Friday, November 20, 2009

Kind Art

I've featured this mural before. It was painted by girl scouts many years ago and still brightens the small tunnel under the overpass near lower Arroyo Park. "It is not enough to give signals," Enzo Cucchi once said about art. "Things can only ever last if they have functioned as signs."

11 comments:

Judy Williams said...

There is an artist here in town who has done some murals on walls and now the city wants to charge him with tagging graffiti because he didn't get a permit. The whole neighborhood is in an uproar, hoping that he will be allowed to finish. He's even promised to get the proper documentation.

I don't know if you noticed (from the smaller sized image) but the leaves are the little girls' handprints. So charming!!

Mister Earl said...

I wonder how long ago the girl scouts painted this mural. I wonder if the women who painted it know it's still there? I wonder if they ever have reunions at the sign?

Anonymous said...

It was around in the early 70's. Not the same mural exactly or the same girls, but the same organization

I haven't heard the name Enzo Cucchi for awhile. I always liked the work of Mimmo Paladino.

Trish said...

Some of us old girl scouts still DO exist...old farts that we are now.

various troops in SoPas painted or re-painted it over the years. For a while, I think the late 70's, early 80's, the "element" from across the river was coming across and defacing the tunnel as frequently as it could be repainted.

don't know of any reunions at the sign...heck, I'm not even sure any of my old troop 580 sisters is even a friend on FB...tho I have connected with old camp friends there.

I did, as a SoPas softball league player, go thru the tunnel and admire the work often!

again---thanks for the memories Laurie!

Petrea Burchard said...

Trish, were you one of the painters?

Judy, thanks for pointing out the hands, that is so sweet.

J. and I just dropped off some donations for Margaret's South Pas Girl Scout Troop garage sale this weekend. Y'all go buy something, okay?

I like this, Laurie.

Yakpate said...

I love the way children paint flowers... they always look like little happy faces to me.

LA: If this mural was painted so long ago, how does it hold up under the heat and weather and the passage of time? Maybe this mural isn't merely charming... maybe it's charmed?

Margaret said...

Love those Girl Scouts.

Trish said...

petrea---dunno if we were on the first paint...but we did paint when I was just a young Brownie...just saw some pix of it the other day as I flipped thru some old albums, along with some pix of my fresh new Brownie uniform at a Home Tour where we kept people in line...back when the earth was cooling.;-)

yak---it gets repainted now and again...and am sure some of the oldest paint was lead based...am sure that'll never go away!

Dixie Jane said...

Charming. And, Yak, those flowers DO look like little happy faces. Judy, you are so observant. Those little handprints. Awwwwwwwwwww!

Anonymous said...

I'm a sucker for sweet graffiti.

Dixie Jane said...

Judy, remember when I was a Brownie Scout Leader with Fran T.? We did sorta arty things like pasting rick-rack on cottage cheese lids, making s'mores and coffee can casseroles. Most of what we did was arty but nothing like the paintings shown here.