Anchorage is about to be a little less beige, thanks to a new grant program.
Mayor Suzanne LaFrance and the Anchorage Community Development Authority are spearheading the initiative called Beyond the Beige.
At a news conference downtown Wednesday, LaFrance and Mike Robbins, who leads the ACDA, awarded a total of $100,000 to five projects. The goal, Robbins said, is to bring color and creativity to a city that has earned a reputation for being particularly beige. Some joke that it’s Anchorage’s official color. There’s even an Instagram account, “Keep Anchorage Beige,” that documents the aesthetic.
“Well, what's here now is beige,” Robbins said, gesturing to the buildings around him. “In fact, if you look down the street here, down Third Avenue, almost every single one of the buildings is beige, except for the blue mall.”
Robbins spoke in front of the McKinley Tower, the site of one of the five upcoming projects: a new mural by renowned Tlingit /Athabascan artist Crystal Worl. The artwork, called “Raven Dreams of a Salmon Return,” will cover a sprawling 27-by-41-foot area on the south face of the tower.
The projects, Robbins said, will be good for both locals and tourists.
“Public art does more than make things look better,” he said. “It really brings energy to our streets. It supports local artists, small businesses, and it draws people into downtown. It gives our neighborhoods identity, and tells residents and visitors alike that this is a place worth being in.”
The other projects involve animal-shaped bike racks in Northeast Anchorage parks, an outdoor art gallery on downtown construction fencing and a new “Welcome to Anchorage” mural.
Plus, Anchorage Park Foundation received a grant for public art and cultural pop-ups in city parks and trails. The project is a collaboration between a number of local partners, including the Alaska Book Mobile. Michelle LeBeau, with Anchorage Park Foundation, said the funding will go toward two murals in Tikishla Park and Kiwanis Fish Creek Park, as well as a series of traveling community events, like bringing the Book Mobile to an ice skating rink and projecting a holiday movie.
“We really wanted to focus more on winter activities, and bring more light and community gatherings in our parks during the winter, and the Book Mobile was just an obvious partner for that,” LeBeau said.
Robbins said he expects to offer a new round of Beyond the Beige grants next year, hopefully with even more funding.
