This larger than life mural is part of a collection called Wyland Whaling Walls. It is the work of…read moreworld renowned environmental artist Robert Wyland, who in 1981, set out to paint 100 murals celebrating ocean life. It took him 27 years, but he did it, with the 100th being in Beijing, China. This mural was the 54th in the series. It was dedicated in 1994 and is a whopping 400 feet long and 50 feet, high. It is known as an Anchorage landmark and as is the case with most of Wyland's murals, it is very vivid and detailed. It overlooks a parking look and you really cannot see the entire mural in one vantage point. You will see some of Alaska's native marine life in the mural featuring a mom and calf Orca among other Orcas, some beluga whales, and a dolphin swimming and some seals sitting on a glacier. It is all set against a background of Alaskan mountains. It is gorgeous and considering it is almost 20 years old. It is in great shape. Parking to get a closer look is very easy. There is metered street parking within a reasonable walking distance and well as tons of commercial parking lots and garages. As I mentioned, it overlooks a lot Itself. Anyway, as with most mural that I have visited and reviewed, this is not a very long stop. I was there less than 5 minutes. You may want to consider planning out additional stops at many of the other attractions in the area such as the 5th Avenue Mall, Town Square Park, and Anchorage Visitor's Center, or making this stop part of a larger itinerary to maximize your time and trip.

This piece is located in the Anchorage Federal Building and US Courthouse. It is the work of Alvin…read moreEli Amason, who painted the piece in 1979. It is made of oil paint on canvas with wood, aluminum, and paper-mache and is 6 and a half feet high and 8 and a half feet wide. I like this piece a lot. It is an excellent shape, especially considering that it is over 40 years old. It is also 3D. It depicts 3 walruses, one in the water and two on the rocks, with a bird flying above them and two hanging around a nest. One of the walrus's tusks and the bird nest at the top of the painting stick out from the painting. It is a very interesting piece and almost looks real. I really like it. If you would like to see it, you will have to go through the federal building's airport like security screening. So, I get it. It is not practical to come see the picture unless you are visiting the federal building or courthouse. It is nice to see though. If you do decide to visit, there is metered street parking available as well as some commercial lots and garages available within reasonable walking distance. And if you do make a trip to see the mural, I suggest that it be part of a larger itinerary or on your way to some other attraction. FYI, the Anchorage Museum is directly across the street.

This series of murals were painted by Thomas Chung, with the assistance of some of his art students…read morefrom the University of Alaska. He created the pieces as part of his artist residency at the Seed Lab. You will find the collection on the side of the building overlooking a parking lot. The piece is inspired by the forms of church stained-glass windows and is intended to represent the intersection between the natural world and cultures around the world. It is a reflection of what it is we treasure for the future, with the impending climate crisis. The pieces appear on a black background with a subdued "It Is Possible" behind it and consists of eight, stained glass window pieces in total, depicting individual scenes. One scene depicts a cartoon Earth with a high temp thermometer and the caption "Our only Home is one Fire". Another depicts a heart on some rocks with an industrial plant in the background with the caption "Who will Give me Life" under it. A third one depicts a couple sitting at a table with glasses of wine, looking out to a dried out body of water that has a person in a small row boat just sitting on the mud. The caption "Blissfully Unaware" is under it. One more panel has an image of a polar bear against a background of fire and the caption of "It will take Us All to Stop This Fall" under it. The artwork is very nice and the detail is awesome. It will not take you long to figure out the mural is about climate change. I am really feeling this mural. Parking to get a closer look is very easy. There is metered street parking within a reasonable walking distance and well as tons of commercial parking lots and garages. And as I mentioned, it overlooks a parking lot itself. That is where I ended up parking at. Anyway, as with most mural that I have visited and reviewed, this is not a very long stop. I was there less than 5 minutes. You may want to consider planning out additional stops at many of the other murals in the area, or making this stop part of a larger itinerary to maximize your time and trip.

This mural is painted in 2019 and is the work of James Temte, an adjunct professor that teaches…read moreclimate change at Alaska Pacific University. The mural is the based off of an original photo by Michael Conti. You will find it on the side of the Seed Lab, next to 2 other murals overlooking a parking lot. The mural itself is picture quality and depicts a young kid with shoulder length bangs wearing a t-shirt and warm-up jacket. The kid is intended to appear genderless and could be either a boy or girl. The kid is standing in a field and grasping a handful of dirt/vegetation. There is a lot of symbolism used here that may go unnoticed. For example, some of the background squares have deliberately been omitted, creating black emptiness, suggesting what life might be like when climate change erases the Earth, as we know it. One of the parking lots handicapped signs is incorporated in the mural. It is made to look like part of the left breast pocket of the youth's jacket. The detail and symbolism is amazing. The sad part that if you do not have the context, you may miss a lot of what Temte is trying to convey. The moral of the mural is to think about the future and not just about instant gratification because some of the actions you take can have a detrimental effect on the climate Parking to get a closer look is very easy. There is metered street parking within a reasonable walking distance and well as tons of commercial parking lots and garages. And as I mentioned, it overlooks a parking lot itself. That is where I ended up parking at. Anyway, as with most mural that I have visited and reviewed, this is not a very long stop. I was there less than 5 minutes. You may want to consider planning out additional stops at many of the other murals in the area, or making this stop part of a larger itinerary to maximize your time and trip.

This is a very interesting mural that was commissioned by Enlighten Alaska, a cannabis dispensary…read morein Anchorage, who wanted to provide something awesome for the community and their customers. It is 13 feet high and 50 feet wide. This mural was painted in 2018 by Taylor Gallegos, who is the member of a band from Colorado called Voiceland Hop. He did the mural while he was in Anchorage for a show. It is a colorful an abstract piece. If you look closely, you can distinguish animals in the mural such as an elephant, an orca, an octopus, a wolf, a butterfly, and an owl. You will also see a woman in a yoga zen pose, another woman stretching with her arm out, and Earth, sun and moon. Some of the images you have to look real close to find. This is a very intriguing and unique. I really like this style. I also find it amazing that Gallegos does these murals in between performing while on tour. This mural is a bit outside of downtown and not near many of the State's attractions, but it is definitely worth seeing. Parking to get a closer look is very easy. There is free street parking along the street in front of the mural and the dispensary has a private lot on the side and the back. I parked on the lot on the side. Anyway, as with most murals that I have visited and reviewed, this is not a very long stop. I was there less than 5 minutes. You may want to consider planning out additional stops at many of the other attractions or making this stop part of a larger itinerary to maximize your time and trip. I came here after visiting Alaska Wild Berry Park Chocolate Store.

This mural is the work of William Kozloff. He painted it on the North (back) side of Seed Lab in…read more2020 as part of the Alaska Mural Project in collaboration with the Anchorage Downtown Partnership. The mural depicts a native Aleutian woman, known as an Unangan, holding a skinning knife and wearing a bag that is used for preserving seal meat until they could get it back to the village where it could be processed. Kozloff aimed to bring attention to the impact of colonization on the Aleutians and what he called "the Century of Servitude" I love the purple and teal color scheme used in the mural. It is defiantly attention grabbing. It has some fine detail and showcases Kozloff's talent. Parking to get a closer look is very easy. There is metered street parking within a reasonable walking distance and well as tons of commercial parking lots and garages. Anyway, as with most mural that I have visited and reviewed, this is not a very long stop. I was there less than 5 minutes. You may want to consider planning out additional stops at many of the other murals in the area, or making this stop part of a larger itinerary to maximize your time and trip.

This 40 foot wide by 20 foot high mural is the work of Daniel DeRoux. It is also known as Alaska's…read moreMount Rushmore and is prominently on the side of the 7th Ave parking garage. It took more than seven months to complete the project, 5 of which went into just the design. DeRoux uses 49 historic people, 73 communities and abundant wildlife that were carefully painted from old photographs into 512 small cells to make a picture of 4 prominent Alaska figures, the State's first governor, William Egan, the first two U.S. senators (Bob Bartlett and Ernest Gruening) and Robert Atwood who spearheaded the committee to make Alaska the 49th state. DeRoux's goal was to illustrate as many Alaska communities and regions as he could cram into the collage. You will find skiers, church steeples, mountain goats a person posing under arched jawbones from a bowhead whale, puffins, loons, a fox, and a Chilkat blanket pattern. There are also images of dozens of Alaskans involved in the history of the state mixed into the mural. I will admit that the background immage cells are a little hard to see without binoculars, but trust me, they are there. The detail of the mural is awesome and I am a huge fan of collage murals, and this is no exception. Parking to get a closer look is very easy. There is metered street parking within a reasonable walking distance and well as tons of commercial parking lots and garages. As I mentioned, it is on the side of a parking garage. Anyway, as with most mural that I have visited and reviewed, this is not a very long stop. I was there less than 5 minutes. You may want to consider planning out additional stops at many of the other attractions in the area such as the 5th Avenue Mall or Town Square Park, or making this stop part of a larger itinerary to maximize your time and trip.

This mural was painted by William Kozloff in 2020 and is on a side wall of the Seed Lab,…read moreoverlooking a parking lot. It is between two other murals. It depicts a native woman, with glasses, dressed in traditional garb, wearing some Bluetooth headphones and taking a selfie with her phone. The phones light is on and you can see "JUST" tattooed across the woman's fingers on the hand holding the phone. The word "JUST" is also behind her head. I do not know the backstory of the mural, but the murals on the Seed Lab walls have to do with either climate change or the State's indigenous history. I am assuming that this one falls under the latter. Artistically, it is a very nice piece that is in great shape. I like Kozloff's use of color in the mural. It is very vivid and the colors really compliment each other. Parking to get a closer look is very easy. There is metered street parking within a reasonable walking distance and well as tons of commercial parking lots and garages. And as I mentioned, it overlooks a parking lot itself. That is where I ended up parking at. Anyway, as with most mural that I have visited and reviewed, this is not a very long stop. I was there less than 5 minutes. You may want to consider planning out additional stops at many of the other murals in the area, or making this stop part of a larger itinerary to maximize your time and trip.