At the four-way intersection of Pioneer and Main Street in Homer, a long, off-white wall sits below the Nomar parking lot. Dark silhouettes of Homer’s iconic artists stand in stark relief against the backdrop, traced and painted by artist Tom Reed. Reed said he was working as a road surveyor in the 1980s when one of the project managers remarked to him that she thought the wall looked ugly and wondered aloud if anyone had any ideas for it. The next day, Reed pitched his concept of displaying local artists along the wall, kicking off the project that he would stand to complete 40 years later.

Reed said not everyone has always been a fan of the wall.

“The conservative people said it was a bunch of hippies partying,” he said, carefully brushing light gray paint onto the wall, over a stencil he traced the night before of local musician, David Webster. “The visual artists were upset because it didn’t go through the proper channels.”

Despite this, over the years, the wall has become an iconic and beloved testament to both the artists represented on the wall and the people who respect them and their work. Additions to the wall this year include musicians David Webster, Jennifer King and Nelton Palma; actor Ken Landfield and director Jennifer Norton of Pier One Theatre; and dancers Ireland Styver and Breezy Berryman, who joins her mother and fellow choreographer, Jill Berryman, on the wall.

Reed traced every single artist present on the wall in relief against it, posed in person in a way that exemplifies their respective art. Some artists are playing their instruments, while others stand directing or conducting, dancing or juggling. Many of the artists present on the wall are no longer with us, including actor and director Lance Peterson, musician and conductor Mary Epperson, and “Hobo Jim” Varsos, playing his guitar, ad infinitum.

In 2024, Homer’s beloved opossum mascot, Grubby, was added to the wall after someone graffitied his likeness in a corner. Reed said graffiti on the wall has been frequent over the years; even as he worked to complete the final additions this month, a large scribble in the far right corner of the wall appeared in the final days.

Reed said this is the last year he will make any additions to the wall, marking the end of the art project, which began in 1985. Adele Person, executive director of Bunnell Street Arts Center, has begun the work of compiling an extensive list of the names and artistic expressions of each artist present on the wall’s mural. She recently shared a link to the document in the Facebook group, Historical Homer.

Artist Tom Reed begins to paint the silhouette of musician David Webster on July 2, 2025 in Homer, Alaska. Reed added 10 artists to the wall over the last few weeks, marking the end of the art project he began in 1985. (Chloe Pleznac/Homer News)

The iconic child silhouette points to the line of artists on Tom Reed’s mural in Homer, Alaska on July 2. (Chloe Pleznac/Homer News)

Grubby stares out from a corner of the mural on July 2. She was added to the mural by Reed in 2024, after a vandal snuck a sticker of the unofficial, beloved Homer mascot on the wall. (Chloe Pleznac/Homer News)