Revisiting ZAP 7: Lance Smith

Lance Smith at the Clark County resortation of his ZAP 7 art I Photo: PaintThisDesert

FIELD NOTES: The eradication and recovery of "Our Lady of Maryland Parkway," the ZAP 7 box by artist Lance Smith, changes the meaning of the piece. It is now a marker when artists, and the civic community that enables art, will rally and support public art when it is challenged.  It also becomes a jumping off point to revisit text I first wrote for Clark County's ZAP 7 site map.  Some will return original words that were edited for space. Others may touch on how the boxes have changed in meaning and representation. PtD starts with number 6 on the ZAP 7 Site Map (3993 to 3945 Maryland Parkway).

"Our Lady of Maryland Parkway" before being painted over I Photo: Paint This Desert

REVISITED:  The main set of images on these utility boxes are figures posed in reflection and guidance, a guardian watching over the walkers and drivers along and on Maryland Parkway. The blue-hooded figure, in front of the distant desert mountain range, shows street smart spiritual fellowship on a main road that functions as passage, and a vessel that creates memory of the every day. It was painted within a project designed to bring artist's colors to Maryland Parkway. It was painted over in beige, perhaps, because it represented color.  

From 2014: THE PUBLIC ART UTILITY OF 'ZAP! PROJECT'