Community Moss-and-Lichen Mural

At North Seattle College

What if mosses and lichens were more revered components of everyday landscapes?

Though often overlooked, spore-bearing organisms like mosses, lichens, and slime molds—also known as cryptogams—provide many benefits to ecosystems, such as breaking ground for larger plants to take root and retaining water and nutrients to share with neighbors long after a rain. My moss and lichen-themed mural design was chosen by NSC’s public art panelists to be brought to life by their students. The design was inspired by the cryptogam and graffiti-coated asphalt slabs embedded in the campus’s boggy terrain, and by NSC’s mission to foster thriving new beginnings for its diverse student community.

To enrich the students’ experience, I invited a local mycologist to lead a cryptogamic sketching tour on campus.