One of Graham County s favorite sons will be rendered bigger than life in a three-story-high mural on the side of Ginaveve s Market Place in downtown Safford.
Deep into the pandemic, Globe resident Thea Wilshire, a psychologist and local activist, was sick of the isolation, lack of activity and absence of community. At about 2 a.m., she woke up with a “Eureka!” moment: the feeling that public art was the perfect response to what COVID-19 had taken away. She invited community members to a meeting to discuss her ideas and quickly realized her friend Regina Ortega-Leonardi, a Globe business owner and fellow community activist, needed to partner with her. Ortega-Leonardi was in and the seed for the Stairizona trail project was planted.
It is unlikely anyone was around to see it, but on Sept. 15 at 4:44 a.m., Brandt Woods finished one what is likely the most ambitious art project in the