Trimordial Studio Las Vegas - Fresno Highway Mural Project

Graphic Arts
Trimordial Studio, Las Vegas NV USA
Roy Al Rendahl trimordial@thefaro.com 702-340-6748
Please wait for the page to load.

Fine Art | Graphic Design | Photography | Web Design and Hosting | Highway Mural
Industrial and Machine Design | Patent | Logos and Graphics of The FaRo and its Divisions

Fresno Highway Mural Project

8' x 20' mural "Wilderness" by Roy Al Rendahl with over 33,000 ceramic tiles
in 42 colors located on Sierra Freeway 168 in Fresno CA USA.

Pixelated mural design

© Roy Al Rendahl
Roy pixelated the scanned photo in 42 colors on his Macintosh with ClarisWorks (AppleWorks) and
Photoshop to make it look like a mosaic tile mural. He submitted the design for a California Highway
Beautification Project sponsored by the Rotary Club of Fresno and the California Department of
Transportation (Caltrans). Several designs were chosen in 1997, including Roy's, to be installed along
freeways in Fresno CA. One of the judges for this selection was Jeanne Falk Adams, owner of the
Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite National Park CA USA.

Original Sierra photo

© Roy Al Rendahl
The original 35mm photograph taken by Roy Al Rendahl
while backpacking and camping at about 8,000 to 9,000
foot elevation in the Kaiser Wilderness area of the
Sierra Nevada Mountains in east central California.

Groundbreaking Ceremony

Roy (center, wearing white shirt, sun glasses,
and tie) with the Roosevelt High Art students
during the public Groundbreaking Ceremony
held at the mural location on
December 2, 1998.

Mural construction site

Shown during the building of the mural
base and backing structure.

Quote from the Unveiling
Ceremony invitation:

"The distinctive design of this mural will encourage
community pride by offering a timeless visual appeal
to the traveling public and enhancing the environment."

Quote from the selection jury:

"It was unanimous amongst the jurors that your
submission depicting the Wilderness both
artistically and accurately reflects the diverse
environment surrounding Fresno."

Tile color cards (left), and
one print out page (right)

In 1998, Roy was asked to pick out the actual
ceramic tile colors to be used for the final 8' x 20'
mural. Roy printed out 24" x 24" sections of the
mural at 1/3 size on 40 pages of 8.5" x 11" paper.
Each pixel in the design is made up of 4 finished
tiles. Roy and business partner, Farra Reizana,
spent about a week determining the color of each
pixel in the Photoshop picture, calculating the real
tile color, and then writing the color code numbers
on the 40 pages of print outs.

Student mural assembly

Fernando Hernandez' Art 2 Class at Roosevelt
High School in Fresno CA (Above and below),
used these 40 print outs to guide them in
assembling each 24" x 24" section of the mural.
There are a total of about 33,000 tiles that
are each 3/4" square in 42 different colors in
the whole mural.

Unveiling Ceremony
on the new Sierra Freeway 168

The completed mural had its Unveiling Ceremony
on April 15, 1999. Among the speakers were
Fresno Mayer Jim Patterson,
Dr. Carlos Garcia - Superintendent of
Fresno Unified School District,
William E. Dabbs - Principal of
Roosevelt High School,
and Bart Bohn - Caltrans Central Region Director.
Music for the event was provided by the
Roosevelt High School Band.

"Wilderness"

Roy Al Rendahl in front of his completed mural next to the Sierra Freeway (Route 168)
at the Shields Avenue Interchange in Fresno CA USA.

Graphic Arts
Trimordial Studio, Las Vegas NV USA
Roy Al Rendahl trimordial@thefaro.com 702-340-6748

Trimordial Studio is a division of The FaRo.
The FaRo can design, build, and host your web site, please click here.
© 1995 - 2006 Roy Al Rendahl, Trimordial Studio, The FaRo. All rights reserved. 4/22/05