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John Anderten has lived in many states across the U.S. in his 72 years, including New Jersey, Colorado and Oregon, but he’s proud to call Tempe home.
Now retired, Anderten decided to paint the beige brick wall in the alley behind his south Tempe house in order to bring some color and vibrancy to the drab area. He said his art is his way of “trying to understand the universe through my consciousness.”
The “Come Together” wall mural features a rainbow of colors and statements on unity and peace. Stick figures are seen running and jumping throughout each of the five panels. It started out as a repair project and turned into a work of art for the non-artist, according to Anderten.
“The mural is a tribute to equality, diversity, science and math, and consciousness,” he said, who considers his wife, Mary, a professor at Arizona State University, his muse.
Name: John Anderten
Age: 72
Occupation: retired
Why you chose to work in your field:
I chose to work in my alley because I thought it should be more colorful.
What I like most about what I do:
The solitude of painting by myself in the alley was very meditative.
If I had picked a different occupation it might have been:
An even earlier retirement to pursue my curiosity.
People who inspired me (and how).
Ludwig Boltsman, whose quantitative theories on entropy seem to show that even our universe is temporary.
Lindsay is a Phoenix native and is thrilled to be reporting in her hometown.
After spending several years in advertising after college, she switched gears and graduated with her master’s degree in journalism at Arizona State University in 2019.
When she’s not writing, you can usually find her reading a book or playing with her family’s dogs.
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