A visible reminder for Anchorage to keep hope alive

When COVID-19 hit in March 2020, people were discouraged from congregating. This tore apart the social fabric within families, friends, co-workers and whole communities. In a year filled with loss, virtual attendance at holiday gatherings, celebration, and funerals offered the closest touch of connection. Ordinarily, March is the month when Alaskans begin to emerge from our winter hibernation, yet the onset of the pandemic forced us all into our homes.

From that winter, the Hope Wall Mural Project dream was born: the idea to bring people together to create something that was beautiful on a grand scale. Empower and remind folks that together we can accomplish great things. Downtown Anchorage, the heart of our city, was the perfect place to convey this message. As the center of business, commerce, cultural centers and tourism, downtown was hit hardest by the pandemic and its effects. Our downtown is resilient and has persevered by focusing on solutions and fostering strength through the power of a unified community with the support of Anchorage Downtown Partnership, Ltd., or ADP.

This mural, designed by Steve Gordon and brought to life by our entire community, personifies hope and spring through the outburst of Southcentral flora and fauna. A figure holds a globe of forget-me-nots that represents Earth; the blooming of the pussy willows, often the first sign of spring breaking through the winter snow, illustrates the loosening of winter’s hold. The purple, blue-gray background color of the mural alludes to the color of the Chugach Mountains when they first peek through their layers of ice and snow.

[Hundreds of community members help paint Anchorage’s newest mural]

Hope is an internal resource that gives a person the grit to persevere, the anchor to hold fast in a storm, the buoyancy of a life jacket to keep yourself afloat in deep waters. It is in times of trial, testing, and difficulty that one needs hope. The mural’s shafts of gold represent light, truth, the divine — similar to the sun shining down upon the Earth to light up the shadows. In Alaska, as the sun returns each spring, it takes time to warm the ground. Once conditions are right for botanical growth, life explodes. The mural represents that moment of rebirth with a dozen different Alaskan wildflowers, showcasing the beauty in the diversity of colors, shapes and sizes of flowers. All are flourishing together.

While the mural was painted in one day, the months prior were filled with activity. Steve designed the mural, sketched out the 4-foot by 4-foot panels, mixed paint and created 70 paint kits to fit each panel. ADP came on board to coordinate logistics, find sponsors and funding, and find a wall for the creation. The owners of the Halfling Building, a historical icon of downtown, came onboard to host the mural on the building’s west wall. Then partners from local businesses, unions and area artists, donated their services, equipment and time to prepare the wall, secure the materials, and offer space for the community to come and paint in. It truly took a whole community to complete: almost 100 volunteers and more than 1,000 community members came together to paint on a sunny August day in Town Square Park.

Downtown Anchorage acutely felt the brunt of the global pandemic, stratifying political landscape, and separation of our community while we physically distanced over the last year. Over the last several months, glimmers of hope have shown through the clouds, yet again we face an upcoming winter, both literally and figuratively as the delta variant tsunamis through our population. Yet, we remain hopeful. Hopeful that at our core we still remember how to unite and create beauty together. Hopeful that we will continue to find ways to safely gather and focus on the things we share, which far outnumber any differences we hold. And hope that just as a long-awaited spring finally emerges from the depths of winter, our future still shines bright and when we come together collectively, we will rise from the figurative piles of snow to spread understanding, empathy and fortitude no matter how dark some days might seem. And now, through the efforts of all of our community, we have the Hope Wall shining in downtown to remind us that hope exists everywhere if we are willing to believe in its strength.

Please join us at an outdoor celebration of the mural’s completion on Friday, Oct. 1, from 5-7 p.m. at the mural’s location on the corner of 7th and E Street on the west wall of the Halfling Building.

Amanda Moser is the executive director of the Anchorage Downtown Partnership. Steve Gordon is a local artist who designed and led the painting of the Hope Wall mural.

The views expressed here are the writer’s and are not necessarily endorsed by the Anchorage Daily News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)adn.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Read our full guidelines for letters and commentaries here.