Youth group’s new mural shines light on a topic ‘to open people’s minds’
BOISE, Idaho — East Parkcenter Boulevard near downtown Boise has gotten a new splash of color in the form of a mural that will shine brightly in the sun.
Which is very fitting, given the piece of art’s topic.
Painted on a wall near the Courtyard Boise Downtown hotel previously known for its graffiti tagging, the mural created by the Climate Justice League — a youth-led program within the Idaho Sierra Club — advocates for clean energy practices, specifically community solar power. Motorists heading west on East Parkcenter can’t miss it just before they get to the Broadway intersection.
Such a program utilizes solar panels on the roofs of buildings to accumulate energy that can then be used by local subscribers. This practice can help lower-income households have access to affordable clean energy, according to the Idaho Sierra Club’s chapter organizer, Amanda Reed.
“A lot of people didn’t even really know (community solar) existed because it’s not yet in place in Idaho,” Reed told the Idaho Statesman.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, community solar legislation has been enacted in 24 states, but Idaho is not one of them. For potential customers who are either unable or unwilling to install photovoltaic technology on their own property, community solar can be a viable option for bringing renewable energy into their homes, Reed said.
“(The Climate Justice League) wanted … to just educate our community about what community solar is, have a way for people to learn more, and just really capture their attention with a bright and joyful, colorful mural, and to convey the activism that would be necessary to get a program like this in place,” Reed said.
Part of the mural features five people holding signs that read, “Local solar makes our community strong,” “Care for our planet and our neighbors,” and other phrases advocating for community solar projects.
The mural itself is full of bright colors, and features the Boise Foothills as well as several types of flowers native to the area.
“The idea of having those Boise-like features and symbols is to represent the fact that (community solar) can happen here in Boise, too, even though we haven’t seen it yet,” said Anise Welty, 16, the youth leader of the Climate Justice League and an Idaho Sierra Club executive committee member.
The mural was painted by a mixture of adult volunteers and students from the Climate Justice League. Muralists Lawson Schultz and Jay Smith, as well as the students, were at the helm of the project. It took several months to design the mural, and the painting itself took eight days over a two-week period, Reed said.
“The final result of the mural we designed is really an effort in collaboration,” Welty said. “The mural wouldn’t be what it is without every single student who’s a volunteer in the Climate Justice League ... all putting in the effort they did and contributing their ideas, which really made it the best possible version we could think of.”
Reed said the next step in advocating for community solar is to get Boiseans and city officials to take photos in front of the mural in support of renewable energy practices in Boise.
“One of the main goals of an art display like this is to try and open people’s minds to see how solar installations could really help the community grow,” Welty said.
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