The city of Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture partnered with Fry's Food Stores to commission the Arizona artist Margaret Dewar, cofounder of the collective Mural Mice Universal, to create a mural in the new Fry's Downtown. The new Fry's Food Store located at 100 E. Jefferson Street is scheduled to open October 23, 2019.
Ms. Dewar was chosen from among 32 Phoenix-area artists who applied for the $10,000 commission to paint the mural, which is 10 feet wide by 10 feet high and featured on the wall near the first-floor elevators."Dewar was chosen because of her attention to detail, exciting color palette and her depiction of downtown Phoenix through time," said Bo Wachendorf, interior designer for Kroger, Fry's Food Stores' parent company. "The mural for the new Fry's Downtown draws upon historical imagery from the nearby community and celebrates the diverse landscape and wildlife of the Sonoran Desert."
"We are honored to bring the rich history of the downtown area to life through another masterpiece by Ms. Dewar," said Monica Garnes, President of Fry's Food Stores. "Beyond its beauty, this mural also reflects Fry's commitment to create an environment where our customers feel at home and connected to food and culture."
"Fry's has become a leader in bolstering community connections between private development and the arts through mural commissions like this one," said Edward Lebow, Public Art Program Director for the Office of Arts and Culture, which helped to coordinate the process Fry's used to select the artist.
The Mural Mice Universal artist collective has been creating murals throughout Arizona since 2005. In addition to Ms. Dewar, the Mice includes R. E. Wall. Driven by the power of public art to transform urban landscapes and communities, the duo weave past and present into visual stories inspired by small town heroes, local struggles and the desire to bridge gaps between cultures and generations. The artists explore painting techniques and styles ranging from classical art and the Mexican mural movement of the 1920s to those drawn from the current global Renaissance of public art. The work of the Mural Mice can be found in Phoenix and throughout the Valley.
About Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture
The Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture was established in 1985 to champion and sustain the city's arts and culture community to make Phoenix a great place to live, work, and visit. The Office is advised by the Phoenix Arts and Culture Commission, made up of a diverse group of citizen volunteers with a particular area of focus on policy-making and financial recommendations for public art and grant investments for the city. For more information on the Office of Arts and Culture, visit www.phoenix.gov/arts or call 602-262-4637. Follow the Office on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/phxartsculture and Twitter @phxarts_culture.
About Fry's Food Stores
Fry's is dedicated to our purpose to Feed the Human Spirit. Headquartered in Tolleson, we employ more than 20,000 associates and operate 122 Fry's Food Stores and 93 fuel centers across the state. Fry's has been serving Arizonans since 1960 and was selected as the 2019 Business of the Year by the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce. As a division of The Kroger Co., we care about the communities we serve, working to end hunger and eliminate waste across the company through our Zero Hunger | Zero Waste initiative. In 2018 we provided 10 million meals to Arizona's hungry families. https://www.thekrogerco.com/sustainability/zero-hunger-zero-waste/
