Movement and Stillness
Artist: Glynn Rosenberg
A Sea-Themed Mural Takes Shape at Aya Yoga Oasis
by Josefin Kannin
Earlier this year, Aya Yoga Oasis owner Carrie Johnson selected Seattle-based artist Glynn Rosenberg (they/them) to create a sea-themed mural on the wall of the building facing Second Avenue. The work began July 8.
The mural is part of The Burien Mural Art Program, a joint initiative between Urban Artworks and the City of Burien. It is funded by a $200,000 grant from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to beautify local businesses, attract visitors, and create a sense of community. In all, 12 murals will be created along several commercial corridors in downtown Burien.
The City partnered with Urban Artworks to run a citizen survey to determine what kind of murals people wanted to see. “The results indicated what is important to the community, and helped inform our artist and selection process,” said Alex Nason, project director at Urban Artworks. “Community connection and nature were the top choices on the survey. No one had any interest in seeing things about religion or politics.”
Once the survey was complete, Urban Artworks put out a call to artists. “There were 180 submissions for 12 murals,” Alex said. “We narrowed it down to a pool of 30 artists that business owners can choose from. There’s no cost to the property owner and they get two years of maintenance as well.”
“I’m one of the first artists to paint a mural,” said Glynn, a multi-media artist who uses plant and animal forms to explore human relationships with nature.
They are familiar with the city, having previously worked with Mural Masters – an annual, Burien-based graffiti and mural festival – to paint a temporary mural in the downtown area.
“Carrie’s main concept for the piece was sea life and sea creatures, and more specifically movement and that being the tie to yoga,” Glynn said. “I chose animals that move in interesting ways. Jellyfish and octopus come to mind because of jet propulsion and movement. Also animals that we don’t think of as moving; coral and sea stars, which normally are clamped onto surfaces at low tide but also can move pretty quickly. As in yoga, some are very active, whereas with others there’s a lot of stillness. I wanted to focus on both stillness and movement as the full connection to the yoga process.”
Environmental considerations often factor into Glynn’s choice of featured plants and animals. By choosing local animals and plants to paint, they hope to draw attention to threatened species in the Pacific Northwest.
The mural includes bull kelp – which creates forest-like marine habitats essential for the survival of other species. The sunflower sea star – a threatened local species that glides over surfaces using a unique inflation and deflation of its many feet – is also highlighted.
Glynn is a longtime yoga practitioner. “Yoga has been around me my whole life,” they said. “My parents actually met in a yoga class in the early ‘90s in Denver – my dad was wearing purple leggings! So I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for yoga.”
In addition to the Aya Yoga Oasis mural, Glynn has several other projects in the works. “I’m painting some windows for a coffee shop called Nudibranch Coffee on Capitol Hill, and also a custom painting on canvas for a private client that’s a gift for his wife.”
Glynn works out of a studio in the Pound Arts building on Capitol Hill, a queer-friendly homebase for working artists since the 1980s. The 11 studios are open to visitors every second Thursday from 5-8 PM as part of the Capitol Hill Art Walk. You can follow Glynn on Instagram @glynn.rosenberg.
Barring weather delays, Glynn plans to start work on the mural in early July. Please stop by and say hi, and check out the Aya Yoga Oasis Instagram feed @ayayogaoasis for photos of the work in progress!