A new mural on Route 66 near the Rock Creek Bridge is turning a few more heads these days, thanks to some tree-trimming done last week to help make the painting more noticeable to those traveling the Mother Road. The painting is a beautiful rendition of the state’s wildflower, the Indian Blanket, and sits just off of Ozark Trail, on what was formerly a stark (and largely hidden) water tower.
Sapulpa City Manager Joan Riley has been leading the charge in seeing this project to fruition, and she says she is “so pleased with the reaction the public is giving.”
For Riley, the idea of painting a flower on the water tower wasn’t the first idea she had. “I considered a Route 66 theme—which would’ve been wonderful as well—but after looking at some others murals around the state and seeing how pretty and vibrant flowers were, the Indian Blanket came to mind and never left.”
She also says the Indian Blanket had a strong personal meaning for her, sharing how when she and her late husband Mike were living on an acreage west of town, he scattered Indian Blanket seeds around the property. “We both loved how they came up and bloomed all summer,” she said.
The funding for the mural came from money that was budgeted for a new campaign called “Make Sapulpa Beautiful.” Riley and city officials encouraged individuals, businesses, and groups to get involved in improving the city and its appearance. “We emphasized that businesses fix signs, repair awnings, pick up trash, paint, improve entrances to neighborhoods and that all of us acknowledge and encourage one another in doing so,” she said. The annual dump day last fall included contributions to this campaign, adding a new poster contest in the schools that resulted in a pizza party for the winning class. The clean-up campaign ended with a block party held at the Elks Lodge to show our appreciation to all those who worked to help “make Sapulpa beautiful.”
The bulk of the budget in that campaign went to fund the creation of the mural, which was done by a company called Hive Appeal, out of Enid. The company is well known in the area for their bright, cheery murals featuring fruits, nature, and you guessed it—flowers. The lift used to paint the mural was paid for by the Sapulpa Chamber of Commerce.
When it came to deciding where to place the mural, Riley said she’d been looking for a space for “quite some time.” During another discussion about the status of Reynolds Park—which sits at 13101 Ozark Trail—Riley said she saw the “large blank canvas that seemed to be a perfect spot.”
The project was originally supposed to take five weeks, but the large amount of rain we received in the first few weeks set the project back. Now that it’s been completed, Riley says the city will be constructing a space off the Ozark Trail entrance where travelers can pull off the highway and take pictures. “The plan is that it become an icon on Route 66 in Sapulpa along with the Car Museum, the bridge, and the Tee Pee Drive-In,” Riley says.
See the timeline gallery below. Photos by Tammi Golden.
