Salmon Mosaic Wall Installation
By Kaely Lawler

A ‘reveal’ reception was held for the newly installed whimsical recycled glass mosaic wall, at the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery, today between 4:30pm and 6:30 pm. The new salmon mosaic wall is located on the Newport Way side of the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery by the viewing windows. Friends of Issaquah Salmon Hatchery (FISH) have found a way to brighten up the grey concrete walls on their property, while bringing more traffic to the hatchery’s viewing windows. This unique mosaic wall was created by the community for the community.

Cheryl Smith taught a family friendly mini mosaic salmon class for FISH last year. FISH reached out to her to assist with the artistic creation and installation of this stellar community wall. “It was a great collaboration — my whimsical style of mosaic salmon using recycled stained glass and their empty canvas of concrete walls. My students and I over the years have designed hundreds of salmon in colorful patterns and shapes. The effect of bringing so many together in one space is powerful. It makes people want to touch the wall and smile” said Smith.
Three of Smiths community class members and other volunteers came together to learn the art of mosaic. Smith said that “Teaching and encouraging all the volunteers is my favorite part of community projects. I get great satisfaction from seeing people create for the first time-pride in their new skills and finished pieces”. Over 100 people participated in the creation of all aspects of the wall. Volunteers included an impressive age range from 4–86, all with various abilities. Members of an Issaquah youth group, Club Inclusive, lead by an Issaquah High School special needs instructor participated in the creation of mosaic salmon for the wall with their peer mentors. “The FISH board, staff and volunteers are fantastic people to work with. They are supportive, encouraging and rolled their sleeves up to get the project done!” Smith exclaimed.

Each participant used recycled stained glass and a salmon templet to design an individual salmon mosaic and created a unique salmon for the installation. They also had creative freedom to add bubble patterns to the wall. Smith said her “focus has always been to turn trash into treasure”. She explained that using “local stained-glass remnants will be keep it out of the landfill thus helping keep the local salmon streams clean. This benefits the community by partnering with stained glass merchants and designers who have donated their glass instead of depositing it in the garbage. It’s a great lesson in eco-friendly art for all ages”. Smith also received glass donations from Issaquah stained glass designers, Eastside retailers and old church windows that she had reclaimed.
Smith said that she believes that using recycled glass enhanced the beauty of the new salmon mosaic installation and was fun to create with only what was available. There was a variety of glass and mirror pieces for participants to choose from, however, there where parameters in place for the selection process which pushed the participants to find a design and pattern for their salmon with limited colors and textures. Smith said, “the benefit is that were being stewards of the earth while making unique art” when explaining the advantages to using recycled materials.


The design of the wall uses a variety of salmon mosaic shapes that are laid out to create movement with the bubbles in the background. When Smith was telling us about the creative process behind creation of the mosaic installation and its design she said “The special aspect is that each salmon was created by a community member. I did not know what the individual salmon would look like but was confident that each one would be colorful and express the personality of the artist. That’s the beauty of community art-having faith in the people, and the process. By giving them the lesson on how to cut glass and design the salmon on a salmon template allowed each salmon to have some cohesiveness for the design”.
The volunteers faced numerous challenges during the creation of the Mosaic wall. “working outside with time sensitive drying materials. We had to work fast when applying the waterproof barrier, we troweled on the wall and the grout that only had a few minutes to dry before we wiped it off. Working as a team with guidance from the Mapei rep really made the process efficient. Many volunteers were inexperienced using mosaic adhesive and grouting materials-they took instruction well and executed a quality mosaic.” Explained Smith.
Smith said she found it inspiring to manage a large group of people who had never mosaicked before who were working in outdoor conditions, contributors where eager to participate and open to new learning techniques. She said that 30 experienced mosaic students where working alongside FISH volunteers and herself during the process. “It was a strong team effort. When a community comes together they take ownership of the project -this was their wall! Our wall!” stated Smith.

Smith said when the volunteers looked at their accomplishments and milestones during the artistic production process, they were full of pride and found motivation with in themselves to keep going and finish the beautiful mosaic wall. When reflecting on the whole process Smith said “it was exhilarating to watch the creative process unfold”.
The installation of the wall took seven days. “Teens took creative license with the bubble background creating blue lines of bubbles which created a cohesive stream throughout the design. Paula, age 72 spent hours gluing orange and red glass gems to the wall which inspired the red salmon egg bed” said Smith.
Issaquah Arts Commissions generous grant donations helped bring this project to life. The supporters of the project including Mapei, Northwest Art Glass, Perry Stained Glass Studio, Pental Surfaces and Oregon Tile helped provide materials and on- site construction for the mosaic wall installation.
Smith said “As I spent up to 10 hours a day at the salmon hatchery, I was overwhelmed by the amount of people who walk through the property daily. Some use it as a regular path for their daily walk, jog, or even practice Tai Chi. Many come to see the salmon and the educational displays throughout the property. They all stopped to see the wall in progress and learn about the recycled glass community project. Throughout the day, FISH volunteers would stop their work to educate the visitors on the salmon life cycle and when the salmon would return to the hatchery. At least 100 people a day would stop to chat with us. The Issaquah Salmon Hatchery and now mosaic wall are truly an important aspect of the community.”

