Artist Christian Barrios doesn’t live along East Fourth Plain Boulevard anymore, but he still feels a connection to his old neighborhood. So when he saw an opportunity to brighten up the corridor with a mural, he jumped on it.
“I thought I’d love to do something here,” he said. “I was really excited to apply for this.”
His mural, a mix of people from different cultures playing music and dancing together, was one of four murals recently completed as part of the Fourth Plain Forward Summer of Murals. It was also one of the few artistic visions among around 30 submissions that made it past the selection committee and was chosen by building owners who offered their walls up for art.
On Saturday afternoon, Barrios and other artists, families and community groups gathered at Anderson Glass along East Fourth Plain to celebrate the newly finished art with a mix of speakers, live Andean music, tacos and self-guided mural tours.
Erin Timmerman, secretary of the Fourth Plain Forward Business Association, said the organization has been working to bring a refreshed focus to the businesses along the corridor. One way of doing that was a collaboration with the Clark County Mural Society to create the Summer of Murals event.
“A perfect way to show the vibrant community of the Fourth Plain corridor is to partner with the mural society and have some really incredible pieces on both ends facing east and west, and a really great way to welcome people in to the community and represent the multicultural nature of the corridor,” she said.
Jackie Steiner owns Anderson Glass with her husband, Bill. Their business hosted the event and is also the site of one of the new murals. The art they chose is one of smiling people, their skin tones fleshed out with geometric shapes of color and surrounded by a variety of flowers, all in front of a bright blue backdrop.
“I like the clean lines of it. … The patchwork on the faces just blew my mind, I just didn’t know how he was going to paint it. The flowers are from all over the world and the flowers represent joy,” she said. “When I drive in every day, I see (the artist’s) vision and joy, and the colors just spoke to me.”
She said the paintings help bring a new focus to the businesses along the corridor, around 50 percent of which are minority-owned.
“It shows we’re a lively neighborhood with lots to offer,” Steiner said.
Rebecca Kennedy, the city of Vancouver’s long-range planner, said the mural project is one element outlined in Fourth Plain Forward, the city’s action plan to make part of the corridor safer and more attractive and its small businesses stronger.
Vancouver resident Paula Person heard about the event and likes to attend as many community events as she can — especially when they’re art-related. She said she didn’t like all the murals equally, but they showed that the city’s and community groups’ efforts are beginning to show progress in the neighborhood.
“The buildings are being renovated; there’s color and action going on,” she said. “There’s a lot of work to do, but I think this is a good start if not a furthering of a start.”
