In November, the Town of Camp Verde embarked on an ambitious project. Over the course of a month, the brick wall on the side of Thanks A Latte was transformed into a bountiful flash of light and color, as local artists and residents painted a mural on the side of the coffee shop on Main Street.
A month later, the art project is finished, and it stands proudly before drivers passing through town, showing off Camp Verde’s most recognizable features — Montezuma Castle National Monument, cottonwood trees, the Verde River, Camp Verde’s agricultural lifestyle and the San Francisco Peaks off in the far distance.
The design comes from Joan Bourque, an artist living in Cornville who has created murals in Cottonwood, as well as in numerous locations throughout the state. Through her art project, “It Takes A Village to Raise a Mural,” Bourque aims to help towns create community art by making designs and giving guidance, which local participants and volunteers are then able to turn into reality.
“I think it helps tighten the collaboration within a community,” Bourque said of murals like the one on the side of Thanks A Latte. “Especially with the students, and the people who work on it. They have a part. They can go back to the wall and say, ‘I did this.’ It’s a good feeling.”
Eighteen painters from around the Verde Valley joined in the project, including students from the local high school. According to Sebra Choe, project manager for economic development in Camp Verde, over 200 local residents stopped by the project over the past month to look at the progress. The community also raised over $3,000 to help pay for the project, with organizations like the Camp Verde Business Alliance and the Kiwanis Club of Camp Verde joining with local businesses and Arizona Public Service donating as well.
“The mural represents our collective effort to keep Camp Verde a special place,” Choe wrote in an email. “The Native American basket of Camp Verde produce, presented by an array of different hands, symbolizes a bounty — vibrant, healthy community made possible by the people of our past, present and future. That is why the mural title has a dual meaning, ‘Camp Verde Grows.’”
The final mural differs from Bourque’s original design in its addition of input from the Yavapai-Apache Cultural Resource Center, which suggested inclusion of petroglyphs, a tribal family scene and ladders on Montezuma Castle that add the Yavapai-Apache Nation’s history to its integral place in the culture of Camp Verde. The town will be holding a Meet the Muralists party celebrating the completion of the mural on Friday, Jan. 18, at 5 p.m. at Thanks A Latte. The town intends to follow it up with a similar project updating and refurbishing Hallet Plaza close by on Main Street with a new landscape design, upgraded benches and additional color, hopefully with the help of relatives of Margaret Wingfield Hallet.
Jon Hecht can be reached at 634-8551, or email jhecht@larsonnewspapers.com
