RoRo Beautification

I just discovered this mural in the Roosevelt Row area the other day. It’s certainly not a typical mural by our downtown standards but I totally love the way it fits in with its surroundings and makes all the poles and wires part of the installation. It is on the APS Garfield Substation. APS (Arizona Public Service) is one of our 2 electric companies.

It was designed by Laura Spalding Best, an artist who “turns the banal into art.” No birds on the wires, though.

It says “Centennial 2012,” referring to Arizona’s recent centennial on 2/14/12. All of the murals in this post were created in March, shortly before the annual Art Detour event in the downtown arts district. About 800 volunteers from HandsOn Greater Phoenix and AmeriCorps Vista assisted in beautifying the area, many helping to paint the new murals.

This one, below, was designed by Carrie Marill, of Combine Studios, and depicts a bicyclist named Pat racing home with two baskets full of food that he bought at our local downtown farmers market.

Others of the volunteers helped weave ribbons into a Navajo-inspired mural:

These murals join the many others in the Roosevelt Row district that I have blogged about numerous times. You can just walk around and literally see them in every direction in that area. Read more about the spring beautification project here.