Downtown murals mark history

With only three artists participating in this year’s Summer of Murals contest, everyone took home a check.

Friday evening, the Clark County Mural Society doled out $7,000 in prize money donated by local businesses to the three winners at the Vancouver Chamber of Commerce.

Taking the first prize of $3,000 was artist Guy Drennan, who transformed a huge wall at The Columbian newspaper office into a nostalgic Norman Rockwell-type scene featuring a paper boy on a bicycle followed by a dog. In the background are graphics of The Columbian’s vintage mastheads. Drennan, who has painted several other murals around town, also won the People’s Choice $500 award.

In second place was artist Michael Feliz, who won $2,000 for his vibrant scene on the side of Luepke’s Flowers and Finds. The bold, colorful mural depicts Frank Luepke and the flower shop he opened in Vancouver in 1909 surrounded by clouds, which represent his dreams for the business, Feliz said.

Artist Bijan Sharifi won the $1,500 third prize for his corporate-art-style mural on the Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce’s back wall, which had several large windows to work around. It depicts four silhouetted people striding forward in business attire with a bridge and streaks of color radiating from a single point behind them.

Six judges appointed by the mural society choose the winners for each prize, basing their selection on originality, content, quality, appeal and adherence to the theme and contest rules. The concept for this year’s contest was Five Walls, Five Artists, One Summer. But only three artists’ proposals were selected for the five walls chosen for murals. Nikki White, who co-founded the mural society in 2005, said the problem was not enough artists knew about the contest, which is in its fourth year.

More than 40 people participated in Thursday’s walking tour of the new murals, during which the artists explained the inspiration for their designs.

“Everybody was so excited about all the pieces, and they were very interactive with the artists and they really enjoyed the tour. It was awesome,” said White.

The completion of the three new murals brings the total number of murals in downtown Vancouver to 24.

For a map of the mural sites and photos, go to www.ccmurals.org

Meet the artists

Artist Michael Feliz

Mural: “Luepke History.”

Location: Luepke Flowers and Finds, 1300 Washington St., Vancouver.

Originally from the Dominican Republic, Michael Feliz grew up in Miami, where he attended the New World School of the Arts. He then studied at the Columbus College of Art and Design in Columbus, Ohio, before moving in 2011 to Portland, where he’s a professional dog walker for Rainy Day Walks.

Feliz, 27, has painted two other murals in downtown Vancouver for prior Summer of Murals contests: the Beacon Rock mural and the Fort Vancouver mural. He’s also done a couple of murals in Portland.

“The Clark County Mural Society has really given me the biggest opportunity to paint murals, and I love it,” he said. “Each year it’s a challenge because the topics are very specific. It forces me to put in the time to research, to know the history, really involve myself with the business owners of the wall. It helps me immerse more and more into the Northwest and to Portland and to our community.”

His website is www.mjfeliz.com

Artist Bijan Sharifi

Mural: “Moving Business/ Community Forward 125 Years.”

Location: Vancouver Chamber of Commerce, 1101 Broadway, Vancouver.

Bijan Sharifi, 33, attended the Columbus College of Art and Design with fellow mural contest entrant Michael Feliz and migrated to Portland with Feliz and other classmates. This is the first mural he’s done in the Pacific Northwest, but he’s done others in Ohio and on the East Coast. Feliz urged Sharifi to enter this year’s Summer of Murals contest because there was a shortage of entries, he said.

Sharifi, who graduated from Concordia University in Portland with a master’s degree in teaching, is teaching art classes this summer for Portland Public Schools.

Sharifi does not have a website.

Artist Guy Drennan

Mural: “The Columbian Newspaper.”

Location: The Columbian, 701 W. Eighth St., Vancouver.

Before enrolling at the Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland at age 36, Guy Drennan waited tables and did freelance art jobs on the side. Now 59, the Port Angeles native is trying to make a living as a full-time artist.

Several of his public artworks can be seen around Vancouver: the trolley and feed store mural in Orchards; the ballet dancers at 19th Street and Broadway; the apple tree mural at Fifth and Columbia streets (painted for the 2013 Summer of Murals contest); the Korean War mural on Vancouver’s railway bridge Remembrance Wall; and the Chkalov airplane mural at Evergreen and Main streets. He also painted downtown’s Turtle Place mural designed by another artist and was part of the art team that painted a mural at Main Street and 19th Street depicting an historic photo of Main Street.

Drennan, who moved to Vancouver in 1975, also specializes in graphic sign lettering, interiors and wine cellars. He always uses helpers on his mural jobs to handle equipment and materials and do backup painting, he said.

His Facebook page is Guy D Drennan – Mural Artist Painting the Town.