Anchorage photographer installs local mural

WASILLA — Anchorage photographer Kevin Smith has continued to beautify local schools with a new mural for the Mat-Su Career and Technical High School in Wasilla.

The mural, titled, “So Many Choices,” is a collage of images reflecting Career and Tech’s 10 career paths: emergency management; emergency communication (medical, police and fire dispatch); wildland and domestic firefighting; forest health and protection; medical assistant; dental assistant; veterinary assistant; aviation; diesel power; and process technology.

Smith said he wanted to present each of the career paths in a “visually exciting” way and show the variety of options available to students at the school. He said it was supposed to “get the students jazzed about the occupations they are studying.”

The mural was printed on vinyl using a latex inkjet printer and is coated with a scratch-proof laminate. The vinyl is adhered to five quarter-inch-thick plastic panels that make up the 19-by-8-foot mural, which is semi-permanently attached to the west wall of the media center on the second floor of the new addition at Career and Tech. The mural was printed and installed by Smith and Victor Alexander from GraphicWorks Inc.

Smith said the mural is “essentially maintenance free,” requiring only a light dusting every few years to “make sure the colors remain vibrant.”

“So Many Choices,” which was installed on Wednesday, June 29, is the second Percent for Art project Smith has contributed to in recent months, after being contracted to create an Iditarod-themed one for Joe Redington Sr. Jr./Sr. High School earlier this year with capital building project funds set aside per the Alaska State Council on the Arts program.

Yet another Smith creation will be installed at the new Dena’ina Elementary School next to Redington at the end of this month.

Contact reporter Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.