Mural Reflecting Northside’s Values of Inclusivity and Unity Coming to MacArthur Avenue in Bellevue

Aliza Sterling, owner of True North Yoga and Wellness on Richmond’s Northside, is working in conjunction with artist Nico Cathcart to create a massive mural on the north elevation of her shop on MacArthur Avenue that will extend from the sidewalk to the alley.  Plans for this undertaking have been in the works for more than a year.

“Nico and I talked about a year and a half ago about doing a mural on the side wall of True North Yoga and Wellness,” says Aliza.

The initial seed for the mural came to Aliza from a song. Words from Ani DiFranco’s “Overlap” planted themselves deep in her brain, and she would repeat them inwardly almost like a mantra. “I know there is strength in the differences between us. And I know there is comfort where we overlap.” This strand of syllables seemed to capture the strange place we find ourselves in during this here and now, where common ground seems to be disappearing like a shoreline on a neap tide.

“The idea is that it would be talking about unity,” says Aliza. “I think that that’s a very important topic right now, and we’re trying to figure out the exact mural that feels right for the Northside community and show a unity among our community.”

Aliza and Nico are standing on the sidewalk outside True North, and move to the northern edge of the building. They invite me to imagine a sweeping mural that will run from the front of the building all the way to the back.

Nico talks about some of the visual concepts for the mural she and Aliza have been mulling over. “We had been talking a lot about incorporating a rainbow to represent the LGBTQ community, and actually using the word unity in the mural,” Nico tells me. “I’m also probably going to use some of my birds.” Nico pauses for a moment, and then says, “I’m actually an artist who’s going deaf.  I’m hard of hearing, and I often use birds as a way to talk about my disability, so we are going to incorporate a bird or two in there.”

Later, Aliza tells me that the mural will also include a reference to the Black Lives Matter movement. In the end, the mural will reflect the diversity and inclusivity that define the Northside community. “I couldn’t be more excited for this mural and about working with Nico,” Aliza says. “But we need the support of the community in a big way to make this idea a reality.”

You can help make this dream become a reality by visiting their GoFundMe link at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/mural-for-unity?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1