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Valley of Murals Offers Artistic Civics Lesson

If you prefer your history on the go‚ check out the Valley of Murals.

A project of the Puyallup Heritage Art Foundation‚ the tour features 20 murals in and around Puyallup depicting scenes and people from the region’s history. Begun in 1999‚ the idea was to find a way to depict the area’s past so that it would have maximum impact‚ says Diane Kienholz‚ president of the foundation.

“Lots of cities have murals‚ and our sister cities of Sumner and Orting did‚ but we didn’t have any‚” Kienholz says. “So we raised a bunch of money‚ selected the artists and got going. Once they started to get finished‚ we did the brochure so that people could take a little history tour.”

Painted from photographs‚ live models and other sources‚ the murals cover a wide range of subjects. The foundation also has invested in some statues‚ including one near the farmers’ market depicting a berry grower.

“We had a farmer who was a very reluctant model for that‚” Kienholz says. “But he passed on a few years later‚ and his family was just thrilled that it got done.”

Some of the murals are painted on brick walls‚ while others are mounted on raised surfaces. They dot the area‚ from the fairgrounds to the train station‚ so that as they have grown in number‚ they’re increasingly hard to miss.

“We did a lot of research so that we’d be able to have them done to withstand the elements‚” Kienholz says. “We went and looked at some others‚ so we learned a lot about what not to do as well as what we wanted to do.”

In addition to the murals‚ the tour brochure also points out places of historical interest‚ such as Meeker Mansion‚ so it makes for a well-rounded sampling of area history. The foundation currently is fundraising for future efforts‚ but available surfaces are starting to be hard to come by.

“We’ve run out of walls‚” Kienholz says. “We’ve got a couple of murals that we’d love to do‚ and some prominent walls are still there‚ but the owners haven’t said ‘yes’ yet.”

Story by Joe Morris

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