TravelMarx: April 2011

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Henry Murals In and Around Fremont and Ballard, Seattle

Underwater

We’ve been on a bit of a mural binge around our neighborhood (Doric Lodge Mural, Still Life Coffee House Mural, Fremont “Fremont” Mural, 46th Street Mural, and the Aurora Bridge Mural) and we’d be seriously remiss if we didn’t mentioned some of the Henry murals. You can’t help but notice if you drive around Ballard, Fremont, or Wallingford – our usual stomping grounds – the large and colorful Henry murals. They have been painted into existence over the last few years in a variety of locations. The artist Ryan Henry Ward, in interviews, has said he has a goal of creating 50 murals in Seattle. His murals typically have oversized, whimsical creatures staring wide-eyed back at the viewer. Ward’s first mural (titled Save Our Wildlife below) is in Fremont, at the former Triangle Lounge (now called 9 Million Unmarked Bills). Unfortunately, it is located out back where the dumpsters are and it looks like it’s falling in a bit of disrepair. A newer Henry mural in Fremont exists now up just north of Uneeda Burger on Fremont Avenue between 43 and 44 streets. Noteworthy though in Fremont, is Ward’s Saint Francis Mural on the wall of the Episcopal Bookstore (3837 Stone Way North) depicting Saint Francis and a deer. For more on how that Saint Francis Mural came to be, watch this Emmy-nominated short documentary which provides a peek into the world of Henry.

A sampling of some of the Henry Murals in and around Fremont are shown below with the location of the nearest intersection.

Saint Francis
Stone Way N and N 39th

A Goat With a Guitar and a Dog
Leary Way NW and NW 45th

The Location Before the Mural

Moose Fishing
8th Ave NW and NW 45th

Emerald City Gardens
Leary Way NW and NW 40th

Robots – On the Side of Short Stop Coffee
Leary Way NW and NW 40th

Save Our Wildlife
Evanston Ave N and N 35th

Update: June 2011 – The mural was painted over dark gray! Sad day for Fremont. Hope it returns.

Fremont Fishing
Fremont Ave N, between 43rd and 44th

Underwater
Knickerson St and Florentia St

Walruses on Bikes
8th Ave NW and NW 67th St

Gnome and Butterfly
1/2 block north of 8th Ave NW and NW 70th St

Camels and Pyramid
8th Ave NW and NW 74th St

Beavers - Shop Local
1/2 block east of 15th Ave NW and NW 85th

Van
Said to be #53 of the Henry Murals

Value Village
1 block north of 15th Ave NW and NW 85th

Creature Wall
Woodlawn Ave N and N 35th St

Ballard Sloop Tavern Wall
NW 54th St and NW Market St

Fremont Garage and Foundation
Baker Ave NW and NW 42nd St

Homegrown Sandwich Shop Bathroom
3416 Fremont Ave North

Henry Garage and Trucks
15th Ave NW and NW 49th Street

Friendly Hairy Monster and Bird
1752 N.W. Market Street, Ballard

Pink Walruses
Russell Avenue Northwest and 20th Ave.NW

Monday, April 18, 2011

Trash Fashion Show

Trash Fashion Program

Some friends invited us along to the Trash Fashion Show, A part of the 10th Annual Recycled Arts & Fashion Show last night at the New York Fashion Academy in Ballard and we were glad they did because it was a fun show. The fashion show is put on by the RE Store to bring the latest in trash fashion to the Northwest. The RE Store does many things, but primarily is a community-based non-profit that sells affordable building materials, much salvaged from old buildings. In the spirit of green, sustainable and RE-use the fashion show featured unique pieces made out of trash of all types. Each trashy entry paraded up and down the catwalk while the Mistress of Ceremonies read a tongue-in-cheek description of the outfit and its origins. In fact the puns were really rolling this evening including the stage names of the designers which included: Lotta Rubish, Remixa Plastique, Anita Ujunka, Margarita Trashionista, Ruby Reusable, Kitty Litture, Elle Poubelle, Alotta Detritus, and Rayona Visqueen (the Mistress of Ceremonies) to name a few. Some of the creations would not have been out of place at a so-called “real” fashion show. After watching this fashion show one can’t help but think differently of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Now, if only we had been thinking fashion when we ran into all the trash on the beaches at Torre Gauceto in Puglia!

For the names of the designers and models of each creation shown in the following photos see the program guide included. Only about one half of the trash fashion creations are shown here. More are shown here. The name of the creation sometimes gives an idea of what type of trash went into creating the piece. But rest assured it's all trash! Of special note was the creation Marriage of Inconvenience made from the plastic wrap for medication used at the Bailey Boushay House. As detailed at Ruby Reusable the dress is made from "strips used at Bailey Boushay House for HIV suffers", each with black print on it that states the time of the day for the medication. The headdress is made from "plastic packaging, condoms, and syringes, draped with netting from Christmas trees and hardware and store packaging." Very powerful.

Mistress of Ceremonies - Rayona Visqueen