Kevin Bruce uncovers California’s small-town murals

When art historian Kevin Bruce was at Stanford University working on his master’s thesis about muralist John Pugh, he became particularly intrigued by Pugh’s 1981 trompe l’oeil work “Academe.” Painted on the side of Taylor Hall at Chico State University while Pugh was a senior there, the photo-realistic work depicts a wall crumbling to reveal perfect Greek columns -- a comment on the roots of the educational system.

And although Bruce’s initial research became the basis for the book “The Murals of John Pugh,” it also spurred his curiosity about similar works that populate small towns throughout California. The result is another book, “Large Art in Small Places,” due out June 2, that contains more than 250 murals created by amateur and professional artists in two dozen towns around the state. Divided into six geographic regions, it’s part art book, part travel guide.

“The towns initiated mural programs as a focal point to attract tourists to visit,” said Bruce, who added that many of the projects began in the early 1990s.

The majority of the towns represented in the book are part of a mural society, he said, which raises money and commissions artists. Such mural society programs were modeled after the success of Chemainus, a small town on Vancouver Island’s east shore. When the mainstay logging industry failed there, the locals turned to art and the creation of giant outdoor wall murals to revitalize their town.

“Once the mural is up on the wall it engenders a lot of civic pride, becoming a centerpiece of the town,” Bruce said.

Sometimes, the projects’ creation directly involves their communities. One example: the mural-in-a-day event that led to the “T-hacha-P Brand” piece in Tehachapi. First, artist Art Mortimer sketched out the work on the side of a seed-packing shed that now houses the Apple Shed Restaurant, featuring the image of a resident who built the structure. Then, he marked sections in a type of paint-by-numbers format and called on 15 Tehachapi artists to complete the project.

“Large Art” also highlights works such as “Orange Harvest” by Colleen Mitchell-Veyna with Morgan McCall in downtown Exeter and “Yosemite,” Michael Kohler’s 120-foot-long mural in Tulare, depicting Ansel Adams photographing Yosemite.

“They paint their past and culture right up on the wall,” Bruce said. “It’s a great way for visitors to learn the history of the town and see some really good art.”

-- Liesl Bradner