Who's Having Fun in The New Urban Downtown Mesa???

Chalk-on-Blackboard > front of LoFi Coffee

On/Off Main Street anyone taking a walk can find some surprising great stuff that's slightly to the left and off-center and outside the official Chain-of-Command that approves and funds public art installations or wayfinding signage, appearing on blackboards or in empty lots ... like these two.

They may not conform to the official line drawn for public art on the sidewalks with all the bronze statues of a pig, Mormon town founders, a bear, frogs, dinosaurs and Humpty Dumpty located around town, but ya gotta admit they are "charming" and quite "innovative" in the eyes of some people with a sense of humor and delight.

On the stretch of Main Street between Robson and Country Club your blogger could find only one source of information to point the way to find businesses located downtown - see image to the left.

If you take a close look at the base you'll see a colorful extraterrestrial on the base of the drum from which rises an over 12-foot tall support for arrows with names of downtown businesses pointing in the directions to find them.

If you're wondering what purpose that big empty wall in the background has other than marking off the side of a building, it's used as the screen for a series of night-time family-oriented movies that take place in an empty lot in downtown close to a new lightrail station at Country Club Drive called The Sliver Lot.

Valley Metro provides some funding for these outdoor movie showings to make The New Urban Downtown an attractive place for families who want something to do at night. It's part of the Neighborhood Community Series.

Link here:  
Mesa Diversity Office Community Cinema

Image Mosaic On The Streets in The New Urban Downtown Mesa

A sampling of some of the small and big and wonderful and surprising expressions of people that don't come from a Chain of Command - people are spontaneously Creating their own Place-Making - no committees to get permission from, no bureaucracy, no politicos who take six months to come up with a vision - these are the visions created by everyday people using their own resources and talents.

Starting from Upper Left and going Clock-wise by rows

• Portion of a huge mural seen on the back of a building on Hibbert Street just above Broadway - close by Mesa Grain & Feed.
• Artist signature from 2006 - anybody know who the artist is?
• A detail from the same mural - what's with those cows parachuting?
• Panoramic view of entire mural with Grain Elevator way in the left background
• Mural on the East side of Department of Economic Security building that faces McDonald
• Rear of building next to VFW Post on McDonald & First Avenue, in back of the newly-opened Prime Cut Barber Shop & Boutique
• On the Blackboard @ LoFi Coffee - who's the Fun Guy [artist?] doing that stuff?
• Sidewalk Sculpture for Welding Shop
• Larry in front of LoFi - streetlife is getting colorful, The Mad Hatter with the WOW
• Back of what-used-to-be O.S. Stapley Store - big graphic on the alley
• First vertical gardens in Downtown Mesa: happy to see these [first in bloom and second with new plantings]