Program brings murals to Pasco

PASCO — Pasco is looking for ways to bring a splash of color and culture to its downtown streets — and could transform the area into a new hub for murals.

An initiative led by the city’s Arts and Culture Commission will reimburse business owners up to $5,000 if they get murals painted on their buildings by the end of December.

The last big mural painted downtown was the Community Hope Wall at the site of a 2015 police shooting.

A man walks past the original Community Hope Wall mural on the side of the former Vinny’s Bakery building on Lewis Street near 10th Avenue. The mural was unveiled during a November 2019 ceremony.

It was finished in November 2019 outside the former Vinny’s Bakery, where Antonio Zambrano-Montes was killed during a confrontation with police. While the incident left a mark on Pasco, the mural was intended to be an emblem of hope and healing. But the mural had to be partially painted over just a year after it was unveiled because it exceeded the city’s sign size limits.

The Arts and Culture Commission formed the same year and set out to change that sign code.

The city has since created a separate regulation for public art and murals that became official in August 2023. Now, there are no size restrictions, so murals can take up a full wall on the side of a building.

But the changes didn’t immediately spark painting.

“We did get feedback that it would be beneficial to have some funding source to start the process,” Assistant City Manager Angela Pashon said. “One of the components of the plan is to really infuse arts and culture into our downtown.

“We’re trying to bring that component to life with this program.”

A majority of downtown businesses are Latino-owned and nearly 56% of the city population are Hispanic, according to 2022 census data. Many events — from Cinco de Mayo to the Pasco Farmers Market and September’s Fiery Foods Festival — are centered around Hispanic culture.

Murals created as a result of program could highlight that heritage.

The program is funded by the city’s hotel and motel tax, and the city set aside $20,000 for it. City officials hope four to six murals come out of the initiative.

“This puts the creativity and opportunity in the hands of the business and property owners, rather than the city going out for a call for artists,” Pashon said.

The murals must be pre-approved; designs cannot advertise a business and are not allowed to include obscene, offensive or discriminatory content. All murals also must be covered with an anti-graffiti coating and maintained for at least five years.

The commission’s next project is at Pasco City Hall.

“We would like to be known as a creative and cultural space, so when you come to Pasco, you feel what Pasco is,” Pashon said.