Developments combine affordable housing with art celebrating community figures, heritage

The north side of Project Open Apartments (355 N 500 W). El lado norte de Project Open Apartments (355 N 500 W). Photo by Bryant Heath

Nestled between I-15 and the railroad at 500 W, the Guadalupe neighborhood has been around since the mid-1800s and has grown from agricultural plots with small adobe houses to railroad-based commercial warehouses to the current residential neighborhood we see today.

Project Open and North Sixth are newer buildings in the area: affordable living spaces that prioritize reducing their carbon footprint with everything from efficient windows and solar panels to electric vehicle charging. Residents enjoy apartments or combined living and workspaces – perfect for artists looking for housing and studio space.

With this target market in mind, building owner Evergreene Management Group decided to use the space to beautify the community by enlisting artist Chuck Landvatter to be a part of creating murals on all three buildings.

The north side of Project Open hosts a seven-story image. The height of seven stories is a hard thing to wrap your head around, so for context, that’s about 100 feet tall – think the size of a blue whale, or three school buses end-to-end.

For the west-facing Project Open piece, Landvatter recreating work by Jessica Wiarda, who enlisted Landvatter to provide his “signature realistic faces” for the image of the Hopi women – Wiarda’s grandmother and sister. She describes the piece as “matriarchy in action.”

The North Sixth mural is owned by EMG, but the mural was sponsored by the Giv Group and features the late Thelma McDonald – a woman who made herself a pillar of the community by caring for the street as long as she lived there. Landvatter painted it in 2014, and its three-story height watches over the passersby on the street, just as McDonald did.

These three murals provide inspiration to the area with depictions of people whose impact is still felt by members of the community of Guadalupe.

A mural on the north side of the North Sixth Apartments (50 N 600 W), depicting the late Thelma McDonald, a prominent figure in the community. Photo by Bryant Heath

The west side of Project Open Apartments, a collaboration between muralist Chuck Landvatter and primary artist Jessica Wiarda. The vivid colors are a striking contrast with the building’s muted tones. Photo by Bryant Heath