Page 15 - the NOISE July 2013

A panel of the mural on South San Francisco Street,
currently in completion by the Mural Mice.
vative news sources.”
Mr. Wall tells me how he began to see his
town in a new light, “Ultimately, we learned that our town was made up of two commu- nities that saw the town in different ways,” he says. “The mural project allowed them to recognize each other’s existence and to hear each other’s points of view. In our eyes, it was a perfect storm and the five-year mural project was a complete success. We never lightened the skin on the child and the mu- ral is still on display at the corner of Miller Val- ley and Iron Spring Road.”
After contributing their art to the town of Prescott the Mural Mice were being treated like outcasts. “One year later in 2011, a pub- lic art project involving a Prescott College student named Christian Anthony and the placement of a mosaic bench in Granite Creek Park was destroyed by the City Council,” says Mr. Wall. “It was partly in retaliation for the Miller Valley Mural incident. After spend- ing two years on the Prescott Public Library mural (2008-2009), we were forbidden by the city manager and the city attorneys from working or even volunteering for projects at the library. We were ordered to ‘Cease and Desist’ from painting any more murals in Prescott. A public art policy was proposed to help outline the rules of public art in Prescott, but two years later, nothing has been done. Today, public art is a contested issue and Steve Blair is running for a third term in office. Prescott’s lack of an art policy gives the City Fathers cart blanch freedom to censor and destroy art that doesn’t represent their views. To them we were considered outsiders med- dling with their version of history. Unable to place art in our hometown of 18 years, we
now consider ourselves artists in exile and hope to return some day to the community we love and continue our work.”
The mural mice have found themselves in Flagstaff and on May 18, their Kick Start Party to begin the painting of a new mural in Downtown Flagstaff drew over 100 people who participated in the first phase of paint- ing, including students from Pine Forest Mid- dle School and members of the Murdock Community Center.
“Here, there is great support for public art and even funding to place it,” Mr. Wall says of the Flagstaff art community. “The Phoenix Avenue Route 66 Mural Project is a commis- sion from the Flagstaff Beautification and Public Art Committee with funds drawn from transient taxes. We find it fitting that the subject of our newest mural is the Moth- er Road of our nation, Route 66 and its Phoe- nix Avenue corridor. While much of the road remains decommissioned, the subject offers us a new beginning. It’s as if we set out on a journey down the highway and we are in- viting the community to get on the bus with us. This project is a simple commission given to two artists, but we find that painting mu- rals is a lot more fun when we work together with the community.”
Mr. Wall tells me of the interesting things they have learned about the Mother Road history. “So far, we’ve been to the Cline li- brary archives many times and we’ve learned a lot about the road and people who built it,” he says. “For instance, we learned that Phoe- nix Avenue was part of the original route 66 and the DuBeau was the first Motor-Inn in the country residing on the route. When the road was rerouted between 1926 and 1934,
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