CANTON ALLEY MURALS
On view from January 29, 2024 in the Canton Alleyway
ABOUT THE MURAL
Untitled, 2024
Sami & Shea
Latex and acrylic paint on wood
The pheasant brings a lullaby lesson, “Be safe out there. Keep creating genuine expressions of yourselves and the environments you find yourself in. Stand up for yourself over and over again and be true."
On September 14, 2023, this Canton Alley Historic Storefront was subject to a hate crime attack. Community volunteers quickly boarded up the damaged windows. Artists Sami and Shea created this mural in January 2024.
The artists drew inspiration for the pheasant from a traditional Chinese platter that they found at the Sun May Company, located across the Alley. In Chinese culture, the pheasant means beauty, divinity, power, and good fortune. The artists expand on this meaning, “(The pheasant) is a reminder that life is sacred, and how that is the driving force for liberation.” Here in Canton Alley, the pheasant comes as protector with strength and liberation. Its wings are made of many feathers, echoing that individuals are part of the collective, and with that comes strength.
The vibrant, colorful dreamscape gives inspiration and hope, carrying into the dreams of the night, but the artists also point out the importance of place within Canton Alley itself and amidst the hate crime. “There is beauty that comes from healing the oppression and not looking away... We’re more than the ways we are hurt. There is an active choice in how we respond as community, people who care for one another and our present histories.”
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Sami and Shea have collaborated on other murals, such as one at the former site of Thai Curry Simple near 5th and Jackson in the Chinatown-International District.
Shea’s mural portraits of Donnie Chin and George Washington Carver also appear at an International Community Health Service site and the Black Farmers Collective YES Farm respectively. Sami is a commissioned artist at Bike Works Seattle in Columbia City and working on personal projects with others.
Both are former Wing Luke Museum Education Guides, joining staff around 2016-2020 after participating in the Museum’s high school youth artist leadership program YouthCAN.
