Upon moving to Crown Hill in 2002, I noticed many blank walls on buildings, often tagged with graffiti, painted out graffiti, re-tagged, re-painted out, etc. What is it about a blank wall that encourages vandals to leave their marks? Our major streets, 15th Ave NW, Holman Road, and NW 85th Street appeared quite tired, even dreary. As new businesses have moved in, old businesses and new alike have taken to spiffing up their storefronts with bright colors, and … murals. Most recently the Value Village relocated a couple of doors south on 15th, and engaged the services of Seattle muralist, Ryan “Henry” Ward. Henry’s murals drew much attention in the press (MyBallard article, and even some television and radio coverage). It has certainly sparked lots of discussions among neighbors and passerby (as I snapped photos early on a Saturday morning, 6 people volunteered their opinions, four very positive, one negative, one shrug).
