Belltown – Inside - Out Mural

Location: On 3^rd Ave between Wall Street and Battery Street, in Belltown (47.615636, -122.346681).

Creator: Unknown

Description: A hard-to-see - and possibly for the better - mural that tells you that you are in Belltown, a neighborhood of Seattle. The mural was created as part of the Belltown Inside-Out Festival – now defunct. Read more at about this mural and others in Belltown at Hideous Belltown.

The mural features among other things, and an image of the Bell Apartments (also known as the Austin A Bell Building), Seattle’s iconic Space Needle (which is not technically in the Belltown boundaries), and Gyro Jack, a concrete, spiral walkway in nearby Regrade Park.

The name of the Belltown honors William Nathaniel Bell (1817 – 1887), a member of the pioneers credited with founding Seattle.

Metropole Building Alley - Street Art

Location: Behind the Metropole Building, close to the intersection of Yesler Way and 2^nd Avenue Extension S (47.601586,-122.33222).

Creator: Jeff Jacobson (www.weirdocult.com)

Description: I’m sure the letters with some coaxing will reveal themselves, but as of yet, this abecedarian can’t decipher it. And OSHPT? Best I could dig up from reddit.com: One Step Higher and Public Terror, or Paint Trains or OSH/PT boys. Or, it means “oh shit, help, please translate”.

On a related note the following quote from Michael Walsh's book Graffito helped ease my mind: "Many experienced graffiti writers consider themselves modern day calligraphers. They have taken the English alphabet that they were taught as a child and twisted the letter forms to create a new language. A new alphabet. A language that most people can't ready. They want you to see it, but don't want you to understand it." p.12

Old Cannery Building – Flatcolor Gallery Wall

Left: In Memory of Jade; Right: Clifton Yatez Piece

Location: 2^nd Avenue Extension S and S Main St in Pioneer Square (47.599891,-122.330495).

Creator: Clifton Yatez (black and gray piece), Wagnerisms (“In Memory of Jade”)

Description: Yatez is represented by the Flatcolor Gallery. Jade refers to Jade BTM, a respected writer* from the Bay Area who died in 2013. Jade was known for his stylized tag “Jade”.

For a past view of this wall, see Good People of Seattle Mural.

* pracitioner of writing graffiti, a graffiti artist. For more terms, see a glossary of graffiti terms.

Left: Detail of In Memory of Jade; Right: Pigeon in front of Yatez Piece

State Route 99 Seneca Street Off Ramp – Underneath

Location: Approximately at the intersection of Seneca St and Post Alley (47.60593,-122.338153), underneath State Route 99 off ramp.

Creator: Unknown

Description: Faces with swathes of color.

Seattle Steam Plant Mural - Orca

Left: Seattle Steam Plant South Wall; Right: Seattle Steam Plant East Wall

Location: 1319 Western Avenue (47.60683,-122.339883)
Creator: James Crespinel (also created Mural – Martin Luther King Jr.)
Description: The plaque reads:

“The Western Avenue Wall Mural was created by artist James Crespinel and dedicated to the memory of his brother, William Donald Crespinel. The mural is sponsored by: the Seattle Waterfront Neighborhood Business Improvement Area and its Western Avenue Sub-committee; the City of Seattle’s Department of Neighborhoods; Seattle Steam; Harbor Properties; Immunex; Quadrant Management Services and Republic Parking. A special thanks to Kelly Balcomb-Bartok and David Ellifrit.

The mural on the south wall features an image of an actual orca whale named Merlin, indigenous to the southern resident pods of the San Juan Islands. The east mural is compsed of three panels with jumping Pacific white side dolphins and underwater marine life under the image of Mount Baker.”

Missing from this post, is the mural facing Elliot Bay, the west side of the building.

Seattle Steam is a privately-owned company that provides steam to buildings in Seattle’s Central Business District and First Hill neighborhoods. The murals are on the Western Plant, one of two plants Seattle Steam operates.

Left: Seattle Steam Plant Information About Mural; Right: South Wall

Ex-Vandals Behind Wexley School for Girls

Location: Behind the Wexley School for Girls (47.615938,-122.342058).

Creator: SNO Ex Vandals, Lords. Lives in Tacoma, WA. from San Jose, CA (thanks to the comment below).

Description: Member tags of the Northwest Coast edition of the Ex-Vandals? See the article Experienced Vandals at the @149st site. I confess that I read “ex” as in done with vandalizing, as implied as well the SF Weekly piece, Fan Favorites: Street Artists the Ex-Vandals Are Still Tagging Buildings, But Now People Love It . The title of @149^thst site, however, implies it means “experienced”. The "Ex-Vandals" designation goes back to the 1970s, when a group of young New York street artists decided to “write” as a unit, mostly on the city's subways.