Our Gift to the City of Astoria

On May 9, we officially dedicated the historical mural at our Astoria financial services center to the city.

The mural was originally commissioned in May of 2002 by TLC Federal Credit Union for its new Astoria location in the Bond Street/Uniontown area, one of Astoria’s oldest neighborhoods. They wanted to showcase the new location with an eye-catching historical mural, and local artist Jo Brown completed the stunning work of art in 2002. In 2009, the mural was hidden behind a wall of siding, but in 2023 we discovered the hidden jewel under the siding.

“We had no idea a mural was back here when Fibre Federal acquired TLC,” said Chris Bradberry, our President and CEO, during the dedication ceremony. “We decided it was very important to the community to uncover the mural, take all the siding out, ask Jo if she’d be kind enough to restore it for us, and give it back to the community. It’s just beautiful, and it’s an honor to dedicate it back to the people of Astoria. We hope it’s here for years to come for the enjoyment of this community.”

When asked to join the restoration project in 2023, Brown readily agreed to breathe new life into the mural, completing it 21 years to the day after its original completion. She spent one month not only refreshing the existing painting, but also adding new features to make the mural more cohesive and complete. Brown incorporated previously unused window space into the art, added a 3D installation to extend the Astoria Column above the top of the mural, and completely repainted the  lower portion of the wall, which had been removed, to match the original design.

At the dedication, Brown said, “Communities need art. Communities need care to grow. This was a blank white wall, and history happened here. These are our historical footprints. It gives our town character and reminds us all how unique it is.”