This summer, various painters were hard at work creating a mural on the side of Lincoln bordering 18th Ave.
The design process, led by artists Lynn Yarne and Shu-Ju Wang, gathered inspiration from many sources, including the history of the Goose Hollow neighborhood.
“Some broad themes [in the mural] were the history of Tanner Creek, which is buried in a pipe underneath the patio. It was a really thriving community spot where the Chinese gardeners would grow their vegetables and people would come to buy them,” said Principal Peyton Chapman. “We wanted to represent the geography, the history, the culture and the diversity of this land.”
Wang also emphasized the importance of looking at the history of the land from multiple perspectives.
“We were looking [to represent] different ways of looking at the city [in the mural]. Obviously, the physical maps, but also, the idea of a map for the future, where we are going, and a map of the wildlife,” Wang said.
As part of the design process, Yarne and Wang hosted workshops over the past year to engage the community.
“One of the ideas was that instead of trying to represent whole histories by ourselves, [we would hold] community engagement workshops [focused on] learning about the histories and then having people respond, [including] thinking about this history and the responsibilities of being on this land,” Yarne said.
Yarne and Wang both hope that the mural can spark more discussion into the rich history of this area.
“Our time limit was so short. We tried to reach out to as many people as we could in such a short amount of time, but we weren’t able to talk to everyone,” Yarne said. “We really do think of it as the very beginning of a conversation, a representation of all the voices and all the peoples and histories.”
