Friday evening, June 12, just behind the Route 66 Visitors Center in Amarillo, a once-in-a-generation happening occurred that brought people of all denominations, ages, races and cultures together for a special moment in time.
The crowd celebrated the unveiling of the “66 Stories from Route 66,” a 400-foot mural that has brought to life 66 local stories, making it a living landmark along Amarillo’s stretch of the Mother Road that immersed local students who conducted the project’s living history interviews.
The event was immortalized by taking photos under the Sixth Street underpass, where the new mural colors the walls and memories with stories and songs.
The mural event was held behind the Route 66 Visitor’s Center, in an outside party setting that most people didn’t know about but was perfect for the band, Geezers Gone Wild, with seating and drinks provided for the happy crowd celebrating the Mother Road.
The official ceremony included Shanna Peeples, leader of the National Geographic Society-supported “2,892 Miles to Go” program, who shared more insight into the students’ efforts to preserve Route 66’s historic legacy. It also included students who worked on the mural, local sponsors, such as Richard Ware with Amarillo National Bank, Shawn Kennedy with Blank Spaces, and other notables, along with former astronaut Paul Lockhart.
Kennedy thanked National Geographic’s 2,892 Miles to Go and PBS for filming all the 66 interviews for the project. The unique, interactive mural was a coordinated effort that lets a viewer scan a QR code on the mural that links to a National Geographic site, which then plays the stories of the images presented.
Other thanks went to several businesses, organizations and individuals, including Kashion Smith, driving force behind Visit Amarillo; the Cactus Cove; the Amarillo Area Foundation; as well as Richard Ware, who was one of the state leaders of the Texas Route 66 Centennial and took the lead in having a big project here, along with Bobby Lee.
City Councilman Don Tipps said, “What we care about the most is that it brought people to Amarillo and continues to bring people here. We want everyone to come into Amarillo, not just drive through, and experience our cuisine, shops, people …. because nobody is like Amarillo people.”
Blank Spaces leads Panhandle in the largest mural at 400 feet
Shanda Fletcher, the project director and cofounder of Blank Spaces, described seven years ago when she and Shawn wanted to mentor a group of kids to do a mural for Snack Pak for Kids.
“It took lots of design work and a whole list of interns that wanted to be a part of our program,” Fletcher said. “Fast forward to today and here we are, and we are humbled to be unveiling the longest mural in the Texas Panhandle.”
Fletcher said that the mural had tested them and stretched them, along with connecting them more than any other mural has.
“Your stories remind us of our own and how we need to keep those stories alive,” she said. Fletcher thanked their partners, sponsors, storytellers, journalism fellows from National Geographic and especially their interns.
“Without their consistency, their adaptability and talent, this program would not consist,” she said. “Your boss mama is so glad, and the growth these kids have shown in seven weeks has touched my soul.”
Interns tell about journey of a lifetime
The head intern, Charlize Murphy, said she was there because of people who believed in her more than she believed in herself. “Sean, Shanda and Heather have been my biggest advocates and supporters,” she said.
Murphy said she was honored to be chosen as one of the team and did everything in her power to prove herself useful and be a reliable and teachable teammate, to be worthy of the trust of storytellers who shared their stories and histories.
“I always tell my friends to be like Amarillo and keep working on yourself,” she said.
“This project has literally bridged generations … it’s connected young people with elders, history with present — and stories with public places. It invites people to pause in a world that rarely slows down,” Murphy said.
She continued, “If you’re walking down Route 66, or passing through the neighborhood every day, this mural offers a moment to stop, reflect and engage with the history that surrounds us. It creates curiosity as powerful.
“Too often, younger generations don’t have the opportunity to ask about the stories that shaped our community. This project gives a reason for people to learn, ask questions and take pride in the place that they call home.”
Murphy concluded with, “Here’s to future opportunities, friends’ stories and landmarks, to preserving the history while inspiring the next generation to create their own. Here’s to Route 66 to Amarillo and the wide-open road still ahead of us.”
“Route 66 would be just another random road if people didn’t build businesses and celebrate it.” — Hazik Aiyan, ‘2,892 Miles to Go’ youth fellow
The next intern, Hazik Aiyan, one of the youth fellows with “2,892 Miles To Go,” said he landed in America in July 8, 2022, and that the first sign he saw was Route 66 by I-40 in Georgia.
“I was unfamiliar with the city and country that I came into, but I was familiar with this road of Route 66, that I had seen in the animated Pixar movie, ‘Cars,’ so many times,” he said.
Aiyan said that it was incredible to be able to be part of the road now and to be part of the National Geographic program that is going on his resume, for sure. “But what is truly awesome is that I got to meet people who have done some incredible things for Amarillo and Route 66,” he said.
“You get to learn about history figures in the books all the times, but to see people like Mike Wallace, Beth Duke, Richard Ware and Dr. Peeples in the flesh, it just gives you a certain motivation that you can do big things in the world,” he added.
“People make a place what it is,” Aiyan said. “Route 66 would just be a random road if people didn’t build businesses on it and celebrate it. Linguistics and art are what differentiate us as humans from other living beings.”
“I feel like I’m a part of this migration and the diversity that makes Route 66 the Mother Road, and the National Road of America,” he said, “and for all that I must thank all of the locals for making me feel like Amarillo and Texas is truly my home.”
Paul Lockhart, a former NASA astronaut from Amarillo, said when he stepped off the plane, and when felt the bright sunshine and the wind in his face and dust on his boots, he said, “Yup, I’m back home.”
“My story started a long time ago, as a young boy watching the first rocket launches on TV and then seeing satellites in Oregon,” Lockhart said. He said he went from here to join the Air Force and eventually get to NASA, where he became close to Rick Husband, another one of Amarillo’s native sons, who was lost in the Columbia disaster in 2003.
Lockhart continued to tell how the Texas Panhandle inspired him to push ahead and said that was it was the people who brought him back, including the young boy, Brayden Wesley, who was in the audience, who tracked him down, interviewed him and convinced him to come to the event.
The crowd then moved to the bridge where the mural was created and posed for numerous photos, to be part of the historical Amarillo and Route 66 event.
The mural was a large part of officially certified National Route 66 Centennial Celebration events.
Nell Williams is a staff writer for the Amarillo Globe-News. Have a story idea? Email her at nwilliams@usatodayco.com .
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Amarillo celebrates massive new mural, ’66 Stories from Route 66′
Reporting by Nell Williams, Amarillo Globe-News / Amarillo Globe-News
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By Nell Williams, Amarillo Globe-News | USA TODAY Network
