Introducing ‘The Gateway’

Published 11:08 am Friday, July 25, 2025

Newest Astoria mural officially unveiled 

About 40 community members, artist lovers and passersby gathered for a celebration and ribbon cutting for Astoria’s newest public mural at the Astoria Armory building on Thursday.

“The Gateway” mural is a vibrant display of art that depicts some important symbols of the city’s 214-year-old history, including the Astoria Column, a Chinook wild-salmon and a ship and its ship wheel. 

The mural also projects a thoughtful message of unity — “Together we are stronger,” declares a blue-painted banner. 

“Together we are stronger,” the mural reads.

The event started with an introduction from David Reid, executive director of the Astoria-Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce. The mic was then handed to Susan Hobson, president of the Friends of the Astoria Armory. She said a few words about the conversation-starter mural. 

“It (mural) is amazing,” Hobson said. It brings so much joy. It starts conversations and it starts dialogue. … It’s amazing.” 

After a few more speeches from City Mayor Sean Fitzpatrick and artists Casey McEneny and Jay Scott, the red ribbon was cut — officially opening the mural to the public. 

Troy J Haskell was among the many community members who kept frequent tabs on the mural during its formation. He compared it to the symbol most associated with representing our country. 

“When you have something like this mural to be put up, it’s like a flag representing the United States,” Haskell said. 

McEneny, the artist who created the mural, said he wanted it to represent the community. 

The mural was a gift from Care Oregon and the Portland Street Art Alliance, and supported by the Friends of the Astoria Armory. It is also part of Care Oregon’s statewide effort to improve community mental health. Hobson confirmed that the mural accomplishes that effort. 

“It does promote good health because you stop for a minute, you take a moment and enjoy it, or think about or talk to a stranger — that’s good mental health,” Hobson said.    

Since June, McEneny and Scott have devoted their time replacing a beige wall with the vibrant mural. McEneny said Astoria is a “special place” to work because of the support he’s received from passersby and community members.

“There’s so much appreciation towards us doing a mural, which is awesome, but it is very interesting because we have a lot of people come by and they thank us for doing this,” McEneny said. “If you think about it, not a lot of people get thanked on the job site for doing their job, so I feel like it’s a very special place to be as an artist.”