September 24, 2026, Seward Folly Staff

A pair of orcas now swims across the side of Harbor 360 Hotel in Seward, set against a sweep of color meant to suggest the changing light of sunrise or sunset.

The mural, designed by Seward artist Liza McElroy, depicts two real whales known in local waters: Skana, a male orca shown by his dorsal fin on the right, and Aaxlu, a breaching female on the left. Local orca authority Dan Olsen told McElroy the two are believed to be siblings.

McElroy began designing the mural on a computer over the winter. Though the finished work is stylized rather than photorealistic, she included details that identify the individual whales, including the characteristic notches in their dorsal fins.

Choosing the right pair took some research. McElroy’s original design featured Skana alongside another whale, but Olsen pointed out that the two animals would be unlikely to travel near each other — one was believed to be a transient orca and the other a resident. McElroy revised the design to place Skana and Aaxlu together.

The mural was commissioned and funded by Harbor 360 Hotel owner Tom Tougas, who has worked with McElroy on several other murals in Seward. Those projects include sea lions on one side of his Gateway Hotel property and a humpback whale on the south side.

“As usual, Tom was great to work with and gave me lots of artistic freedom to portray these impressive animals,” McElroy said.

The project moved from McElroy’s computer to the former Ace Hardware building in April. There, McElroy enlisted fellow artist Johnny Gaule. They painted the siding that would form the mural’s background.

McElroy used a simple color gradient across the siding to create the impression of light moving through the sky and reflecting on the water.

“I was excited with this project to try something new: incorporating the background siding into the foreground panel scene,” she said. “By painting a simple gradient on the siding, I hoped to evoke a sunset sky and water scene.”

The effect leaves some room for interpretation. The low sun could be rising or setting, while a circular window edged in yellow becomes part of the scene. Depending on the viewer, it might resemble the sun, the moon or a bright reflection over the water.

Once the construction crew installed the painted siding, McElroy and Gaule turned their attention to the whales. The figures were created from 16 sheets of Dibond, an aluminum composite material made with a plastic core and thin aluminum faces. Each sheet measured 4 feet by 8 feet.

The smooth panels first had to be scuffed so primer would adhere to them. After cleaning away the dust and applying primer, McElroy and Gaule leaned each panel against a wall inside the Ace Hardware building. They projected a corresponding section of the digital design onto it and traced the whales’ outlines and internal shapes in pencil.

The process turned the mural into a large jigsaw puzzle.

Gaule led the cutting work, using jigsaws and a track saw to shape the panels. His construction experience also came in handy throughout the project, McElroy said. He built drying racks for the painted siding and whale panels, including one improvised from old pallets.

“His greatest invention, which we think is worthy of a patent, was a siding drying rack made from old pallets,” McElroy said.

Before painting could begin, McElroy mixed the colors by hand. She said getting both the hue and the value — the relative lightness or darkness of each shade — correct was one of the hardest parts of the job.

Rather than buying a large selection of premixed paint, she started with basic colors, such as white, black, red, yellow and blue, along with a few difficult-to-mix shades, including purple and turquoise. From those, she created the 25 colors used in the whale portion of the mural.

The artists used high-quality Rodda exterior acrylic latex paint. Once the design had been projected and traced, painting became relatively straightforward, McElroy said, almost like working through a paint-by-number image. Getting to that point required weeks of preparation.

“Many steps come before the actual painting,” she said. “Painting is just one part of a big project like this.”

McElroy and Gaule completed all the painting themselves. The preparation, cutting, projection and painting of the panels took about three months.

Partway through the project, McElroy suffered several injuries and had to reduce her workload. Gaule kept the project moving.

“Johnny did so much work on this project,” she said. “He was my main helper, and when I got injured and had to slow down, he just kept trucking. He was essential.”

After the painting was complete, the panels sat for about 30 days to allow the paint to cure. McElroy and Gaule then applied a clear protective coat with help from Jason of Catalyst Marine.

The clear coat was not strictly necessary, McElroy said, but it added another layer of protection. It can also make graffiti easier to remove without damaging the artwork underneath.

Criterion General, the contractor for the hotel, installed the completed whale panels on Harbor 360 Hotel.

The largest whale section spans approximately 28 feet.

For Tougas, the mural does more than decorate the hotel.

“It ties the building to the community,” he said. “It’s not just an industrial building.”

The orcas join a series of large marine-life murals Tougas has commissioned for his Seward properties. The artwork turns otherwise plain exterior walls into scenes connected to Resurrection Bay and the animals that live there.

Another familiar piece, a large puffin mural formerly displayed on the north side of the building, has been moved to accommodate the hotel expansion. Tougas said the mural had to be modified to fit its new location on the south side of Harbor 360. Part of it is expected to be installed this fall, with the remaining section planned for next summer.

The puffin’s feet had to be removed because the original work was too large for the available space. McElroy will extend the back of the bird, and real rocks are expected to be placed beneath the mural to make it appear as though the puffins are resting along the shore.

“Thank God for Liza’s creativity,” Tougas said.

One practical detail required an adjustment before the puffins could return. Architects had placed a light fixture across the planned mural location, but Tougas quickly imagined birds perching on it — and what they might leave behind on the painted puffins below.

“We decided we had to take the light off,” he said. “We don’t want poop on our puffins.”

With the orcas now installed and the puffins set to return, Harbor 360 Hotel is becoming another stop in Seward’s growing collection of public art. For McElroy, each mural begins with an idea on a screen, then moves through months of sanding, tracing, cutting, mixing and painting before the full image can finally be seen.

On the hotel wall, all those separate pieces now read as one scene: two recognizable orcas moving through Resurrection Bay.