The corner of 43rd and University Way comes to life with Stevie Shao’s mural

By Renee Diaz

On the corner of 43rd Street and University Way stands three orange walls adorned with a dancing wolf and a sea snake, both accompanied by bright yellow flowers and whimsical butterflies. Facing 15th Street next to the University Book Store, one of the walls shouts “Be Boundless” in curvy, groovy letters. This mural is the Ave’s newest addition and is here to stay.

Illustrator and muralist Stevie Shao is the mastermind behind the Ave’s latest transformation. Shao, a Seattle native, uses bold colors and motifs from ancient folklore to create unique, vibrant pieces.

“I work to incorporate a universe [of] characters from folktales, drawing inspiration from historic illustration styles, my Chinese background, and my interest in storytelling to represent these creatures, their relationships, and the meaning we instill in their portrayal,” Shao said in an email.

Back in 2020, Melissa Englund, UW’s director of advancement marketing & communications strategy, met with the Seattle-based nonprofit Urban ArtWorks to hold their first meeting.

Paul Nunn, the projects director of Urban ArtWorks, stated that UW wanted a mural that was interactive for the neighborhood.

“We wanted an authentic expression from an artist, keeping it around ‘being boundless’ without it looking like a UW billboard,” Nunn said.

Urban ArtWorks has collaborated with more than 2,000 youth and adult artists to create murals and public art installations across Seattle and 10 other cities. Their mission is to engage youth and communities in creating public art that inspires connections and honors their voices. Urban ArtWorks hosts apprentice programs throughout the year where young people work alongside professional teaching artists to research, design, and install public murals in the greater Seattle area. In addition, they have worked with the U District Partnership in the past to install murals in the University District.

After UW and Urban ArtWorks decided on the location of the new mural, Shao was selected as the designer for the project.

Amanda Hashagen, the executive director of Urban ArtWorks, has worked with Shao in the past for other Urban ArtWorks murals in Seattle.

“Stevie did her first permanent mural with us in 2020, and since that time, Stevie has exploded,” Hashagen said. “Her murals are all over the city now, some through us, [but] mostly on her own. To see her make her own way in the world has been really cool. We will continue to work with her and showcase her work as she becomes a bigger artist in the region.”

In the summer of 2022, Urban ArtWorks and Shao finally started work on the mural. With the help of NOVO Painting & Property Services, the walls of the second-hand clothing store, Crossroads, were painted bright orange for the mural’s background. After months of work, Shao and her team finished the mural during the U-District $4 Food Walk in early October, taking advantage of the closed streets to add the mural’s finishing touches.

Shao used the building as a canvas, starting with an empty slate and transforming it into a treasure that everyone can see and share. The mural’s design specifically is based on a Norse story about two siblings: a giant sea snake and a giant wolf.

“Growing up in the north end of Seattle, Norse mythology was prominent in the cultural fabric of my life in early years, and the imagery often translates to similar stories across cultures,” Shao wrote. “Seeing the similarities in symbology and storytelling from tradition to tradition is beautiful and significant.”

Shao left her mark in the U-District not just with her vivid mural, but with hidden easter eggs as well — if you look closely, you might find a couple of her stickers plastered in random places or a pair of orange glasses drilled into the wall.

So, as we continue into fall, and the cold, wet days set in, Stevie Shao’s vibrant mural is a welcoming and warming addition to the U-District.