@garagedoorwc on Instagram

At the beginning of the pandemic, Mindy Ellison wanted to do something creative and give back in order to deal with the stress of the unknown during the lockdown. Soon enough, the garage door of their house became a huge canvas, and along with her daughter, Audrey Ellison, Garage Door Walnut Creek was born. Garage Door Walnut Creek has turned into a weekly art project touching on a spectrum of themes, but overall keeping one goal in mind, to spread joy. While painting with the mindset that no one was watching, they painted a new door every week for over six months before they realized they had a group of loyal followers once they joined social media.

Since April of 2020, over 120 doors have been painted and a huge community, both local and national, has been formed. What started as a project to relieve stress, Garage Door Walnut Creek let a community of people during an isolated time know that they were not alone. The door has acted as a platform to talk about hard issues and highlight what’s going on in the world. Along with starting a conversation, Audrey & Mindy have also handed their paint brush over to fellow neighbors and organizations who have an idea they want talk to about. The door has become a symbol of unity during a time of confusion, loneliness, and unpredictability.

What started out as a local project has turned into something that people all over have started to connect to. There are followers all over the US and the world, regularly making themselves known through hand written letters and social media posts. The project has been featured on numerous new channels and different social media pages. Audrey & Mindy are grateful for the people they have met through this project and the stories from those who found joy through their art during a dark time. They truly cannot express how much this idea has succeed their wildest expectations and how it reached such a wide variety of people. As they approach the three year anniversary of the first door, their current plan is to keep painting every week and possibly start an art based charity from it.

Audrey is a 24 year old recent college graduate who is currently working for the elections department in her county. She attended Portland state University, obtaining a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science. Mindy’s career has been in sales, currently selling high end plumbing. She is a happy Mom of two great kids and has been married to her husband Bruce for almost thirty-five years.