110 Portraits Off The 101: The Rio Dell Mural
Wow, what a summer! I spent 10 weeks of it working on the most intricate, subject rich piece of my career thus far, for the small but mightily heartened Northern California town of Rio Dell. I embarked on the summer solstice to celebrate the town’s community, recreation and industry of the past century by painting 110 portraits of local community members, their families and pets on the 816’ sq. ft surface of a historic building in town.
There were an estimated 500 hours of focused painting that went into the project, where infinite stories were gleaned from passerby about the characters in the mural, others they wished had been included, and all of the tales of love, adventure and grief that make life the vast and ornate feast for experience that it is.
In Progress Glimpses
The Monument facing side of the mural highlights the Italian families whose presence and contributions solidified the town as a cohesive residential area. Many of the founding families of the region were Italian and Portuguese immigrants who came to the Pacific Lumber Mill in Scotia to work in the mill and in the forests felling trees. Some decided that the meager wages paid to them after their room and board were accounted for (Scotia is one of the oldest standing company towns in the US) weren’t worth risking their lives, and moved their families across the river to the unincorporated town of Wildwood (which later incorporated as the town known as Rio Dell in 1964).
Wildwood was a strip of liveliness and debaucherous revelry unparalleled in the region, and was comprised of a multitude of bars, brothels and ill repute. It also was filled with hardworking families who grew lush vegetable gardens on the corners and who washed their laundry in the Eel river between manning local shops. One such family like this were the Rovai, who ran the Highway Grocery Store in the building the mural is painted on. Descendants of the family painted below still own the building, and many of their relatives still flourish in the area. If interested in a first hand account of what it was like growing up in the area in the 20s, check out Julio Rovai’s (the gentleman on the far left) biography ‘As I Saw It In The Early Twenties’.
The process of getting this project off the ground was circuitous in its own way, as many publicly funded projects are. Thanks to the Facade Improvement Grant offered through the city of Rio Dell, we were able to cover half of the associated labor and material costs for the mural. The other half was funded through a generous grant from the McClean Foundation, and individually commissioned portraits paid for by community members. The original design included 50 portrait spots, but the final piece includes over double that! I squeezed in as many portraits as could fit, and still was regretfully required to turn away many hopeful locals’ submissions.
One of the originally proposed designs by me (featuring Joe Dimaggio who played in Rio Dell before he hit the big time out east!)
I included a woman in a red dress in the center of the original design, knowing that she would be replaced by a submitted portrait subject. Local musician Sherita Perez was submitted by her brother Elias, with a photo of her playing her red guitar. She took center stage in the piece effortlessly, looking like she’s leading the crowd in some form of impromptu song.
The joyous pair below came by one day to check out the mural and we got to talking— turns out this adorable four year old has telekinetic abilities and once made a small flock of baby chicks fall down asleep simultaneously with her mind. I didn’t question the validity of this tale for a second having met this toddler, she has a presence and gaze far wiser than most adults, let alone children! I obviously had to include one of the chicks in her portrait.
Gallery Of Portraits
This mural wouldn’t have been made possible without the vision and tenacity of Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce, Jim Brickley. Over the past three years, Jim has worked tirelessly with the city to support public art through a variety of projects, with the intention to bring murals to the town’s main thoroughfare. He reached out to me about this project after reading about the mural I painted last winter for St. Vincent de Paul in the Times Standard. Here he is below, painted with his wife, Angie, his beloved clarinet, and parents behind them.
This project brought up all manner of emotion and depth with passerby and patrons of the project. There were two deaths that occurred over the course of this project of members of the mural. Jack Thompson, who had served as mayor from 2013-15 (among other local government positions he held over his long life in the area) entered hospice at the outset of the project, and passed shortly after the completion of his portrait. I was honored to get to meet him briefly, as his wife, daughters and their children brought him by the wall one day to show him his portrait. He was delighted by it, (thankfully!). What a joy it was to witness his reaction to his permanent immortalization.
The second death was of a sweet 14 year old Rottweiler named Wilfred. He passed on the day after I finished his portrait! Bizarrely, I painted both of these characters directly above and below one another on the wall totally randomly… an oddly morbid coincidence. RIP <3
I found myself saying at one point that this mural represents a human thread of an otherwise divinely woven tapestry of connection, community and generational heritage. The dynamic multitude of characters depicted come from different time periods, bringing their own rich histories and memories. The word ‘sonder’, redefined by author Jon Koenig as: ‘the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own’ felt relevant throughout this project. And while this observation may seem obvious, it’s easy to forget the magnitude of every individuals experience outside of our own. The stranger on the street, your friends parents, your city council member… all of their infinite memories and heart and pain are deafening when perceived. I was grateful for the warmth in which I was received by the community, and the many strangers turned friends that were made along the winding wall.
A little glimpse of my process through a portrait of Linda Barsanti’s lovely mother:
Progress shot with a luminous sunset framing the piece
“[Sonder is] the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own”
It was impossible to include every current living resident or their ancestors, (even with the low rural population density!), as much as I wished I could’ve. In spite of this, I was continually won over by people’s stories and tales in spite of my efforts to finish the piece according to our original goals and timeline, and made a couple exceptions at the end to include characters I just couldn’t refuse. Such as, two best friends who are both named Patrick, both young men with disabilities and both beloved by the town.
Patrick & Patrick
Another example of this, was this family, whose matriarch stopped me one day to ask if I had any more space for new faces. I apologetically explained that I had cut off accepting new submissions the week before. She conceded, and then shared the story of how she met her husband on this very block 40 years prior. He was standing in the rain on the corner as she and her girlfriends drove past. She had never seen him before, but her friends must’ve detected something about her stare towards him, because they all started teasing her and calling him her husband. Sure enough, she ended up meeting him at a party shortly after, falling in love, having a family and sharing the rest of their lives together. I asked their names, and she said ‘Lee and Lee, I’m Leslie and he was Lee’. My mouth fell open, because those are my own parent’s names! I couldn’t say no after that bizarre synchronicity. So it was then, another 6 portraits, what the hell. For the love of the Lee’s!
Other families who I enjoyed meeting vicariously through paint included Linda Rovai’s grandmother and family. Linda’s mother Mary Julia is the small child in the front of her family, flocked by her brothers and parents. She grew up and married Louie Rovai, pictured together directly below on the mural, and raised Linda in Rio Dell.
The reference for this family was challenging to work with due to its age and limited visual information. I was surprised to find that they were one of my favorites to paint! They came alive with color and form out of the tattered image. I like to think they wanted to be painted.
The community of Rio Dell is tenacious, good humored and kind. In spite of (and perhaps because of) withstanding an array of tribulations in the past century, not limited to multiple natural disasters, fires, torrential floods, (3 that occurred on the same day in different years!), and a struggling economy since highway 101 was moved around the town years ago, the community is resilient and generous with their time and resources. There are frequent crowd funded projects, fundraisers and events taking place throughout the area that celebrate the community’s veterans, firemen, history and lore. This project was unique in offering a mantle for celebrating individuals of the area on the basis of their love, and little else.
Additional Links:
https://www.times-standard.com/2022/07/18/new-murals-brighten-wildwood-avenue-in-rio-dell/
https://kymkemp.com/2022/06/23/local-faces-to-be-included-in-rio-dell-mural/
https://kymkemp.com/2022/08/18/rio-dell-mural-featuring-local-residents-almost-complete/
The Making of the St. Vincent de Paul of the Redwoods Mural
The St. Vincent de Paul of the Redwoods mural process and story.
Working on the first six panels in my specially converted living room to home studio. Photo by Rocky Arroyo.
This week I completed the largest, most detailed and ambitious mural I’ve painted to date. Numerically speaking, the mural took me over 2 months and nearly 200 hours to paint 52 portraits that span across a 29’ x 20’ wall, divided into 16 separate 8’ x 4’ panels. In less concretely measurable ways, this project taught me a great deal about painting, endurance, and the dynamic ways all lives are intertwined and can enrich and uplift one another within their communities.
Close-up of St. Vincent’s eyes, photo by Rocky Arroyo
I was approached by staff of the St. Vincent de Paul of the Redwoods mid-brush stroke, painting Hairy Garcia on a building catty corner to theirs, separated by a large parking lot (where the previously standing building had allegedly burnt down)and a field of overgrown weeds and wind blown refuse. They offered for me to check out the wall behind their kitchen and services building behind the lot, which they hoped to transform from the currently peeling wall of aged white paint to a mural celebrating their many years of community service and the individuals who marked it.
Me reaching for a drumstick after applying the final clear coat to the mural. Photo credit: Grayson Fordyce.
I gladly accepted the challenge of documenting the broad range of services, clientele and devoted individuals who have served food, provided clothes, shelter, shower services and community resources to the city of Eureka, CA, for the past almost 50 years. Through the design process, I gathered references of the seemingly infinite volunteers and treasured board members from the organization’s fb page and framed photos that line the walls of the dining hall. It was challenging to fit in as many beloved members and volunteers as possible, not to mention the many clients of the services themselves. Eventually, I arrived at a densely packed composition that seemed to satisfy members of the organization by depicting the essence of the ever turning cycles of meal service, cooking and breaking bread that St. Vincent’s is marked by.
I created a montage from both photo and sketched elements to build the composition (above), and then transferred it to a more 1”:1’ ratio drawing (below).
Final to-scale mural plans captured by Rocky Arroyo
Because the proposed wall was in various stages of decay and needed significant renovation to become a sturdy substrate, I advocated to paint the mural on fresh sheets of plywood in 16 panels. Each panel is 8’ x 4’, and fit the wall with two rows of eight panels each. For the first time ever, I was able to paint a mural from home, which served the project in several ways. Because the design was so complex and intricate, it was helpful to be able to paint the works on the ground, as opposed to on a ladder or scaffolding. I was also able to avoid the Pacific Northwest winter rainstorms, and work longer into the mural season than I otherwise could have.
Progress pic captured by: Rocky Arroyo
It took 2 months to paint my way across the 29’ x 20’ mural, and to develop 52 individual portraits throughout it. I worked in stages of 4-6 panels at a time, and in doing so effectually took over the living room, dining room and porches with the assemblage of large boards. This transformation from home to studio was met with astonishingly little complaint from my fiancee Gray, even though he now had to hop nimbly around and across the panels on his way to morning coffee, and avoid the wet palettes strewn across the floor on his way to bed.
My puppy Huxley kept me company through the long days and nights working on this project. There was only one incident of him tracking little paint spattered puppy paw prints across the works…he figured out it was an off limits zone after that.
Adding layers to Sgt. LeFrance’s forehead in this mid-paint moment captured by my partner Gray Fordyce.
Each character was a unique experience to paint, and I contemplated their lives, families, experiences and thoughts as they emerged. It is a strangely intimate thing, painting portraits of strangers, especially when the faces themselves are 2 feet tall or more, larger than life and closer than I’d ever stand in person. It’s something special to document someone in one passing moment from their full and dynamic lives, a weighted task to capture something of their whole nature in a fleeting glimpse. Some faces emerge more readily than others, some have to be coaxed and conversed with first.
Over the week that I hung the panels on the wall itself, I learned more about each of these legendary (and in some cases, nearly mystical) characters from the head chef MaryLee Price (depicted in a tie die shirt in the front right portion of the mural) and friends of St. Vincent who hang out in the alley after lunch. It was a pleasant surprise to me that nearly everyone in the piece was identifiable by both staff/volunteers and clientele of the kitchen. It was fun to watch passersby point out one by one every individual in the mural, often with glee or giggles, and see their mixed reactions to my documentation of their friends and community.
In-progress look at a couple panels, photo by me.
J.D, the man pictured below, was instantly recognized by all parties, and I was told repeatedly that he would be happy to know he was painted so prominently in the piece. I was still anxious to see his reaction, however, because I hadn’t known his identity at the time I painted him, and hadn’t gotten permission to use his image in a public work. After the mural was hung, he came by and I got to see for myself his reaction. It was as promised, enthusiastic and goofy, he told me that their were other paintings of him out there, one that even hung in a local museum.
Close up of JD, local Eureka community member/client of St. Vincent’s. Pic by Rocky Arroyo
I learned that the lady third from the top left, with the flaming red hair and infectious smile, was a welder on ship engines during WWII—a real life Rosie the Riveter. She lived to be 103, and volunteered at St. Vincent’s for over 30 years until she passed. Beside her is Father Mike Cloney, a local pastor who started volunteering at St. Vincent’s in 1964. The woman to his right, Mary Ivanvich, was MaryLee’s elementary school lunch lady years before they took up arms together serving food to those in need.
In-progress capture of the aforementioned three, with my slippered foot for scale.
Something that hadn’t occurred to me until after I worked through this mural, is how rare it is to see public art depicting the very people who enjoy and appreciate it most— the people living and hanging out on the street itself. It felt important to record their lives and honor them though this painted immortalization, paying tribute to the people who appreciate the brightening of their surroundings most. It was brought to my attention that the man at the front of the food line, wearing the yellowish shirt in the third panel from the left, died while I was working on the piece. Mixed stories say that he died walking into a shelter on Christmas Day or that he was stabbed several days after. Either way, Timmy is now permanently blazoned onto this collective memory mural. I hope he would’ve wanted to be.
Sipping some water with the folks at the table. Pic by Gray Fordyce
The actual hanging of the mural was a process all to itself, and was made possible by the assistance of a literal total stranger-passerby-turned-collaborator: Vincent “Captain Wade”. Vincent had driven past me on hwy 101 while I was working on Hairy Garcia (https://lostcoastoutpost.com/2021/aug/7/behold-hairy-garcia-new-eureka-mural-highway-101-s/) and offered generously the use of his bucket truck, should I ever need to reach areas of a wall that are unreachable through ladder or lift. I took him up on his offer for the St. Vincent mural, and so ensued an awesome weekend of teamwork between he, my partner Gray, local documentary filmmaker and friend of St. Vincent’s Laura Montagna, and Bob Santilli of the organization.
Vincent leaning over the roof of the building drilling screws into the panels, pic by me.
I drove the truck while Vincent drilled the top line of screws while Gray hoisted up the panels and drilled the bottom line of screws.
The week after the installation of the mural, I touched up the piece and replaced/added several additional portraits. At the end of the week, St. Vincent’s held a mural unveiling event that we invited as many people included in the mural as possible, along with the Eureka town mayor Susan Seaman and local news crews. It was wonderful to get to meet some of the characters I’d painted and witness their joy at seeing themselves on the wall. Below are some photos of the party and members of the mural in person.
Group photo of some of the members of St.Vincent’s volunteer and board depicted in the mural. From left to right, Larry Alexander (posing below his portrait), MaryLee Price (painted in tie-dye shirt in the front row), Benjamin (playing guitar in the top back row of mural towards the right side), Sargent LaFrance of Eureka PD (above the man with the red shirt and to the right of the pit bull on the top right), Father Mike Cloney (fourth from the left in the striped green shirt and hat), me, Russ Shaddix (right of Sgt. LeFrance in the top right), Jackie and her husband (Jackie is on the left above Larry and her husband is second from the left in the furthest back row). Ellie-Mae the German Shepherd in the front row (located in the top right on the second row).
St. Vincent de Paul is a ship manned by a crew of people who believe in simple but radical tenets of love and stewardship inspired by St. Vincent’s acts of selflessness, steered by daily do-gooding and community sustainability. This mural is a documentation of the radical equality and unity found in pockets of our increasingly divided and polarized world, that can be witnessed daily at St. Vincent de Paul of the Redwoods. When we can gather and break bread together, share laughs and stories, we can carry on. What a joy it was to create this piece!
Other local media coverage of the mural can be found at:
https://www.times-standard.com/2022/01/20/eureka-mural-pays-homage-to-st-vincents-volunteers-staff-and-patrons/
https://krcrtv.com/north-coast-news/eureka-local-news/st-vincent-de-paul-in-eureka-receives-new-mural-featuring-city-employees