Three months after opening a micro grocery store in Phoenix at 36N, RG Foods’ Grocery Box has a new mural welcoming customers and adorning its walls.
The massive painting unveiled Wednesday pays homage to north Tulsa through words like “community” and odes to icons of the past like A.L. Cooper’s fruit stand and Pete’s BBQ.
“Working on this mural kind of reminded me of that mural that I grew up seeing at Lacy Park,” said mural artist Antonio Andrews of No Parking Studios.
“I just wanted to give the community something that they recognize with Mr. Cooper’s,” he said. “I grew up going there as well, so I just wanted to recognize the legends from the city so kids can grow up and see those names with this community.”
Katie Plohocky, executive director of the nonprofit RG Foods, said leaders wanted a mural that was a reflection of the store’s location at 3525 N. Peoria Ave.
“This mural isn’t decoration. It’s a portrait of this community, its past, its present, and its future, painted on the wall of this community’s grocery store,” Plohocky said during the unveiling.
Places highlighted in the artwork represent “staples in the community” where people could get food, gather and just come together, she added.
The ideas displayed in the mural came from between 150 and 200 conversations and surveys with nearby residents.
“People didn’t talk about the food in abstract,” she said. “They talked about their grandmother’s cooking. They talked about the corner store who knew their name when they came in and this mural honors that past.”
It doubles as a nod to the present and future.
“This mural also shows resilience,” Plohocky added. “The fact that even when neighborhood grocery stores disappeared and families had to travel miles to get to the store, the community held on. And it shows revival because that’s what’s happening here right now in this building at 36 North.”
Now, Plohocky said, they want to hear from residents — both in the area and in the Phoenix building — about what other grocery items they want to see line the store’s shelves.
While they’ve received a 91% satisfaction rating so far, Plohocky said they have heard loud and clear about the lack of disability accessibility to the stores. That’s something they’re already working to resolve, she said.
