The Daily Herald

PROVO -- Residents are coming together to reinvent a desolate park near the railroad tracks in south Provo.

Maeser Park is a retreat residents have hesitated to use, perhaps because of its proximity to the rail yards and industrial area along 600 South. Nearby, a long blank wall has been nothing more than a magnet for graffiti.

That is, until the "park mom" -- Jordan Pinegar -- came up with an idea to put the wall to better use.

Pinegar saw the long cinder block wall, which is the back of a storage shed, as a perfect canvas. After contacting the owner of the storage units, Pinegar talked to Kathryn Allen at the Provo Arts Council. Allen was enthusiastic.

"Obviously she was thinking about it on her own," Pinegar said.

A committee was formed including residents and representatives of Provo Parks and Recreation, the Arts Council and Neighborhood Housing Services.

A survey was sent to area residents to see what they wanted the mural to look like. Themes included pioneers, children playing and people relaxing.

Mural artist Alberto Moreno, a recent immigrant from Costa Rica, was asked to design and paint the mural. Moreno started by visiting the park several times a week at different times of day.

The park was often empty, so Moreno's colorful design -- which is being applied to the wall by the artist and dozens of neighborhood volunteers -- is an invitation as well as a reflection of current park activities.

"I think it's increased people's use of the park," Pinegar said. "More people stopping by the park who would normally just drive by."

The work has created a family of mural painters, like Tom Vidal, who took a week off from work to paint full time. He stopped to have a picnic with his family and saw a sign seeking help to paint.

"We came back at 5, met Alberto and Jordan, and ended up painting until 9 that night," Vidal said. "I just kind of fell in love with it in the first five minutes."

Besides Pinegar and her two children, another regular mural painter is Florence Padlock, of Spanish Fork.

She comes every day, at first to trace the drawings projected onto the wall, and now to clean up.

"We have extended a family, created a group ... friends meet friends at the park. Lots of new relationships have been created by the mural," Moreno said.

Murals aren't simply smaller paintings blown up into larger ones. The public helps determine the design and the community is enlisted to help. By getting the community involved, it feels a sense of ownership, and the residents' presence influences the mural, he said.

Vidal suggested putting hot air balloons in the sky. Others have given feedback, and their ideas are being incorporated.

"Public art is expressing pride in civil works. Art is a nonproductive form, but it helps you remember your humanity and therefore has to be done," Moreno said. "Everything that's on the wall was discussed in meetings, came from surveys or came from suggestions of people who visited the park."

Moreno said he has merely implemented and worked with what was given.

"No personal ego or style involved," Pinegar said.

Moreno said he simply provided the backdrop and let residents fill it in.

"It says we value our neighborhood and we're going to take care of it and celebrate it," Pinegar said.

Artists in the community are needed to add final details to the mural. An official unveiling is scheduled for Oct. 10. For more information, call Kena Mathews at 375-5820, ext. 103.

Janet Knudson can be reached at janet@bjornpress.com.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.