May 11

Maple Leaf street mural painting on the rocks

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By Katie Melton

Disagreements between neighbors about a proposed street mural at Northeast 96th Street and 12th Avenue Northeast has caused Maple Leaf artist Rachel Marcotte to put the project to rest. 

“I think we can pretty much assume that there will be no mural in Maple Leaf this year. Disappointing, but oh well. I will try again next year, perhaps on my own street,” Marcotte tells us. 

In our most recent post regarding the street painting, neighbor Dan Halligan commented that he liked the idea of the project being done on his street, Northeast 90th Street and 20th Avenue Northeast, but street conditions were of concern. 

“While I’d love the mural on my block, we’re on the corner of 90th and 20th, a block past where the sidewalks end and the street is made of tar covered with gravel type. I don’t think it’d be suitable for a mural,” Halligan wrote. 

The street Marcotte suggested the mural be painted on has similar conditions, and was not an issue for the project to move forward. We let Halligan know and asked if that swayed him to pursue the project, but he never got back to us. 

Neighbors have a number of safety, aesthetic and financially related concerns regarding this project. One of the repeated issues was the dog painting that was proposed. 

As some readers suggested in their comments, would neighbors be interested in submitting or suggesting alternate design ideas for a street mural?

Until then, wait until next year to hear any further ideas from Marcotte.

Katie Melton is the intern for Maple Leaf Life. She is a journalism student at the University of Washington.

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  1. Come paint my corner!! Please! I live on 92nd, and even though I have a roundabout, people use it as a thoroughfare, and blaze past my house and around the roundabout. ANYTHING to slow them down. I have lost a kitten, several side-mirrors to my cars, and had a serious crash into my parked car. People just drive too fast on the sidestreets of this neighborhood. How people are opposed to slowing them down, I cannot understand.

  2. I agree with Laurie — more art in the park where more can enjoy it.
    I wasn’t totally opposed to the street project, BUT would prefer a rounder to actually slow traffic at our intersection. Also, not happy about having to pay to repaint it every year. (Just drove over the one in Wallingford the other day — faded and sad looking). Here’s to a proposal for our next reservoir park!

  3. The mural is a great reflection of the pet ownership ration in the neighborhood as their are quite a few dog owners. But I’m guessing cat owners might want to be included in it as well. Since where the project should be on the street is such an issue. What about the new park? Everyone can enjoy it and it will increase the beauty of the park.

  4. Sweet, I’m quoted 🙂 While I’d love to be an advocate for it my intersection, we have one neighbor that complains about everything and goes so far as to lurk around and take photos of peoples yards and reports them to the city for various minor stuff. He would probably be a vocal opponent to anything cool and fun like this, heck he yells at kids lighting off fireworks on the 4th of July.

  5. Area Man, I recall reading several of your posts about the “many” negatives of this project. I could not disagree with you more! The simple fact you can sit in judgement of any art form, if proposed to be on a street near you or hanging in a gallery, by calling it garbage shows to me your closed mindedness. I am saddened such a positive and harmless project is being shut down by a FEW nay sayers. I know this intersection very well, I know that surface art would be very difficult to even notice until you were right upon it given the grade of this site. Concerns of lost property value and making more traffic problems are laughable. Another example of the vocal few shutting down a project that has such good will behind it.

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