I recently wrote about murals on the walls of an alley in Ajo, Arizona. In the comments of that post, one of my readers asked me,
Did you happen to see the mural on the bookstore?
Why yes. Yes I did. You can see a photo I took of the mural at the top if this page.
The building with the mural on its side does not only house a bookstore. It’s an art gallery as well, and the home of the Ajo Copper News,
…a weekly newspaper. It has been serving the communities of Ajo, Why, and Lukeville in Western Pima County since 1916.
Although I did browse in the bookstore (and bought fantastic, reasonably priced postcards with lovely color images of Ajo and Why), I didn’t really know anything about the mural. It was cool. I looked at it. I took a photo. I moved on.
While writing this post, I found more information about the mural on the website of Rocky Point Times newspaper (our of Puerto Peñasco, Mexico). The says,
When the current location of the newspaper and bookstore was purchased, it was the goal of Hop David, (the artist, also the publisher) to have a mural on the front of the building. That dream came to fruition, when in 2012, Hop completed the current mural with the help of another local artist, Mike “DaWolf” Baker as part of ASAP (Ajo Street Art Project).
My reader told me,
Someone saw me ogling and was kind enough to point me to the footprints on the sidewalk that give the oblique (and intended) view of the whole thing.
No kind person saw me ogling and pointed me to footprints! I had not idea. I never saw any footprints, so I guess I looked at the mural all wrong.
The aforementioned article in Rocky Point Times says the mural
is best viewed from the painted footprints on the corner of Pajaro [Street] and Highway 85 by the tiny park in order to get the complete effect of the trick-perspective mural.
I guess I am going to have to go back and take a better look.
Thanks for this post and also the previous one about all of the other murals. I had no idea that there were so many hidden in the alleys.
Mile Baker, the artist that helped on the bookstore mural, is a wonderful artist who also is, or was, a van dweller. I followed his blog for years until one day he deleted the entire thing. I’ve always wondered if he was okay so with your post as inspiration I did a little googling and found that he’s alive and well and still painting murals in Ajo! Thanks!
Thanks for sharing, Karen. I believe another reader told me about Mike Baker living in his van. I haven’t met him.
Glad my post was an inspiration to check up on the guy. I’m also glad he is alive and well and still painting. Maybe I’ll see more of his work if I ever go back to Ajo.
I spent a week at Da Wolfs place about a year ago. He frequently goes incognito. Cool guy and an incredible artist.
I think you told me about him, Steve. I will definitely keep my eyes out for him if I am ever back in Ajo.
That is a cool mural, even if you aren’t in the exact right spot to view it.
Yes, it’s cool, and of course, even better in person.
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