THE DALLES — The Annex Transitional Housing and Shelter is receiving an eye-catching new feature in the form of a mural on the west side of the building. Created by The Dalles artists Chris Pothier and Dylan McManus, the mural features a colorful combination of shapes that together create the image of an outstretched arm with a child its palm.
Mid-Columbia Community Action Council (MCCAC) opened The Annex in 2023. During its first year in operation, it provided transitional housing to 163 people, including 40 children under the age of 18; 43 of those exited The Annex into long-term, local housing placements.
Pothier and McManus were chosen through an artist selection process that included staff from MCCAC and representatives from The Dalles Chamber of Commerce and The Dalles Art Center. McManus said MCCAC “really wanted a community-minded project, something that would integrate with the community and consider the people living at The Annex [and] the people that work at The Annex, and that was something that Chris and I were pretty adamant about including in the process.”
Last November, Pothier and McManus had community events at The Annex as a way to gain inspiration for the mural and give youth and family residents the opportunity to create art that inspired some of the mural’s imagery. The two also held participation days, where residents could sign up for a timeslot to assist with painting.
“We just kind of let them guide their level of interaction and their level of participation,” McManus said.
Aside from wanting to create something contemporary and eye-catching, Pothier and McManus said a major component of the mural is representing the community both within and outside The Annex, inspired by both the residents and the services provided without necessarily depicting any one person in the image.
“A really big component of the arm is how the left side of it is sort of fragmented and sort of exploded … and then it gets more organized and put together as it gets towards the hand,” said Pothier. “That sort of represents this … fragmentation and then the gathering together, sort of what this place represents.”
“What we really did was just captured the idea for the figures from our time here amongst the residents,” McManus said. “We really wanted to make sure that it was universal, that it showed the idea of a community and … what The Annex is doing in regards to offering a transitional step up as well as being part of the community while they are living at The Annex.”
Formerly the site of the old Oregon Motor Hotel, The Annex, located at 200 W. Second St., “offers more than 50 transitional housing and shelter units and integrates supportive services on-site in collaboration with community partners,” according to their website (mccac.com/the-annex). Serving both houseless individuals and families within Wasco, Hood River and Sherman counties, the building is owned and operated by MCCAC, a 501c3 nonprofit that has been serving low-income community members for more than 30 years.
“Our mission at MCCAC is to build a better future for our community through partnership and equity-centered programs that prevent and eliminate poverty and houselessness,” said MCCAC Community Engagement Coordinator Miriam Starrett. “We believe that everyone deserves a safe and stable place to call home. The Annex is the first step toward this goal for many people and has been a safe and stable place for community members from all walks of life to land and rebuild their lives.
“MCCAC also recognizes the power of art to create a more welcoming environment and saw this as an opportunity to join the long-standing mural tradition of downtown The Dalles,” she said.
“One of the really cool experiences has been working with the people that not only run The Annex, but live at The Annex and just how great it is to have a facility like this in our town, that really cares for people who need a little boost,” Pothier said. “Being a resident of The Dalles, it’s really cool to sort of have a firsthand experience with this place.”
“The beauty of it is it’s just families living,” McManus said. “It’s like its own microcosm of every community in the country. It’s just families and people going about their daily business, living and doing the best that they can.”
The mural is made possible through support from The Roundhouse Foundation and the Oregon Community Foundation, Starrett said.
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