APS substation to blend in with the artsy vibe of Roosevelt Row in Phoenix

Local artists hired to paint murals outside new APS substation

To keep the arts and culture alive, eight murals are being produced by 10 artists for a new APS substation in downtown Phoenix.

PHOENIX - Downtown Phoenix has underdone a lot of change over the past few decades and is expected to see even more expansion in the years ahead.

To keep the arts and culture alive, eight murals are being produced by 10 artists for a new APS electric substation.

At the corner of Roosevelt Row and 7th Street, artists have been working non-stop to create these beautiful masterpieces.

APS is building a new electric substation here and is covering it in murals to help it blend in with the artsy environment. There are eight murals up to 28 feet tall and totaling more than 5,700 square feet.

"With this project we will be bringing electricity.. a whole lot more electricity to downtown which is much needed," said APS' Kendra Lee.

Over the last few years, APS has worked with the city to figure out a way to have their new electric substation blend in with the artsy vibe of Roosevelt Row.

"Power lines and substations aren’t exactly popular sometimes, and so we really worked closely with the community, a lot of stakeholder meetings, a lot of open house events where we could engage the community in a way that we could get their feedback," said Lee.

They asked the community for ideas about what elements should be included in the spaces surrounding the new substation. Almost everything they asked for is being included: shaded canopies, benches, new trees, and murals made by local artists to cover the outside walls.

"Behind me is a piece that I created that is about my relationship to this area. Being born and raised in Mesa, Arizona, I have had an opportunity now to become an artist in a way that I recognize the importance as an Asian American within my community I didn’t have a lot of Asian American role models growing up that were artists and so now that I get to create work and essentially become that role model that I never had, said Shela Yu.

A performance space is also planned for the property. The project will include a substation office for the Phoenix Police Department, which typically has a visible Roosevelt Row presence during First Friday Art Walks.

"People don’t realize that Phoenix is actually very diverse and so being able to showcase diversity here is another component of putting Phoenix on the map," said Yu.

APS says they hope to have the exterior of the buildings done by June. The interior will be complete in about a year to 18 months.