PHOTOS: 17 Fantastical Murals Rise Up From Greenwood Explosion

In the early hours of March 9, an explosion rocked Seattle's Greenwood neighborhood.

A row of businesses on Greenwood Avenue were leveled; windows were blown out at businesses and apartments throughout the area. No one was killed.

Hey! If you painted one of the murals below but aren't credited, email me: iraftery@kuow.org.

Plywood covered those broken windows and within days. Artists Andrew Miller and Jonathan Wakuda discussed offering those businesses street art installations to brighten the devastated community. Wakuda's murals can be found across the country — in Seattle, he's known for the KEXP mural. Miller's murals are all over the city as well.

Miller and Wakuda met with Joey DeYoung, executive director of Urban Hands, a local nonprofit. Within a week, they provided paint and supplies to artists who wanted to help.

"The Greenwood community is a special place to live and work; a community that supports my artistic career and others in a similar place," Miller said by email.

Three weeks later, most of those plywood window art installations remain.

The murals reflect the businesses's spirit. At Squirrels Buy-Sell Antiques on North 85th Street, owner Earl Adams said the artist, Graham Herman, told later him that he was told to draw squirrels.

Squirrels Buy-Sell has spent 20 years at that location and is moving at the end of the month to a commercial warehouse. Adams said his rent is doubling so he's moving out. Other businesses that had their windows blown out are also moving.

These characters are by Starheadboy.

See more of Xavier Lopez's art on his Facebook page.