Local artist and lifty brings ski area walls to life on the mountain.
Article and photos by T Ghezzi
A self-proclaimed mountain girl, Olivia Walker is much more than a Silver Mountain Resort lift operator, or “lifty.” Her talent as an artist has recently brightened and brought life to the Mountain House lodge at the top of the gondola in the form of six murals.
Olivia has lived in the Silver Valley for almost 10 years, and mountain life truly is in Olivia’s blood. She grew up in Aspen Valley, Colo., and started skiing at the age of three. Her dad was also a lifty at Snow Mass Ski Resort. She expressed how it is “healing to be up in the mountains and in nature,” and, as a lifty, she enjoys helping others spend time in the snowy mountains skiing and snowboarding.
From a young age, she had passion for art, which led her to Seattle to study art and interior design. She got an art degree there and, years later, worked as an interior designer in Coeur d’Alene.
Last summer, while touching up the ski racks at Silver with a new coat of paint, her supervisor (not knowing Olivia’s art background) casually suggested to her that it would be cool to have a mural painted on an outside door of the mountain lodge. Olivia quickly jumped in and said she would do it.
Her murals are all vibrant with color, which she says is opposite of her more reserved, introverted personality. The mountain life art resembles stained glass, has layers of color, and has an abundance of abstract and geometric shapes with bold outlines. Talking to Olivia, you can really feel the passion she has for her designs and how honored she is to create artwork for other mountain lovers to enjoy.
All of Olivia’s six murals can be found at the top of the gondola around the Mountain House lodge at Silver. Here is a brief description of her murals in order of creation and location. The first piece is a vibrant, sunlit sky with cool, snow-covered mountains (located outside between the ski rental and the main gondola doors). The second showcases multiple layers of mountain colors with the sun just peeking out (in the brown bag room). The third painting has three massive snowflakes, with the central flake being the Silver Mountain logo (in the brown bag room). The fourth mural (my personal favorite) is rich in color and displays a vivid complexity of the sun, trees, and snow (on the lift operations door). The fifth exhibits two ski patrollers standing on Wardner Peak, with Kellogg Peak and the setting sun in the background (in the ski patrol entryway). The last and most recent mural is a magical, life-like tree with storybook lanterns hanging from the branches, accompanied by a warm sun and the shadows it creates as the backdrop (in the daycare).
Next time you visit Silver Mountain, take the time to explore the Mountain Lodge, find your favorite piece, and soak in Olivia’s beautiful murals.
Follow Olivia’s mural journey on Instagram @liv_landman or Facebook at Liv Landman Design. For art inquires, you can contact her at mail2livlandman@gmail.com.
Having spent three weeks this summer snowboarding and chasing powder in Chile and Argentina, T. Ghezzi is stoked to chase local pow and record more episodes of the “Wild Cannons” podcast. “Wild Cannons” is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts & YouTube. Instagram @WildCannons.
