New year, new artists, new mural for Stanwood park

STANWOOD — A new team of teen artists is working on a colorful mural to fill a simple wooden structure on the hill at Church Creek Park.

It’s been a year since a group of high school students painted the park’s first mural and perched it atop the grassy slope.

The teens and their mentor say the mural project, called Project STAND, is making a difference in Stanwood. They want to show people that high school students have a voice and positive ways to express themselves, so they create art for a park that has had problems with vandalism and drug use.

Last year, community groups worked together to clean up Church Creek Park, along 72nd Avenue Northwest near Lincoln Hill and Stanwood high schools. Volunteers picked up trash and a Church Creek Disc Golf group raised money for a new course on the park’s wooded trails.

Project STAND was one of the most visual pieces of the clean-up effort. STAND means Stereotypes Alternatively Defined, and it’s about helping high school students overcome others’ expectations and express themselves, Coordinator Krystal Roig said.

Park crews installed a raised wooden frame at Church Creek Park so a new mural can be installed each year. Seven teen artists have been gathering at the Stanwood-Camano Community Resource Center twice a week this summer, for up to four hours at a time, to paint the new mural. The plan is to install it Aug. 20, Roig said.

Nicole Wierman and Victoria “Tori” Humphreys, both 16, have been explaining the mural to folks who sneak a peek while they’re painting.

The colors transition from dark to light as the viewer’s eyes move from left to right.

Toward the left is a school hallway where people stand by lockers and judge, and to the right is a brick road leading to the future. A large figure is on the road, an open birdcage in hand as the bird flies free. The person’s head is a television screen, symbolizing the reputation teenagers have of being constantly plugged in, Wierman said.

But the picture on the TV screen is a swirling galaxy of possibility, and there’s a larger, matching galaxy in the distant sky where teen is heading. A banner beneath the image says “Believe in your stride.”

“This guy, he wants to get somewhere,” Humphreys said. “He wants to be something.”

Most high school students can relate to that character. She certainly can.

“The reason that this is really important to me is I personally don’t feel like I accomplish a lot of things. But this got us all together to do something and I feel like I accomplished something that’s really important,” she said. “This means a lot. It means friends and it means a message I really care about.”

Silver Merideth, 17, has been painting weeds on the dark side of the mural and flowers on the bright said. To her, the image represents moving from someplace dark and negative to brighter, more positive place.

“Nobody really likes weeds because they get in the way of everything, and these weeds have thorns so they can hurt people,” she said. “But flowers are beautiful and make people happy.”

Fellow painter Veronica Velazquez, 16, brushed grass-like textures into dark shadows on the left side of mural.

“To me, it shows that there’s this dark side and that’s this dark place in society where you feel like no one accepts you,” she said. “You have to go through a lot of things that are hard to get to that place where you’re happy.”

The teen painters learn about teamwork, perseverance and self-expression, Stanwood Police Chief Rick Hawkins said. He’s been impressed by how eloquently they present their ideas to city leaders.

“I hope this continues on a yearly basis,” Hawkins said. “It goes well beyond what it does for the park.”

He doesn’t expect Church Creek Park to change quickly.

There have been continuing problems this year with graffiti, broken equipment and drug use. Signs from the new disc golf course have been knocked over or stolen.

But vandals haven’t damaged the mural.

Public art isn’t a cure for the park’s problems. Hawkins plans to increase patrols at the park during the school year, but police can’t always be there. When more people use the park, they pressure criminals to get out, he said.

To see last year’s mural still standing tells Roig that something is changing for the better. Young people have big voices and need ways to share their ideas.

“This is a creative way to allow self-expression without a lot of explanation,” she said.

“They just want to be part of something positive in their community.”

Kari Bray: 425-339-3439; kbray@heraldnet.com

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Trader Joe’s customers walk in and out of the store on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Trader Joe’s opens this week at Everett Mall

It’s a short move from a longtime location, essentially across the street, where parking was often an adventure.

Ian Bramel-Allen enters a guilty plea to second-degree murder during a plea and sentencing hearing on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Deep remorse’: Man gets 17 years for friend’s fatal stabbing in Edmonds

Ian Bramel-Allen, 44, pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder for killing Bret Northcutt last year at a WinCo.

Firefighters respond to a small RV and a motorhome fire on Tuesday afternoon in Marysville. (Provided by Snohomish County Fire Distrct 22)
1 injured after RV fire, explosion near Marysville

The cause of the fire in the 11600 block of 81st Avenue NE had not been determined, fire officials said.

Ashton Dedmon appears in court during his sentencing hearing on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett Navy sailor sentenced to 90 days for fatal hit and run

Ashton Dedmon crashed into Joshua Kollman and drove away. Dedmon, a petty officer on the USS Kidd, reported he had a panic attack.

A kindergarten student works on a computer at Emerson Elementary School on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘¡Una erupción!’: Dual language programs expanding to 10 local schools

A new bill aims to support 10 new programs each year statewide. In Snohomish County, most follow a 90-10 model of Spanish and English.

Cassie Franklin, Mayor of Everett, delivers the annual state of the city address Thursday morning in the Edward D. Hansen Conference Center in Everett, Washington on March 31, 2022.  (Kevin Clark / The Herald)
At Everett mayor’s keynote speech: $35 entry, Boeing sponsorship

The city won’t make any money from the event, city spokesperson Simone Tarver said. Still, it’s part of a trend making open government advocates wary.

Logo for news use featuring the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Woman drives off cliff, dies on Tulalip Reservation

The woman fell 70 to 80 feet after driving off Priest Point Drive NW on Sunday afternoon.

Everett
Boy, 4, survives fall from Everett fourth-story apartment window

The child was being treated at Seattle Children’s. The city has a limited supply of window stops for low-income residents.

People head out to the water at low tide during an unseasonably warm day on Saturday, March 16, 2024, at Lighthouse Park in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett shatters record high temperature by 11 degrees

On Saturday, it hit 73 degrees, breaking the previous record of 62 set in 2007.

Snohomish County Fire District #4 and Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue respond to a motor vehicle collision for a car and pole. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene, near Triangle Bait & Tackle in Snohomish. (Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office)
Police: Troopers tried to stop driver before deadly crash in Snohomish

The man, 31, was driving at “a high rate of speed” when he crashed into a traffic light pole and died, investigators said.

Alan Dean, who is accused of the 1993 strangulation murder of 15-year-old Bothell girl Melissa Lee, appears in court during opening statements of his trial on Monday, March 18, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
31 years later, trial opens in Bothell teen’s brutal killing

In April 1993, Melissa Lee’s body was found below Edgewater Creek Bridge. It would take 27 years to arrest Alan Dean in her death.

Logo for news use featuring the municipality of Snohomish in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Man dies after crashing into pole in Snohomish

Just before 1 a.m., the driver crashed into a traffic light pole at the intersection of 2nd Street and Maple Avenue.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.