The Ryther basketball court is getting a makeover! Ryther is a licensed mental health organization that serves kids, teens, young adults, and their families. With a history spanning over 135 years, Ryther lives today on a 9-acre campus along Thornton Creek in North Seattle, complete with offices, sensory spaces, nature refuges, and residential cottages. This year, LINK surveyed staff and community members to learn what themes they’d like to see in their next big mural, and guest artist Tori Shao has used their responses to create a beautiful, plant-packed design to brighten up the wall of their sheltered basketball court.
On May 18th, LINK students, family, friends, volunteers, and Ryther community members will come together to paint the mural with music, food, and lots of brushes.
Students, RSVP by Thursday, May 2nd at 8pm. Family and friends are welcome to join in -- the more painters we have, the more fun it will be! If you’re bringing guests, please sign them up through the guest form by Monday, May 6th so we’ll know how many people are coming. We'll send everyone a reminder & prep email 2-3 days before the workshop.
TIMING: LINK students will attend from 10am - 3:00pm, but volunteers and community members will be invited to join a shift between 10am - 4:30pm to spread out the mural engagement.
SAFETY: Ladders and scaffolding will be part of the mural painting process. There will be some parts of the mural that are possible to paint without ladders, but always make sure to follow all safety guidelines when painting!
Tori Shao is a Seattle-based illustrator and landscape architect. In both practices, her work is inspired by our cultural and ecological relations to objects, plants, cultural histories, and one another. Both and raised in Washington, her work spans various mediums and is especially informed by the diversity of ecologies, geology, flora and fauna of the state.