Beauty in the Streets: Tour the Everett Graffiti Renaissance
In the time of Covid-19 folks are rethinking their cities. What’s the purpose of a public place? Or an office? What brings people together in urban areas?
In Everett, Washington there is a renaissance in street art happening now. In the month of August, 16 new murals popped up virtually overnight in the streets and alleys of this coastal community next to the Salish Sea.
The three-day Grill & Chill graffiti project in Everett drew 47 artists from Washington and from places as far away as Illinois, Arizona, Texas, Oregon and California.
Across town, the Delta Neighborhood in the east side of the Everett has seen almost a dozen newly-commissioned murals during the past couple of months – all of them created by local artists.
New works of cultural street art include:
-A stunning photorealistic portrait of the late police-shooting victim Brionna Taylor, as painted on the back of the Black-owned restaurant Grandma’s in Da Kitchen.
-Cartoon Inuit people roasting salmon in the Delta Neighborhood.
-A large orca jumping in front of Mount Rainier in a side alley between of Everett Avenue and California Street.
This year, as group events have been cancelled or moved into virtual realms due to Coronavirus, local artists still come together, at a distance, to create beauty in the streets.
Interested in catching all the murals? Maps are available at JAG Artworks in downtown Everett.
Or, better yet, just spend a weekend in downtown Everett, wandering around and exploring for yourself. Grab a beer and look up and down the alleys and streets of this highly walkable city. You’ll be surprised and delighted by the splashes of color that you see.
