Two more planned stops before getting home to the Gulf Coast. The first was in the town of Pueblo, Colorado. They have a levee mural project along the Arkansas River that has a lot of wonderful parts to it. This project began in the 1978 when students of the local university, calling themselves the Tee Hee Artists, decided to paint over existing grafitti on the walls. They had to do this in the dark, painting by flashlight, in an effort to try to evade arrest for defacing public property. Even though they were covering existing grafitti, what they were doing was, in fact, still replacing old defacing marks with new defacing marks.
The first completed panel (called Fish in a Bathtub) was a hit with the community, and the city legalized mural painting on the levee, and many artists donned harnesses and other gear to paint new panels on the slanted levee. Some fell into the river (some multiple times) and some lamented how cold it is to paint on 45-degree slant on concrete on the river, but almost all of them continued painting.
In 1996, the Guiness Book of World Records certified the Pueblo Levee Mural Project as the largest continuous mural in the world, officially measuring 178,200 square feet (approximtely 3.5 linear miles/5 km). Unfortunately, none of the original panels remain. The levee, built in the 1920s, was growing old and decaying and had to be repaired. This required jackhammering much of the initial murals in 2016 to repair significant cracks. As of 2018, a mural in South Korea now holds the title of the largest continuous mural in the world.
But, the artists of the Levee Mural Project , though dejected, were not dissuaded. They renewed their efforts and began a new effort at reclaiming the title of the longest mural in the world. Proposed artwork has to be approved by a committee now prior to work begining, and there are some paint suppliers in town that will provide reduced cost or free paint to mural painters.
It was difficult to find the path to get to them. We crossed the 4th Street Bridge, where the first completed panel was, and found ourselves opposite the murals, but up above. It was a sight to behold just this piece of it.
Our first look at the levee from Pearl Street
The park below is where we needed to get. It took a while circling around to find how to get there!
The water was fairly clear - clear enough that I could get a nice shot of this fish.
The panels are kept in good repair with paint touch-ups completed as required.
Several mallards, Canada geese, and one cormorant were enjoying the murals while we were there.
Looking from the foot bridge to the 4th Street bridge. Every panel has a mural on it.
There are decorative signs and statuary along the way. All statuary must also be pre-approved. Application fees for murals and statues is currently $10.
Bob greeted us while we walked a short distance on the path. In our family, all praying mantises are called Bob.
The panels under the 4th Street Bridge currently focus on Pueblo's sister cities of (left to right) Weifang, China; Puebla, Mexico; Lucca Secula, Sicily; Chihuahua, Mexico; Maribor, Slovenia; and Bergamo, Italy.
Beginning to get hungry and out of the food I prepared at home for our trip, we made a stop in Trinidad at a Walmart for prepackaged salads and lunch meats, which we ate while taking turns driving down the road. We stopped just short of Amarillo, Texas for the night.
Fairly bright and early, but being the last guests left in the hotel, we decided to slide by and see the new home of the Slug Bug Ranch. We enjoyed the Slug Bugs for the first time in 2018, and we added our painting prowess to the already existing conglomeration! They were just off I-40 in Conway, Texas, at that time.
Last fall, when we were heading to Washington, we were going to stop and see them again, but they were no longer in their spot! After checking, I found them at the Starlight Ranch in Amarillo, which is owned by The Big Texan restaurant. When we got there, the caretakers were power washing grafitti off the sidewalks and one of them gave us the history. Apparently, somebody improperly took the 5 original "slug bugs" off the property in Conway while the owner of the property was trying to sell. Once the perpetrator was located, they brought the car shells back to the property. The owner of the Big Texan then offered to buy the original bugs and moved them to the Skyline Ranch, where he added some additional, more recent versions of the iconic cars, some longhorn cadillacs, and some silos for more things to paint. Instead of just a field with the 5 slug bugs and some abandoned buildings, the new Slug Bug Ranch has signage and caretakers!
There are even signs of the rules which people clearly ignore. Though it is difficult to see in the picture, it's "NOT OK to spray signs".
This is one of the originals
This is a line of new ones with the caretaker pressuring washing the sidewalk.
The new bugs have tires on them with good tread and they spin easily.
I'm not sure how much I like this new Slug Bug Ranch with more than just the iconic slug bugs. The five original bugs are in the front, and everything behind them is new.
This was our last stop before getting home in the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. It's now time for me to get ready for my next adventure, which is coming up soon!
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