ROAD TRIP ACROSS ARIZONA IN 2013 - MURALS - FROM MY ARCHIVES

I have shared these before but as it has been a long time, some of you may not have seen them and those who have, I hope you don't mind me showing them again. The information below this post was added yesterday. 

Going through our old photos the other day, I came across the smiling lady again. I had always wanted to identify who the mural painter was. Try as I might at the time and many, many searches online later, I never found out who it was. On a whim I decided to try again and technology being what it is, I found the painter's name.

Today's photos are from our road trip across country in 2013. We were driving through Arizona and in the distance, I saw what I thought was a smiling face looking up at all those clouds floating by.  It really was a phenomenal day for sky-watching. I thought my eyes were playing tricks but as we got closer, I could see very clearly. 

When a person smiles at me or I see a person smiling at others, I find myself smiling too, and this lovely mural painted on a building out in the desert, had the same effect. I could also see there were what I thought were wolves on the side. No, not wolves. The following is the only explanation I could find, this time.

"The painting depicts a local Navajo resident named Stephanie, whose portrait was blown up larger-than-life and wheat-pasted onto an abandoned roadside building - or home - locally known as "JR's House". Because the artist, Chip Thomas, often incorporates local wildlife, livestock, and community members into his expansive desert murals, it is easy for travelers to blend different installations together in memory."

This fabulous art is called "Stephanie on JR's House."

As we drove through that area we came across other buildings with different scenes on each wall.  

Added note: I also put this photo into the Google ‘camera’ in its search engine. More wonderful murals can be seen here.  As described, “The mural is entitled “Bluebird Diner” or “Blue Bird Diner Revelation,” and was created by artist Gaia in 2012 as part of the Painted Desert Project. It is located in the Painted Desert on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona. The artwork depicts a stylized bird on the left and a hand with a beam of light on the right.”

These artists brought us great joy as we traveled on this very long road, and we were mesmerized. 

The old buildings had been turned into incredible works of art, but my favorite will always be the smiling face looking up at that beautiful sky.

Chip Thomas is the artist of the smiling lady. He is a family physician, born in 1957 in Raleigh, North Carolina. He arrived at the Navajo Nation in 1987 to fulfil a medical scholarship obligation and stayed for over three decades, transforming his clinical practice and documentary photography into an impactful public art movement. You can read more about him here and here.

This particular art piece is located on an abandoned building within the Navajo Nation in Arizona. The piece is part of The Painted Desert Project, a public art initiative that connects street artists with communities on the Western Agency of the Navajo Nation. (I don't know how long any of these websites will remain current. Years down the road they sometimes 'go away', but at the time of writing, you can see other artists on the project at this link.) The project was brought about for the aim of healing and community connection. The first link in this paragraph has the whole story and it is worth a read. Several links have been provided throughout my post.)

Finding out all this information while climbing down into one of my curiosity rabbit holes I fell into after all these years, was a delightful, mind-opening experience.

Thanks for visiting my post about Stephanie, 

Chip, the beautiful desert and State of Arizona. 

I hope your day is a great one.