Arts & Culture Community Commentary Featured Travel, Shopping & Leisure Fara Illich March 20, 2011


Despite the fact that I live in central Phoenix, not far from Downtown, it had been awhile since I’ve been there in the daytime, with a camera. And, just a short trip around Roosevelt Row (“RoRo”), the heart of the Downtown Arts District, showed many changes in the area’s murals.
This wall, at 3rd Street and Roosevelt, used to display one of the commercial Pabst Blue Ribbon murals that I wrote about a few months ago. You don’t have to look too closely to see parts of the old mural under the red paint. Hopefully, a new (non-commercial) mural will pop up here soon.


Practically next door is this new geometric mural on the side of MonOrchid Gallery at 214 E. Roosevelt:

You probably don’t remember but this is the front and other side of MonOrchid as I photographed it awhile back.

And right next to this building is this new mural:

Across the street, on the side of eye lounge, at 419 E. Roosevelt, I saw this month’s mural by Joe Pagac.

Pagac paints a new mural on this wall every month on First Friday. Yeah, it would be cool if I went down and photographed him doing that but I would need to use a tripod to do it at night and there are literally at least 10,000 people who attend First Friday every month and most of them congregate right here. But I really should at least document every month’s mural. Another one I photographed last summer can be seen here. Same annoying billboard obstructing the mural but I guess that’s part of the installation. This performance wall promotes the Marquee Theatre (Stateside Presents) in Tempe. You can see another of the monthly murals and read an amusing interview with Pagac here.
There were a few other changes. On the side of what was formerly Conspire, 901 N. 5th Street, a coffeehouse and store, those in charge of its new iteration as Imagine painted over one of Lalo Cota’s murals. I guess part of being a muralista is knowing that your work may be transitory, tagged, or overpainted. At least there’s photography to preserve the memories.
At any rate, just this small area had so many changes that I guess it’s time to take my camera and go for a longer walk Downtown to see what else has changed. Check it out the mural changes next time you’re Downtown.