Seattle-based illustrator and landscape architect Tori Shao has begun the process of implementing a new mural to the staircase behind DICK’S Sporting Goods in Grand Ridge Plaza. Join us to celebrate the community art piece with a ribbon cutting on Tuesday, Sept. 12, from 4-6 p.m.
Shao was selected to paint the community mural based on her understanding of the Issaquah Highlands community and surrounding environment. She took inspiration from the environment surrounding this community, specifically our hiking trails.
“Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, the trails around the Highlands are some of the first trails I ever hiked and some of the most accessible outdoor spaces to those living in the region,” she says. “They play a formative role in my interest in ecology, and in turn, my interest in landscape architecture.”
Shao says color is also a fun element to design with, and many of her murals feature bright colorways. For the staircase mural, the colors were drawn from the Pacific Trillium (otherwise known as Trillium ovatum) plant as well as the region’s unique kokanee salmon.
“In both my fields of landscape architecture and illustration, my work is inspired by our culture and ecological relationships to plants, objects and one another,” Shao notes. “These all boil down to telling a story that is specific to a place, and sharing those stories inspires connection to our environment and our community.”
Many of her projects are community-based. Shao has worked with many local community groups and organizations to design and install murals over the years. She says murals have the ability to nurture a sense of community and connection.
“They are great vehicles for accessible art, expressing history and culture, raising awareness about social or environmental issues, and generally inspiring us,” she adds. “Being a part of the transformative process of designing and painting a mural is rewarding in all of those ways.”
She is drawn to the way a built environment can evoke meaning and connection by simply applying a coat of paint. She says the transformation of a space into a giant public art gallery reminds her of “how vibrant, resilient and creative” our communities can be.
Shao, who grew up in Seattle, has always had an interest in visual arts. She is grateful to have been raised in an environment where creativity was encouraged, she adds.
Murals are a relatively new scale of illustrative work for her. Shao created her first public mural during the onset of the pandemic in early 2020 when she was asked to paint over a number of boarded up storefronts in one weekend with some donated paint and supplies.
“As businesses were forced to close their doors and board the windows, streets were totally transformed,” she says. “So many community leaders and artists sprang into action to create vibrant and uplifting art to inspire generosity, patience and solidarity during difficult times.”
Shao has been taking on mural projects ever since!
The staircase (located on 10th Ave NE and NE Ellis Drive) will be closed until Sept. 12 as Shao works to complete the mural. Please plan to avoid the staircase during this time.
