth Box.

The artists wanted to integrate the community into the mural, inviting children on the island to put their handprints and art on the 235-foot wall.

Laura Saccio, the owner of Earthbox Inn and Spa, was also consulted on the process of the project, as she is the owner of the wall. She enthusiastically said of the artists’ community inclusion, “It really puts community ownership into this space.”

Town Administrator Duncan Wilson said that the mural has been a long time coming. Saccio, who has owned the property for 18 years, said that she was approached by an artist about eight years ago who asked if they could utilize the space.

“They saw it as a great canvas,” she said.

While it didn’t happen with that artist, the Friday Harbor Arts Commission agreed to fill the blank space with art and the town had kept the project on its radar ever since. The plan finally began rolling after the art commission put out a request for mural proposals, Wilson said. The request for proposals was announced twice before the town finally found some potential artists, he said.

“We got lots of proposals from both on-island and off-island artists,” Wilson said. The commission reviewed many sketches, but after seeing what Fisher and Bennett had to offer, the commission decided they were the best fit.

As frequent visitors of the islands, both Fisher and Bennett were elated to be offered the opportunity.

“We wanted to show what we love about this place. Having visited a couple of times with my family we were excited to go,” said Bennett. “Cory and I are two fathers. We love community and we love art.”

Both artists have both been actively working as artists for about a decade.

Being fathers, they said that children inspire much of their artwork, which is what led them to want to include the children in the community in the creation of the mural.

“We wanted to show them that their art is something to be valued and their perspective matters,” Bennett said.

Josh Fisher works at an architecture firm, said Bennett. They admire who he is inspired by the natural land and he doodles all the time with his kids, they said.

Color as therapy is another one of their muses. Utilizing the way a particular color can influence one’s mood, they wanted to bring in bright colors to the wall to add a pop of cheer.

“I was really pleased with the whole process and I’m delighted with the mural,” said Saccio. “People driving by say, ‘Hey my grandkids helped paint that wall!’”

In order to prevent tagging, there will be security cameras installed by the mural to preserve the art, said Saccio.

The artists said they enjoyed their experience while working on the mural.

“We want to express our gratitude for the town and the community,” Bennett said. “We love to use art to turn places we live and visit to represent what we love about it. We are honored to be here and to help the community.”