‘Continuing that change’: Downtown Anchorage unveils new mural

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Take a walk through downtown Anchorage, and it won’t be long before you find yourself looking at one of the city’s murals lining A street.

Now, a new piece can be counted in that list.

“Borrowed” is a new mural placed on the side of the Anchorage Museum Seed Lab. Created by Anchorage tattoo artist Winter Osbourne, the piece depicts salmon weaving in and out of the visage of a woman.

“It’s the interrelationship of the human species and fish species and our relationship also to the land and waters of Alaska,” said Johnny Hayes, a designer with the Anchorage Museum.

He’s been a part of the designing process for many of the murals created in downtown Anchorage over the last few years.

“There’s small ones, there’s large ones, there’s a number of local artists and the visiting artists who are working on [them],” he said. “It’s definitely increasing and we’re excited about that.”

Melinda Gant, External & Community Affairs Director for the Anchorage Community Development Authority, says Osbourne’s piece was selected for display as part of the Park It Forward grant program, which seeks to provide Anchorage community members with funding for projects to help breathe new life into the city.

“The best part I love about these downtown murals is there’s no barriers,” she said. “People can enjoy and walk and see these beautiful murals without having to enter into a building or time limits, they can come anytime and enjoy our beautiful murals in downtown.”

Unlike other murals lining downtown, which are painted directly onto the sides of buildings, “Borrowed” is digitally printed onto several panels, which are then attached to the Seed Lab.

According to Hayes, this process helps prevent weather conditions from wearing on the mural.

“As many people know, Alaska is subject to seasonal change. Paints and adhesive tend to not work at different temperatures or in inclement weather,” he said.

“This is a process that we feel very confident we can create murals in Anchorage, Alaska year-round.”

While this is the last mural project for the year, Gant said Park It Forward is accepting applications for their 2027 grant program.

“We are definitely looking for activity and to just make it a vibrant place, and it doesn’t have to be art,” she said.

“The other part that we haven’t seen yet, and would love to see, is that people can also add greenery, chairs, improvement on their facade of their buildings, and again, that builds up where people want to go past their business all year round.”

Park It Forward’s application and requirements to receive funding can be found on their website. The deadline for applying is Nov. 30, 2026.

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