KINGMAN – In the last few years, downtown has turned from bland to beautiful in terms of art.
Muralist Ray Harvey is one of those people breathing life into the blank spaces.
Harvey returned to Kingman this month to add a 12 x 12-foot painting of a 1934 Packard and a ‘bastardized’ bullet-nosed Studebaker inside of a garage on, well, the old garage door at the Old Trails Garage next to Garibaldi’s on Andy Devine Avenue/Route 66.
The artist spent a few weeks in Kingman back in April where he painted the ‘Kingman’ mural next to Mudd on 66 coffee shop and another mural a few feet away on the wall of the future Tin Can Alley Air BnB site for vintage airstream trailers.
He started the latest mural Nov. 11 and will be in town at least a week and as of Saturday was a little more than halfway finished.
“Everybody asks when it’s going to be finished,” he said. “Sometimes I just gotta walk away for a while.”
Harvey has been painting for more than 35 years and has done more than 600 murals all over the country and even Hong Kong and Taiwan, but mostly stays closer to home in the Midwest near his hometown, New Haven, Missouri.
A trip out west can take two to three days and result in a weeklong round-trip. He travels with his wife, Paula, who helps with painting, logistics, co-driver and company.
The funding was through a commission from building owner Craig Graves along with an undisclosed grant amount through Promote Kingman.
Wind and rain have slowed down his progress before, but Saturday’s light rains didn’t cause a problem. The unpainted portions of the Old Trails Garage mural had been sketched out with soapstone instead of chalk.
“Ever since I did one with chalk and it rained and wiped out the whole drawing, I don’t do that anymore,” Harvey said. “You got to live and learn.”
The Harveys traveled out in a van full of brushes, paint and other supplies, stayed at an Air BnB, figures all expenses in from the grant and has to make his time and money count.
“I only come out here when I have at least two murals at a time,” Harvey said. “It wouldn’t be worth it to come out for one 12 by 12 painting.”
After finishing the downtown artwork, he’ll be heading out to Keepers of the Wild near Valentine for an even bigger art piece.
“When I travel, I like to get the small pieces out of the way before hitting the larger ones,” he said.
To see his progress and more murals, go to www.rayharveyart.com or the Ray Harvey Art Facebook page.
Aaron Ricca
