In August 2023, eight world-class muralists and more than 4,000 people flooded the Bellingham waterfront for the inaugural Noisy Waters Mural Festival. Attendees voted for their favorite artists and three winners received cash contracts for new murals in downtown Bellingham.
One year later, Noisy Waters is returning for a second season Aug. 16–18 at the waterfront. It features a brand-new crop of artists from North America and Europe, all of whom muralist and festival co-founder Gretchen Leggitt describes as “jaw-dropping” talents.
But the festival is about more than murals alone: Named for the Lhaq’temish word Xwot’qom (Whatcom), translating to “noisy waters,” the festival aims to “make noise in Bellingham” through a wide range of creative expression. This includes a maker’s market, mural tours, workshops and even an upcycled fashion show.
Noisy Waters is orchestrated by Paper Whale, a Bellingham-based community accelerator “dedicated to activating underutilized spaces by uplifting voices through art and culture.” Co-founded by Leggitt and Nick Hartrich, the nonprofit also organizes an artist speaker series, the Fire and Story Festival, and ongoing activations and installations throughout Bellingham.
“The mission of Paper Whale is multi-sensory placemaking,” Leggitt said. “Bellingham has such a creative community made up of layers of different talents. I think the opportunity to showcase that makes this event nonlinear, and it makes it robust — just like Bellingham.”
Artist overview
Eight artists were selected from 175 applications to participate in the 2024 festival. These muralists will compete in a “friendly art battle” by live-painting 8-by-8 squares throughout the weekend. Community members vote for their favorites, and the top three artists receive cash contracts to paint walls in proximity to downtown Bellingham.
“Finalists were selected on the merits of their experience and the quality of work in their portfolio,” Leggitt explained. “We also wanted to recognize a diverse and inclusive body of work.”
After the success of the 2023 Noisy Waters event, Leggitt said muralists went home and “spread word to their communities,” thus attracting even more talent in 2024. This year’s crop of artists originates from across North America, and one muralist, Martin Plag, is from the Netherlands.
Makayla Binter is a North Carolina-based artist and muralist who discovered Noisy Waters via Instagram. She was attracted to the festival’s community-oriented nature and broad reach.
“One of the main reasons I submitted was because I connect a lot with artists in Charlotte, but I wanted to experience that same [artistic] community in a different city,” she said, “but then still offer what my community has, see what their community has and see ways that we can overlap.
The festival also makes space for emerging voices. This year they’re introducing “Exquisite Portraits,” wherein six runner-up artists from Washington and B.C. will live-paint whimsical, smaller-scale artworks to be displayed on cut-out stands throughout the Portal Village.
The Indigiversal Collective, a group of Native artists representing tribes across North America, is also back for a second season. In 2023, artists from seven tribes completed a 160-foot mural in front of the Granary Building. Several will return to mentor a new group of first-time muralists, who will then live-paint a triptych to be installed on the waterfront’s alcohol plant.
Rather than painting directly onto the building, Hartrich said the collective will create this triptych on festival grounds to be installed later. This way, he said, community members can walk right up to the art, engage with muralists and truly “be a part of the process.”
Global talent, local identity
Through events like Noisy Waters, Paper Whale connects world-class talent to the City of Bellingham.
“There’s a fair bit of question around, ‘What is your commitment to local artists at this festival?’, and I think we look at that two ways,” Hartrich said. “We are trying to elevate the bar for public art in Bellingham. I liken it to, if we only heard local music and local bands … I think our range for what is available out there in the music world, the art world, would be pretty limited.”
But Paper Whale also fosters talent close to home, both through the festival and other community events. In the lead-up to Noisy Waters, the organization facilitated live painting events at all five Downtown Sounds concerts.
“We really do want to have representation of local creatives at this festival,” Leggitt said. “So although the finalists are not local, these supplemental art installations — including the Indigiversal Collective and the Exquisite Portraits — are representative of locals.”
When choosing this year’s finalists, the selection panel also considered how muralists’ artwork would align with Bellingham’s existing identity. Leggitt said three of this year’s chosen artists — Plag, Nora Bruhn and John McPartland — paint in a realist style, with Bruhn’s work focusing on flora.
“One of the most striking elements of our environment in the Pacific Northwest is the abundance of greenery and nature,” Leggitt said. “And I think all three of these artists are able to capture that iconography in an absolutely stunning manner.”
Panelists also sought out artists who could bring new styles to the table. All 2023 artists worked in a representational style; this year, however, selected muralist Graham Carraway creates what Leggitt described as “beautiful, illustrative typography.”
“Each of our artists really do have super talents — and each of them are able to fit their fit their voice into our community,” Leggitt said.
Other events and activities
In addition to live painting, this year’s Noisy Waters features a Saturday maker’s market, community yoga and an upcycled fashion show. Kulshan Trackside will host an all-ages beer garden, and live DJs and local bands — including Energy Pyramid, Cat Valley and Hot Damn Scandal — will provide music throughout the weekend.
Many festival elements are interactive and curated towards budding artists. Local artist Max McNett will lead a 45-minute “spray camp” workshop every day of the festival, and young visitors are invited to free-paint on two open walls. Leggitt herself will lead by-donation mural tours on Saturday and Sunday.
By offering this breadth of activities, Paper Whale hopes to ensure the festival is welcoming to all ages and demographics. Hartrich said he’s excited to showcase Bellingham’s “gem of a waterfront,” whether folks attend from out of state or just across town.
What’s more, community enthusiasm for last year’s Noisy Waters extended beyond the festival weekend. Community members commissioned three murals in addition to Paper Whale’s prize allocation: Shogo Ota’s raven at the Portal Container Village, Emily Beaudoin’s sunflowers at Greene’s Corner and Drift Mural Co.’s firefighter mural on the Railroad Avenue ESO Building. Erika Rosendale also collaborated with Leggitt on her 85-foot kelp mural at The Jake apartments.
Hartrich and Leggitt hope to see the same ripple effects in 2024. “It was incredibly powerful to see the community show up after the festival and really pick up on the wild talents of the artists that we brought to the festival last year,” Leggitt said.
This, Hartrich added, is ultimately Paper Whale’s mission: “We want to bring people to a space that’s currently under-utilized, and inspire them to play a role in helping transform Bellingham into the beautiful community it can be.”
The Noisy Waters Mural festival runs Aug. 16–18 at the Bellingham waterfront. Info: noisywatersmuralfest.com.
Cocoa Laney is CDN’s lifestyle editor; reach her at cocoalaney@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 128.
