Starting in November, a team of artists both amateur and professional worked hard to paint the wall on the side of a coffee shop on Main Street. Their project, a beautiful array of colors and scenes representing the town titled “Camp Verde Grows,” was finished earlier this month.
On Jan. 18, the team of painters joined members of the community for food, drinks and music at the coffee shop, taking the opportunity to present their accomplishment to the residents of Camp Verde.
“It just warms your heart,” said Joan Bourque, the lead artist who designed the mural, of the opportunity to share what she and the other painters had created with the whole town. Bourque has a company that helps communities create their own murals like this.
“When I teach kids the process of art, I tell them that displaying your art and having people see your art is part of the process of making art, because when you get appreciation it means that what you’ve put out there has connected with another person. And that’s what art is about. It gives you the spirit to keep creating.”
“It was really inspiring and educational to work with her and see how a mural was put together,” Gaylene Allen, one of the volunteer artists, said of participating. Allen spoke to those assembled about the joy of seeing the art go from chalk outlines, to the shapes of the picture, all the way to the beautiful final product.
In addition to the artists, the premiere of the mural for the community featured a performance by Grace Rumpf and Jenahlee Thompson, two local students that have appeared in Camp Verde High School theater productions; the two girls harmonized over Rumpf playing ukulele.
“I thought it was a good way to be involved in the community,” Thanks A Latte’s owner Daryle Olinick said of the mural. “I thought it would be good for business and that people would stop by.”
Olinick said he sees Camp Verde as on the cusp of growth and sees the community coming together
for the mural as a part of that.
“I hope that Thanks A Latte can be a core other businesses can grow from,” Olinick said. “I really enjoy being a connection place where people in Camp Verde can meet. That’s what led to me buying the place two years ago.”
“I think it draws people in and draws attention to businesses like this,“ Julie Scott, vice president of the Camp Verde Business Alliance, said of the mural. “I hope it spreads like wildfire. It’s so colorful.”
“It’s what we grow in this ZIP code and what we hope this community will grow into,” said Sebra Choe, of the Camp Verde Economic Development Office.
Jon Hecht can be reached at 282-7795 or email jhecht@larsonnewspapers.com
