Shirley Prouty was inspired in May 2006 by a carved wood mural she saw in Winthrop.
An active member of the Stillaguamish Valley Pioneer Association, Prouty approached the SVPA and asked them if they would be interested in having a similar work of art on the museum grounds. The pioneers agreed to host the mural but offered no financial support.
Prouty was joined by Michelle and Steve Heiderer in pursuing the project with a flurry of fundraising efforts, grant writing and research. The Stillaguamish Watershed mural evolved into a Welcome Center when the Stillaguamish Tribe got involved. They provided funds to commission an artist to carve 12 poles for a shelter to cover the mural. They hired a Lummi Tribe carver, Jewel James to carve the poles that tell the traditional salmon story with two welcome figures (a man and a woman), the five species of salmon, an eagle and other critters.
The shelter design by Steve Heiderer is inspired by Northwest Native tradition.
With help from the Tribe and cartographer Kerry Lyste, the team spent the next two years identifying Stillaguamish Tribal gathering places and pioneer activities in the watershed before 1910 to be included on the map.
The intent was to show the Stillagaumish watershed in its entirety, with enough adjacent landmarks for reference points, Prouty said.
Now nearing completion, the 5-by-10-foot carving by Methow Valley artist Bruce Morrison covers 43 miles from east to west and 34 miles from north to south, including the mouth of the river at Port Susan to the east face of DelCampo Peak which is 6,680 feet tall, and Gothic and Vesper peaks and the headwaters of the south fork of the Stilly.
“The mountain topography is very complex and I am in the thick of carving this now,” Morrison said, in an update to the organizers by e-mail recently. Darrington and Darrington Mountain are included even though they are in the Sauk River watershed.
“This allows depiction of the headwaters of the North Fork of the Stilly as it bends due north just west of Darrington,” Morrison said.
“There will be a very little noticable distortion of topography,” added the sculptor.
The northern boundary of the mural includes Mount Higgins, Lake Cavanaugh and the Skagit Delta. The southern edge of the mural cuts across the mouth of the Snohomish River at Everett and brushes the edge of Spada Lake, including all of Mt. Pilchuck. While Monte Cristo drains into the Sauk River, it is included on the map’s southeast corner.
“Because this project is seen to be a tourist attraction, we decided it must include the Mountain Loop Highway,” Prouty explained.
Morrison works with another artist, Rose Jones, who paints details onto the map. Another finishing touch to the mural will be little brass fish that will identify tribal gathering places in the watershed. Organizers just recently learned that City Council approved their request for a $1,150 Lodging Tax grant to commission the fish. But they still need about $22,000 to build the roof over the beautiful work of art.
City approves
funding of lodging tax grants
Along with the SVPA’s request for funds for its Welcome Center, the city of Arlington also approved an Arlington School District request for $3,240 to create a video about Arlington and its events by the high school’s new video class.
• Downtown Arlington Business Association will receive $13,000 for marketing its events.
• Arlington-Smokey Point Chamber of Commerce will receive over $16,000.
• Snohomish County Fall Farming Festival will receive $5,000.
• Byrnes Performing Arts Center gets $28,000 for its Web site and for booking and advertising acts.
• City of Arlington gets $23,000 toward a visitor information center with public restrooms and another $5,350 for its summer outdoor recreation events including music and Shakespeare in the park.
• Arlington Fly-In will receive $34,500 for advertising and promotions.
• Only the Arlington Arts Council was rejected for its request for $6,270 to reproduce the original art banners to decorate the streets of Arlington on the grounds that the banners would not attract overnight visitors.
Pioneer Museum reopens
After its annual two month respite, the Stillaguamish Valley Pioneer Museum, at 20722 67th Ave. NE, in Arlington, is now open again for its regularly schedule hours,
1 – 4 p.m., Saturday, Sunday and Wednesdays, and for group tours by appointment. Call 360-435-7289.
