If you visit downtown Ferndale, be sure to check out the City Annex on 5694 Second Avenue. Just off the main street entrance, a mural explodes out into a starburst of colors. Further into town on 5900 Church Road is “Dainty Houses,” a water tank and pump house painted to look like two quaint, pink and teal houses complete with hanging vines, sunflowers and a friendly-looking dog.

Both murals were done this past summer as part of the downtown mural project led by Councilmember Rebecca Xczar and the Ferndale Arts Commission.

“They’re all part of the Arts Commission’s goal to beautify Ferndale,” Xczar says.

Xczar was inspired by a session meeting in Yakima, where an interesting question was raised: How many spots in your city are Instagram-worthy?

Xczar initially dismissed the idea, but soon realized that a big part of modern tourism was identifying photograph-worthy places. On the five-hour ride home, she brainstormed with other councilmembers and came up with the idea to create murals.

She brought the project to the Arts Commission and offered to do most of the legwork.

Ferndale has struggled with tourism in the past, Xczar says, so it’s especially important to brainstorm ways to beautify the area.

“I think it’s a relatively inexpensive way to really spruce up our downtown area,” she says of the murals which are somewhat of a collaboration between artist and property owner. Xczar thought the city should lead by example and picked the City Annex building as the first place to start the project.

The City Annex Mural is designed by Todd Bruce from Bellingham’s Chameleon Ink. Bruce is a friend of Xczar and Kyle Deming, a fellow Ferndale Arts Commissioner. Despite the summer heat and a day of surprise rain, Bruce worked with volunteers to complete the piece.

His colorful design was meant to brighten the environment and encourage people to stop, look and take pictures.

“Honestly, my favorite moment was every time somebody stopped by and just sort of stared at it,” Bruce says.

The City Annex mural is Xczar’s favorite so far. For her, it’s something different.

“The interaction and comradery and the people being there for the purpose of doing something cool and doing something pretty for the city was a very cool experience,” she says.

Dainty Houses was designed by Guyan Cool, a Ferndale Arts Commissioner and Ferndale High School senior. Cool’s history with the town’s murals goes back to last summer, when the Arts Commission held a contest to paint a water reservoir on Vista and Thornton. Cool’s design, a colorful illustration of Hovander Park, Pioneer Park and Riverfront Park, won the contest. Ferndale studio artist Karen Theusen, who painted many other murals in Whatcom County, worked with him to perfect and design the space. Cool joined the Arts Commission through the process.

Dainty Houses went through several concepts. One of his ideas was to turn the water tank and pump house into a giant salt and pepper shaker. He often passes the area on his way home from school and realized he could brighten the area with lots of color.

The rain was a problem – sometimes running their paint – but the team solved it by painting ivy over dripping areas. One of the volunteers even painted her name on the dog’s collar. One of Cool’s favorite moments was eating pizza and talking art with everyone after they finished painting for the day.

“It was cool to see everyone come together and do something for the community,” Cool says.

Mural season is brief because of the weather, so the project sticks to painting in the summer. Budgeting can be a challenge, though, and Xczar keeps herself busy well into fall and winter because of it. In the future, she wants to help financially support artists better.

“As much as I would like every property owner to pay the artist directly, I don’t expect that everyone can or will be willing to, and I don’t want that to be a disqualifying factor,” Xczar says. “So if I have to fundraise or find sponsors, I want plenty of time before summer comes to get that done, which is why I’m pushing for it now.”

Next summer, she plans to get five murals made.

“In the end, we’ll create a walking tour of the murals, and probably print brochures or have online maps where you can walk around and see them all,” Xczar says. “That would be fun!”