After having touching up the mural that had graffiti on it, (here's a post about that) I've been driving around Grants Pass and thinking to myself: "There are a LOT of murals around here!" So, I think I am going to start posting all the amazing murals in Grants Pass, and I may also create a map of where they are all located. Most of the murals are located within the heart of the downtown area, so having a map of all the murals could very well be useful to tourists. I am not aware of a map of the murals existing - yet.
I'm going to start this with one of my favorite murals in downtown Grants Pass. It's located on a building that is next door to one of my favorite restaurants (Ma Mosa's). The mural is located on the Redwood Towers building at 306 NW 6th St., Grants Pass, which I believe is THE tallest (or one of the tallest) building in Grants Pass. Currently, the building is vacant. But I have heard that there will be a new sports bar opening there soon, and that "they" are working on renovating/remodeling it inside. Cool!
This mural was painted by John Michener, like several of the murals around here in Grants Pass. John Michener is an amazing artist. He has recently moved to central Oregon (I've heard) so is no longer in Southern Oregon. But, he sure did leave his mark on the area! I know of at least 3 murals he has painted, and I may find even more as I research all the murals around here. The mural that I touched up after the graffiti - I was originally told that he had painted that one, too. But, later the hotel owners told me that he had actually just touched it up a few years ago and that another muralist had painted it originally. They said that he DID paint one of the other murals at the hotel, though.
Here are some links to his Blogspot and his Google Photo Album of some of his murals. He is truly an amazing artist - and still creating them, like this recent mural he did - in this article.
Here are some more photos of this mural:
Here's a screen shot of what it looks like on Google Maps Street View:
Stay tuned for more murals from Grants Pass!
