If you’re in the area, there are shocking new additions to Tempe worth checking out. Located on the recently built Cabana Apartments at McClintock Drive and Don Carlos Avenue, it is unlike most anything else for miles around.
I’m talking about murals. Two of them were painted on the side of the apartment complex a few weeks ago by artist Andy Brown, who often operates under the pseudonym, Soldier Leisure.
You may have seen them in neighboring cities, such as downtown Phoenix or perhaps Scottsdale, but this is truly a one of a kind experience for those who live in Tempe.
What a mural adds to an urban setting cannot be expressed in one sentence. They help support local artists, such as Brown, and set a standard for what public art should be. Contrary to popular belief, murals actually discourage taggers and vandals from defacing public property.
Downtown Phoenix is a testimony to this, which in recent years has exploded with murals from local artists. For the Roosevelt Row Art District, murals are considered to have enhanced the livelihood and success of the businesses that allow them on their property.
It’s an observable trend — great cities have public art, and public art makes a city great.
I can only dream of the day that Tempe joins the ranks of New York and Los Angeles in being a hot spot for public art.
But the city of Tempe doesn’t feel the same way. There’s a reason why murals are a rare sight here, and it certainly isn’t for lack of artists. Simply put, it’s because of Tempe’s policies on public art.
In downtown Phoenix, there is only one qualification needed for public art installations: the permission from the property owner. For Tempe, you have to jump through financial and legal hoops.
Robbie Pfeffer is the manager of The Fixx, a locally owned coffee shop and music venue located on 7th Street just east of Mill Avenue. He described his experience trying to get a mural approved for the wall outside of his building as “(getting) sucked into a logic-free black hole of bureaucracy”.
The fee for even submitting a design for approval is $200. The restrictions are enough to discourage anyone in the first place, since certain surfaces, such as brick, are not allowed to be painted on; only certain materials or colors may be used.
In Pfeffer’s view, “It seems less like an attempt to preserve the integrity of the property and more of an attempt to make a quick buck”.
To compensate, Pfeffer has let numerous artists paint the inside of his building, which has undoubtedly become one of its most recognizable features, and one that patrons of all types stop to appreciate while waiting for a cup of coffee.
With the addition of Brown’s new murals and figures like Pfeffer voicing opinion on the absurdity of the city code against public works, I predict that Tempe will get a much needed mural facelift in the coming years.
Reach the columnist at damills3@asu.edu and check out his blog that features all of Phoenix’s best street and public art at www.phxtaco.com
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