Artist Brad Hughes installed a new mural at last Friday at the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies. Part of a 35th anniversary remodeling effort to make the environmental education nonprofit’s building more visible, the mural shows two children wading in a tidepool and exploring marine life. Words on the mural encourage people to “explore, connect, protect.” In a nod to classical imagery, a boy reaches out to touch an octopus, an allusion to Michelangelo’s “The Creation of Adam” mural on the Sistine Chapel. The remodel will include more murals on the side and front of the building.

“It was all about connecting people with nature,” CACS board member Leah Cloud said of the mural’s them. “We make the connection with them and Homer.”