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A mural is born

Published 10:30 pm Tuesday, August 10, 2021

By Dana Zigmund

Dana Zigmund / Capital City Weekly Shara Kay Diamond, left, of Anchorage and Chelsea Bighorn, right, of Sante Fe, apply paint to a section of a mural that will depict Elizabeth Kaaxgal.aat Peratrovich, a Tlingit civil rights icon. The mural is the work of Tlingit and Athabascan artist, designer, and activist Crystal Kaakeeyaa Worl. Kay Diamond and Bighorn are apprentices on the project. Right, local artist Crystal Kaakeeyaa Worl, center, and her apprentices, Shara Kay Diamond, left, and Chelsea Bighorn, right, assemble sections of the mural to apply paint in Worl’s downtown studio on Aug. 10.
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Dana Zigmund / Capital City Weekly

Shara Kay Diamond, left, of Anchorage and Chelsea Bighorn, right, of Sante Fe, apply paint to a section of a mural that will depict Elizabeth Kaaxgal.aat Peratrovich, a Tlingit civil rights icon. The mural is the work of Tlingit and Athabascan artist, designer, and activist Crystal Kaakeeyaa Worl. Kay Diamond and Bighorn are apprentices on the project. Right, local artist Crystal Kaakeeyaa Worl, center, and her apprentices, Shara Kay Diamond, left, and Chelsea Bighorn, right, assemble sections of the mural to apply paint in Worl’s downtown studio on Aug. 10.

Dana Zigmund / Capital City Weekly Shara Kay Diamond, left, of Anchorage and Chelsea Bighorn, right, of Sante Fe, apply paint to a section of a mural that will depict Elizabeth Kaaxgal.aat Peratrovich, a Tlingit civil rights icon. The mural is the work of Tlingit and Athabascan artist, designer, and activist Crystal Kaakeeyaa Worl. Kay Diamond and Bighorn are apprentices on the project. Right, local artist Crystal Kaakeeyaa Worl, center, and her apprentices, Shara Kay Diamond, left, and Chelsea Bighorn, right, assemble sections of the mural to apply paint in Worl’s downtown studio on Aug. 10.
Shara Kay Diamond, left, of Anchorage and Chelsea Bighorn, right, of Sante Fe, apply paint to a section of a mural that will depict Elizabeth Kaaxgal.aat Peratrovich, a Tlingit civil rights icon. The mural is the work of Tlingit and Athabascan artist, designer, and activist Crystal Kaakeeyaa Worl. Kay Diamond and Bighorn are apprentices on the project. (Dana Zigmund/Juneau Empire)
Local artist Crystal Kaakeeyaa Worl, center, and her apprentices, Shara Kay Diamond, left, and Chelsea Bighorn, right, assemble sections of the mural to apply paint in Worl’s downtown studio on August 10. (Dana Zigmund/Juneu Empire)

Soon, a new mural depicting Elizabeth Kaaxgal.aat Peratrovich, a Tlingit civil rights icon, will greet visitors approaching downtown Juneau by water.

Once complete, the work will appear on the currently blank south wall of the Marine Parking garage, the structure on which the downtown branch of Juneau’s public library sits.

But, first Tlingit and Athabascan artist, designer, and activist Crystal Kaakeeyaa Worl and her apprentices must prepare each piece for installation —an intricate process that kicked off this week.

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The pieces of the 60-by 20-foot mural arrived earlier this week from a printer in Philadelphia. In a downtown studio, Worl and her team are doing the painstaking work of applying layers of paint to the pieces that will eventually come together to create the mural.

On Tuesday afternoon, Worl said she was happy with the team’s progress as they hung large pieces of the mural from the wall. The artists followed a smaller version of the mural that split each section into a grid as a guide for their work.

Depending on the weather, Worl expects to install the mural beginning Aug. 17 and to complete it by Aug. 23.

Worl said she is worried that recent rainy weather could slow installation and cause the project to incur extra expenses. She said her GoFundMe campaign is still active.

• Contact reporter Dana Zigmund at dana.zigmund@juneauempire.com or 907-308-4891.

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