A new stained-glass inspired mural in downtown Anchorage aims to raise awareness about climate change

Updated: September 24, 2020 Published: September 23, 2020

A mural is being painted on the Anchorage Museum's SEED Lab to raise awareness about climate change. The project is led by UAA art professor Tom Chung, left, pictured on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2020. Chung is the current resident artist at the SEED Lab, at the corner of 6th Avenue and A Street. Artist Lina Villar works on her painting at right. (Bill Roth / ADN)

UAA art professor Tom Chung, a resident artist at Anchorage Museum’s SEED Lab, and a handful of his former students are painting a mural on the east side of the SEED Lab, at the corner Sixth Avenue and A Street, “to bring awareness to climate change,” Chung said.

“What wisdom do you have to share about climate change?” Chung asked of his former students, now local artists. “What would you save?”

Artists came up with their own themes and are bringing them to fruition by painting their own arched “window," measuring 6 feet wide by 12 feet tall.

Artist Simone Bethancourt paints "Protect the Sacred" which she called "a modern take on the Lakota story about White Buffalo Calf Woman" on Monday, Sept. 21, 2020. (Bill Roth / ADN)

The windows are “inspired by the work of the late stained glass artist Louis Comfort Tiffany,” said Chung. The paintings will have black lines that emulate leading in stained glass windows, he said.

“The text helps make sure we get our message across,” said Chung.

Detail of the climate change mural painted by student Jackie Bowling entitled “Warming of Earth” on the SEED Lab in downtown Anchorage on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2020. (Bill Roth / ADN)

Acrylic house paint being used by UAA art professor Tom Chung as he worked on "Ice Cave in Juneau" as part of the climate change mural being painted on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2020. (Bill Roth / ADN)

UAA art professor Tom Chung work on "Ice Cave in Juneau," part of a climate change mural being painted on the SEED Lab in downtown Anchorage on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2020. (Bill Roth / ADN)

Local artists, from left, Noah Amason, Simone Bethancourt and Lina Villar, work on their contributions to a climate change mural being painted on the east side of the Anchorage Museum's SEED Lab in downtown Anchorage on Monday, Sept. 21, 2020. (Bill Roth / ADN)

Artist Lina Villar works on her painting "Blissfully Unaware," part of the climate change mural going up on the SEED Lab in downtown Anchorage on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2020. (Bill Roth / ADN)

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Bill Roth

Bill Roth is a staff photojournalist at the Anchorage Daily News.