Mural to be painted on Wilsonville’s Memorial Park skate park

An artist has been selected for the new mural coming to the skate park in Memorial Park this summer.

The Wilsonville Arts, Culture and Heritage Commission chose artist Abigail Penfold for the project at a meeting Wednesday, May 22. Her design features nature and animals from around the Willamette Valley, depicting a story of wildlife building a skateboard across the park walls.

Penfold’s mural will include nine images on walls wrapping around the skate park. Each wall will show a picture of animals or insects carrying a piece of a skateboard, such as squirrels foraging for “nuts” for the board and insects carrying a screw. One wall has the creature’s final product, with a wooden skateboard reading “Wilsonville Memorial Park Skatepark.”

According to the staff report, compensation for the mural will be $15,000 including labor, materials and lodging. Wilsonville Arts & Culture Program Coordinator Erika Valentine said in an email the mural will be funded through a grant from the Wilsonville-Metro Community Enhancement Program.

Valentine said in the email that the skate park project has been in the works for over a year and began with 50 applications from muralists. Applicants were narrowed down over time and the top four submitted design proposals to be considered at the May 22 meeting.

The other designs included a landscape painting with generic scenes from Wilsonville and surrounding areas, a brightly colored checkerboard style design featuring Wilsonville landmarks and an image of a person “pushing forward” on a skateboard overlaid by colorful abstract designs.

The commission approved Penfold’s design, with notes to ask the artist to include some brighter colors, more detailed depictions of the trees and other nature to match the detailed animal portrayal of animals.

Austin Barnes, who runs the Wilsonville Skatepark Association and served on the selection panel for the mural, said in an interview that Penfold’s design connects to skateboarding and the Wilsonville community well.

“(The design) tells a little story about the park. It teaches you something about how a skateboard is built and the components, it shows you animals in their native habitat that also might be around Memorial Park,” Barnes said. “I think it just fits the setting, really.”

Barnes also noted that when the top four designs were posted on the Wilsonville Skatepark Association social media, Penfold’s design was well-received in many comments.

Painting for the mural is anticipated to begin in June and be completed in August, in time for the Skate Jam event on Aug. 24. More information about Penfold’s work can be found on her website.