Experience Chehalis holds dedication ceremony for 'Nature's Library' mural at Vernetta Smith Chehalis Timberland Library

Dozens of people showed up for the “Nature’s Library” mural dedication ceremony at the Vernetta Smith Chehalis Timberland Library on Thursday.

The mural is the 13th completed as part of a mural project by Experience Chehalis that started in 2017, Executive Director Annalee Tobey said.

“We’ve been picking little spots here and there to beautify our community with some art and vitality,” Tobey said.

The mural is located along the wall behind the Vernetta Smith Chehalis Timberland Library in the library’s drive-thru area. It was painted by artist Susan Clark, who was born in Alaska but raised in Western Washington.

The mural features a variety of local wildflowers painted on a blue background. It is also interactive, with 27 different animals hidden in various places on the mural for children to find, some plainly obvious while others are more difficult to spot.

“It was a lot of fun doing this project … My kiddos helped me come up with all of the little animals in their hiding spots,” Clark said.

The animals are all local to Southwest Washington, including salmon, a deer, a racoon and even one animal specifically local to Chehalis — a neighborhood cat named Felix who frequents the Vernetta Smith Chehalis Timberland Library and made friends with Clark while she worked on the mural.

“There was a cat who kept visiting and I kept having to shoo away away from me cause I was nervous he was going to walk in (the paint),” Clark said. “Felix the cat, I guess, comes to the library often and sit on their little window, so the library staff had the idea, ‘What if we added him in?’”

Library staff created a brochure with a guide showing what 27 animals are featured in the mural.

“Making it interactive actually makes it really exciting for the library,” Experience Chehalis Outreach Coordinator Jessica Kinney said.

Experience Chehalis partnered not only with the library but also with the City of Chehalis to complete this mural.

The Vernetta Smith Chehalis Timberland Library is located at 400 N. Market Blvd. in downtown Chehalis.

For the locations of the other 12 murals that are part of Experience Chehalis’ mural project, visit https://experiencechehalis.com/murals/ .