This new ‘Salmon Run’ mural features Coast Salish artist’s work in Bellingham
Bellingham’s newest piece of public art is also its first by a Coast Salish artist, in collaboration with a well-known local muralist.
Their sweeping mural, called “The Salmon Run,” depicts orcas and salmon swimming along a 720-foot concrete wall on North Forest Street, uphill from the State Street roundabout.
“It makes the heart sing!” said Ariel Riter, who lives in the nearby Sehome neighborhood, in an email to The Bellingham Herald.
Gretchen Leggitt, who painted a Northwest mountainscape across PSE’s co-generation plant on lower Cornwall Avenue and has several other pieces of public art, is creating the mural with Jason LaClair, an artist of Lummi and Nooksack heritage who is just getting established.
“It’s more than just art,” LaClair told The Herald. “It’s a representation of the tribal community and the people of Whatcom County working together and respecting their new relationship.”
LaClair also painted a Coast Salish-style mural on the pavilion at Pioneer Park in Ferndale.
LaClair’s and Leggitt’s intent is to “bring more Coast Salish art to our streets and to encourage more opportunity for the voices, art and stories of the indigenous people of our region to be shared in public domains,” Leggitt told The Herald.
“We need more Coast Salish art in the public eye and in public spaces,” she said. “I’m learning so much about (LaClair’s) culture, his cultural heritage, and how rich it is. It’s really a huge stepping-stone for new projects.”
LaClair and Leggitt started painting Aug. 23 and plan to finish next week.
Meanwhile, drivers, cyclists and other passers-by shout words of encouragement as they work.
“We get a steady flow of honks. The community has really shown its support,” LaClair said. “When we’re working on this painting, I feel the sense of joy from the community driving by.”
And there’s a spiritual aspect to the mural for LaClair, because salmon and orca are an integral part of Coast Salish history.
“We are respecting the importance of our natural resources so that the salmon can survive for future generations,” he said. “If the salmon weren’t here, my people wouldn’t be here. The salmon promised to feed the people as long as they protected the earth and the waters.”
Shannon Taysi, a program specialist in the city’s Planning and Community Development Department, said the $20,000 project was funded through the city’s street maintenance program because the site was often targeted with graffiti.
“Its purpose is to beautify that area as well as help mitigate the frequent tagging along that stretch,” Taysi told The Herald in an email.
This story was originally published September 3, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
