Artists to beautify some of the boarded-up downtown Olympia storefronts with murals
A number of downtown Olympia business owners and landlords boarded up their storefronts when Gov. Inslee’s stay-at-home order went into effect and businesses shut. The decision was largely a preventative step to protect the property from vandalism during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But all that plywood can give the impression that downtown is struggling, and Mayor Cheryl Selby wanted to make clear Thursday that is not the case.
“Downtown is not dying, and it’s going to come back,” she said.
Selby had heard about a project in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, where artists beautified Capitol Hill’s boarded-up exteriors with murals. She thought the same idea could work in Olympia.
That was two weeks ago. Now the Olympia Artspace Alliance and the Olympia Downtown Alliance, using $9,000 from the city, will roll out a plan in the coming days to do just that, said Todd Cutts, executive director of the ODA.
Cutts said the group has agreements with five storefronts: Exile Tattoo on Legion Way, Olympia Tattoo on Capitol Way, the former Mills & Mills Funeral Home location on Franklin Street, Cryptatropa on Fourth Avenue, and a space in the 700 block of Fourth Avenue that was once a cafe.
Keeping the pandemic in mind, the artists will work remotely, then mount their murals on the existing plywood, Selby said. Once the storefronts reopen, the art might be reused again elsewhere, or possibly be auctioned off, she said.
“Any way to support them is important,” Selby said about small businesses downtown and the arts community.
Those aren’t the only businesses to board up their windows. After a check of the downtown area, others include Wicked Pies, Sorry Mom Ink, the Eagles club at Fourth Avenue and Plum Street, and Left Bank Pastry farther up Fourth Avenue.
Overall, that’s not many businesses, Cutts said, pointing out that downtown is home to 450 businesses, including those that don’t have a storefront but that operate out of an office environment.
Cutts expects those boarded-up businesses to reopen.
Whether it was the landlord or business owner, the decision to board up the property was their “prerogative for an extra layer of protection,” he said.
This story was originally published May 1, 2020 at 5:45 AM.
