Latest Titlow beach art display honors 2020 graduates amid pandemic
John James Nelson is no stranger to installing art projects along the water at Titlow Beach in Tacoma.
He’s been creating art there for years and is known for his light-up rendition of the 1909 “You’ll Like Tacoma” sign with the iconic 253 heart that popped last June.
This week, a new project of his appeared — this time to commemorate the Class of 2020 from high schools across the county.
“I didn’t have anything to put up this year,” Nelson, 43, told The News Tribune earlier this week. “I thought I could still do something with these high schools.”
Nelson tasked student artists from more than a dozen high schools across Pierce County to decorate 3-foot by 3-foot wooden boards, protected with a waterproof primer, to span the pier at Titlow. The display was installed Friday and took about five hours to complete.
Nelson reached out to find students through social media.
“Coronavirus and social distancing measures have impacted this year’s graduating class in ways we could never foresee. But, that doesn’t mean Tacoma and surrounding 253 area grads don’t deserve some form of recognition,” Nelson wrote.
Eighteen different schools are represented, Nelson said, with more on the way.
Jacob Hanson, a senior at Washington High School in the Franklin Pierce School District, was the first to commit to a piece, painted with a solid blue background with a black, red and white border and school logo. It took him about a week to complete.
“I think the project was a great idea by John, and it helps us 2020 grads to get some sort of recognition we didn’t get due to COVID-19,” Hanson said. “The community definitely won’t forget about us.”
Isabella Omelanchuk, a senior at Wilson High School in Tacoma, said her peers encouraged her to represent their school.
“Right now I’m known mostly for music, but I know I want to follow art as a career,” she said.
For her piece, she went with a blue ram — the mascot of Wilson — with a bright red background and a sideboard with the school’s chant, “Rumble.”
Omelanchuk appreciated the ability to commemorate her class.
“It was a really cool opp for everyone to come together to represent their schools,” she said.
As Hanson put it, “COVID got nothing on us.”
“We as graduates of 2020, we are resilient and won’t be forgotten in the shadow cast by the coronavirus,” he said.
For Nelson, that was the goal.
“I’m not trying to get anything out of this — I just do it for the joy,” Nelson said.
