Watching the Stages of Amarillo’s Blue Sky Mural Recreation

One of the things I do a lot when I am not at work is walking around Amarillo. I am helping a friend train for a sixty-mile walk she is doing next month to raise money to put an end to breast cancer.

When we are walking around Amarillo we notice some things. We watch projects around town start. We end up seeing them finish. That was the case with Blue Sky on Western. We walk by that location each and every time we walk. Which ends up being four times a week.

We noticed at one point that the mural on the side of the wall was gone. You know the one I am talking about. It is of our iconic and beloved Palo Duro Canyon. It has been the design for years.

Then all of a sudden it was gone. So I thought maybe they were putting up a new mural. I mean we have so many different murals around town maybe that was it. I thought if that was the case it would be sad. We grew to love that Palo Duro pic.

As we continued to walk by we noticed the progress. It didn't take long to figure out they were recreating the exact same mural. I did wonder why? Did it need freshening up? Did the Texas sun beat down on it too much? I hadn't noticed it looking faded.

Turns out, after some digging, it was destroyed in an accident. Apparently, a young woman was speeding from the I-40 off-ramp there at Western. I am not surprised. We always said if we die on a walk it is probably at that off-ramp. So many people speed off of it. So many people also don't yield at that yield sign. It is just a mess waiting to happen.

It did on May 16th at 3 am when she crashed her car into the Blue Sky and damaged the back half of that building. So that almost twenty-year mural was completely demolished. The young lady was uninjured but was taken for a ride by the Amarillo Police.

Once the building was fixed. That took until the end of August then the mural could be redone. The original artist has since passed away. Luckily Rex Wilt took over. He actually had helped the original artist. Rex also had help from Michael Longhofer, who is a West Texas A&M fine art professor.

They even paid homage to the original artists and included the year of the original mural.

The task started and what a fantastic job they did. They are adding a few of their own touches and it is still a work in progress. So you may be able to catch them outside working. I know we have.