Soap Lake gets new mural by local artist

SOAP LAKE — The Soap Lake Creative District Planning Committee and the Friends of the Lower Grand Coulee commissioned and installed a mural by local artist Emma Buchanan in downtown Soap Lake Saturday morning.

Buchanan said her mother told her the committee was putting together a short list of community projects to start this year, including a mural.

“I thought it would be fun, so I came up with something, presented it, and they liked it, and so I did the mural,” Buchanan said. “I wanted it to be very colorful and bright so I did…an abstract kind of image of Soap Lake currently.”

Buchanan said she moved to Soap Lake with her family three years ago and that she loves the town.

“I just kind of wanted to showcase the beauty and greatness of having Soap Lake right here,” she said.

Ruthann Tobiason, FLGC secretary and member of the Soap Lake CD Planning Committee, said the city of Soap Lake and the FLGC wanted to get started on community projects even though the Soap Lake Creative District has not been officially formed yet.

“We just decided as a group that while we were in the long process of preparing our application to the state to get creative district designation, there was no reason to wait to start doing some things that we kind of wanted to do,” Tobiason said.

The mural was a popular option at committee meetings.

“We knew from a survey we took of the local community in February this year that a mural was something that several people (wanted),” Tobiason said. “A lot of people nominated a thing, like, ‘we want this creative sort of thing to happen,’ but a mural was number one.”

According to a statement from the planning committee, the 21-foot by 8-foot mural depicts a view of Soap Lake looking north from the perspective of someone standing on the south shore of the lake. The mural was mounted on wood panels that were secured to the building at 321 Main St. E.

“It's in a pretty prominent position in town, right across the street from the theater. it's in a really good spot,” Tobiason said. “The building that it's hanging on, the building owner said, ‘Sure, you can use this space,’ because the building itself is more or less just a shell…so it's a really nice thing to do with a vacant space, to make use of it and have something that the community can enjoy.”

The public paid for paint and materials.

“We paid half and then the community contributed to bring us up to the total amount, which was about $1,000,” Tobiason said.

The planning committee has already seen a positive response from the community regarding the mural, Tobiason said.

“We're hoping that we can do more projects similar to this in the future,” she said.

This is the first time Buchanan, a graduate of Big Bend Community College, has taken on a project this size, according to the planning committee statement. She said she would absolutely be open to working with the committee again.

“I think it's great that they're trying to make Soap Lake a creative district and bring more artists together in the community,” Buchanan said.

Tobiason is the primary contact and liaison between the planning committee and the Washington State Arts Commission, which administers the creative district designation process. The process is long and complex, said Tobiason, but the designation is intended to benefit Soap Lake economically and creatively.

“It will give us access to funding that has been set aside specifically to promote the creative economy,” Tobiason said. “So they immediately give you some money at the beginning to help you get the start promoting and marketing your district.”

Tobiason elaborated on other opportunities through the commission for training and assisting local businesses.

“A lot of it's going to be about trying to help people figure out how to market themselves, how to sell, how to work collaboratively to the benefit of each other, and maybe some more startup-type grants could become available,” Tobiason said. “One thing I also noticed is that there are funding sources that aren't specifically tied to creative district programs, but if you are a creative district it increases your chances of qualifying for these other grants.”

Tobiason said the planning committee and FLGC hope to submit their application, the last step in the creative district designation process, during the first quarter of 2024.

Gabriel Davis may be reached at gdavis@columbiabasinherald.com. Download the Columbia Basin Herald app on iOS and Android.