Sixteen large photographic murals of aviation and education themes have been placed on the walls of the McDowell Road underpass between Greenfield and Higley roads at Falcon Field Airport in Mesa.
The murals show aircraft from the 1940s to the present, employees and equipment from Boeing Aerospace Co. and MD Helicopters Inc., and students from Mesa Public Schools.
Falcon Field was established in 1941 as a military airport during World War II to train British Royal Air Force and American pilots. In 1948, the federal government deeded the property to the city of Mesa as a municipal airport.
The public art is a special project by District 5 Councilmember David Luna who is in the last year of his second four-year term on council.
“(T)his is one of my legacy projects... I wanted to leave something special — art is something very special ... and of course education,” Luna said at a Feb. 16 dedication of the murals. “We really wanted to honor the past. We wanted to honor Falcon Field Airport and its contributions to the city of Mesa. But we also wanted to honor the present and we have MD Helicopter and we have Boeing. But of course our kids are our future.”
Project funding came from the airport, Falcon Field Airport Director Corinne Nystrom said after the dedication ceremony,
“It was actually funded out of the Falcon Field Fund. The total amount for everything — including the design and all of that — was $320,000,” she said. “The photographs were all donated by Boeing and MD [Helicopters] and the school district, but we paid full price for the contractors.”
If the images degrade they can be replaced, Nystrom said.
“Now that they have the print for it, if they do start to fade because of the sun then they can just reprint it and reinstall another one,” Nystrom said.
Dedication ceremony
The murals were dedicated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at a tent in a median at the MD Helicopters parking lot, 4555 E. McDowell Road.
Nystrom recalled how Luna came to her with the initial idea for the murals.
“This project was actually the inspiration of Councilmember David Luna, who came to me one day and said ‘Hey, what do you think about this idea?’ And of course we thought it was great and so as a result we have it here today,” she said.
Luna was an active member of the committee tasked with the project’s planning and implementation, Nystrom said.
“It wasn’t just his brainchild, it was, ‘I’m going to be involved in this all the way through,’ which was just wonderful. He sat in on all of our committee meetings and helped us pick out the photographs,” she said.
In addition to city officials, MD Helicopters Inc., Boeing Aerospace Co. and Mesa Public Schools officials were on the committee. They also added employees of Sierra Signs, which created and installed the murals; and Talis Construction and Scholz Contracting.
“We’re very proud to be honored by the pictures that are on the walls along the underpass. They represent virtually all of our products going all the way back to the 1960s... We’re really thrilled to have those photographs up there for us as well as some pictures of students,” Chris Jaran, chief operating officer at MD Helicopters, said.
“We’re a major user of Falcon Field; we fly every day. You just saw one of our aircraft flying overhead at the start of this, while we were preparing,” he said.
Boeing soon will mark its 40th anniversary of being in Mesa, said Kathleen “KJ” Jolivette, vice president of attack helicopter programs at Boeing.
“We’re excited to be here today with the city of Mesa to celebrate this huge milestone and our partnership. I mean, you’ll see in the photos this is a reflection of our long history together,” she said. “(N)ext month we are going to celebrate 40 years here in Mesa, so ... we have a long history here and we’ve been here a long time, and that’s really a testament of our people who have been here in the community and have given back to the community that we all call home.”
The company has been known by several names at its facilities at 5000 E. McDowell Road in Mesa.
“Now you’ll see the photos down there, it goes back to our past, from Hughes Helicopters to [McDonnell Douglas] to now Boeing today, and it’s really a reflection of all that we’ve done, to include the first Apache that came out of this factory in the ‘80s. So long history for us. And you’ll see all of those cool photos, but what’s really cool are the kids who come from our very own Mesa schools; they are our future pilots, engineers, they are going to be working in our factory and we are invested in them for the future,” Jolivette said.
One of those future pilots, engineers or aviation employees may be Roman Tan, 10, who with teacher Salk Elementary School teacher Cathy Underwood are pictured in a large mural on the south side of McDowell Road. Underwood heads up the Salk Flight Center, which opened in December 2000.
The district offers aviation classes to fourth- through eighth-grade students, Tracy Yslas, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning at Mesa Public Schools, said at the mural dedication ceremony.
“We have lots of opportunities to really help our students at Mesa Public Schools to explore the aviation careers. As we know, education is most important to help prepare ... our future learners for the workforce and we have opportunities for our fourth-, fifth-, sixth- and incoming seventh- and eighth-graders,” she said. “(W)hat used to be the Boeing Aviation Program is now the MPS Aerospace Academy and provides some opportunities for our students to really dig into those careers... We have simulations where students can explore all different kinds of opportunities that get them interested in the aviation career.”
“We are super proud to be part of this partnership with the city of Mesa and Falcon Field and really helping our students explore those interests that they have to prepare them for this future career,” Yslas said.
Mayor John Giles said the murals are a wonderful project for the city.
“It’s great to have all of these legacy organizations in our city come together,” he said. “Anytime you get this cast of characters together you’re going to have something great.”
“The thing I love about this project is it’s got two great things going for it — No. 1, it’s historic, right? We love and appreciate the history of Falcon Field Airport,” Giles said. “But it’s also public art and it beautifies our community. I drive this street all of the time; this is a dramatic improvement. It makes our neighborhood better, it brands us with the airport and it just creates a lot of community pride,” he said,
Richard Dyer Managing Editor | East Valley @RHDyer
Meet Richard Richard Dyer has worked at Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA since 1987, starting his career in Apache Junction as a copy editor and being promoted over the years to work as the editor of the Mesa Independent, news services editor for the East Valley office in Apache Junction, managing editor for the East Valley office, news services editor for the East Valley office and eventually also for the newspapers at INI’s then-Chandler office, managing editor again and as a news editor covering Apache Junction/Gold Canyon and Queen Creek. He helped start the Florence Independent while the news editor covering Apache Junction and Mesa news. In January 2023, he became associate managing editor for the East Valley newspapers and in August 2023 became managing editor for the East Valley newspapers of Chandler/Tempe, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Florence, Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon, while also reporting on Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon.
Community: Since 2009, he has worked as a volunteer to design The Blue Guitar Magazine, Blue Guitar Jr. magazine and Unstrung magazine, which are projects of The Arizona Consortium for the Arts; and since 2014, has been overseeing the art submissions.
Education: University of Arizona with a master of arts in journalism and a bachelor of science in agricultural communication. Also continuing education at Mesa Community College in welding in a metal art sculpture class.
Random fact: Saw his first tornado on May 31, 2010, which was classified as an EF-2, as part of a stormchasing tour group.
Hobbies: He is an artist of welded-steel sculptures, selling his artwork at juried and non-juried art shows.
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