212 E. Main Street
Mural-in-a-Day
April 29, 2006
It was a beautiful day in Barstow. At 8am the pre-prepped mural wall already
looked spectacular as Master Artist Kathy Fierro had been working overtime
to make sure the lines were clear for community muralists during the week before.
We had about 20 people from the community help paint the wall throughout the day,
with others stopping by to see what was going on.The mural was finally completed
about 6:30pm and was cast in shadows from the setting sun.
Of our spectators, one couple was visiting friends in the Barstow area for the
weekend and decided to be one of the first to take our walking tour of murals
between 1st and seventh avenues. Another man was on a cross-country bike trek
from Florida to Seattle (he’s almost finished) raising funds to help Florida Hurricane
victims. He lost his own home in the hurricanes last fall. A new Army resident back
from Iraq and assigned to Fort Irwin came by with his young family to watch the activity.
New downtown building owner Reynolds Ohai also stopped by to watch; he’s been rehabilitating
the old two-story building at 111-113 E. Main Street. In addition, Steve Smith of the Mojave
Valley River Museum led a couple groups in the morning on a tour of downtown discussing the
more interesting historical aspects of the area. He’ll be leading additional tours this
summer as well presenting slide shows.
The completed mural at 212 E/ Main Street (site of Desert Stationers). The community muralists signed their names below the mural. A list of mural sponsors (donated $200 or more) will be installed adjacent to the murals in the next few weeks.
