“Painting’s my way to kind of calm down,” said Navajo artist Julius Padoni.
Sunday, April 28 marked ‘Community Paint Day’ for residents of Phoenix. The mission? A mural covering the southern facing wall of the Valley Youth Theater on the corner of 1st and Fillmore.
Navajo artist Julius Padoni has been painting murals in Phoenix for more than three years. “I guess the intent was to raise awareness of the situation in Arizona, you know? Like Arizona’s dependence on water cause Phoenix is in the middle of the desert but we’re just constantly expanding outward and it’s a huge issue because at the current rate of growth, the city is unsustainable.”
Which is exactly what ‘Water Writes’ initiative intends to fix.
“They’re painting murals all over the world, you know. Addressing this – raising awareness about water issues that the world is gonna face,” says Padoni of ‘Water Writes’. “It’s ‘Community Paint Day’.” So whether your contribution is that of an accomplished artist, or you’re just spending quality time with a loved one, the message behind the mural on the Valley Youth Theater is an important one for everyone.
Many artists attended the first day of the painting, and although he’s helped with hundreds of murals throughout the years, this one is especially important to Padoni. “This is good because, we have some control over how, like this is a form of media you know? We’re making media. And it’s not really – it’s positive media, you know? It’s placing indiginous people in a positive light, you know? We need more of that. So I think this mural represents that, too.” said Padoni.
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