Brush Strokes

FranCisco Vargas has a vision for Fresno: He wants to see downtown come alive with fresh paint. Not graffiti, but public artwork in the form of murals painted on walls donated by businesses; fresh, new signs; and old, faded signs repainted.

Vargas, a sign artist by trade, has had his civic project in mind for quite awhile, but it was reinforced when he did a "wall dog meet" this summer in Lincoln, Ill.

"Wall dogs" are painters who paint walls; a "top dog" is a painter who has worked on a wall 100 feet high. Vargas is both.

Vargas also is a member of the Letterheads, an international group of sign artists formed as a local group in Denver some 25 years ago. The Letterheads have a Web site, www.letterhead.com, where sign artists from around the world meet and exchange information, with the overall goal of preserving the hand-painted sign tradition in the digital age.

They gather in cities across the country for their "meets," to exchange information and to beautify towns by refurbishing old signs, painting new signs and painting murals. (One of their slogans is "Painting America, one city at a time.") They do one national meet and four or five regional meets each year; meets are starting to happen around the world.

Although they haven't made it to the central San Joaquin Valley yet, Vargas would like to make that happen. He's been to the few California meets that have been held, one in Volcano, about 60 miles southeast of Sacramento, last fall, and "MicroMeets" every few years in Petaluma, where the painters just gather to exchange techniques.

Murals are nothing new to the Valley, of course, with Lindsay, Tulare and Exeter boasting about 60 murals among them. The three towns co-hosted a mural symposium in 2003 that brought 200 people from around the world.

two Valley artists collaborated on a mural on the wall of the Fresno County library branch there, portraying people who have contributed to Kingsburg's history and culture. But a gathering of signartists to beautify a town is different.

"There's not one sign here that says 'Welcome to Fresno,' " Vargas says. "I want to do that. I want to light up the skyline -- get a crew of 100 together and paint murals, graphics, paintings, celebrities, businesses -- as a gift to the city."

Some of Vargas' work already can be seen around Fresno, as well as on his Web site, www.franciscovargas.com.

His work in Fresno includes an 8-by-12-foot painting of Marilyn Monroe on the Weco Supply Co. building on Ventura Avenue, a commission for Blackie Gejeian's Autorama, outside signs and inside graphics at Las Margaritas Restaurant & Cantina at Ventura Avenue and R Street and the sign and boxing gloves on Ricky Steve's southwest Fresno boxing gym. He's also done work for Table Mountain Casino and the Palace Indian Gaming Center in Lemoore.

His favorite is a 20-by-50-foot painting he did of a game of nine ball on the side of Mecca Billiards on Fulton Street.

"I like the blends, the prismatic outline, the lettering style. I got to do whatever I wanted to do. I painted one eight-ball 9 feet in diameter," he says.

"We wanted a retro scoreboard," says Robert Dorn, one of Tuffy's owners, "and someone referred us to FranCisco. We didn't want some brand-new-looking, 2004 scoreboard.

"We're very pleased. People keep asking us, 'Where'd you get that old scoreboard?' "

The scoreboard frames the large-screen TV where patrons watch NFL football games on Sundays and Monday nights. This past Sunday, Tuffy's was packed with patrons for the NFL's opening day, Dorn says.

"People loved the sign, asked how it was done. They couldn't believe it was hand-painted.

This summer, Vargas and the Letterheads gathered in the small town of Lincoln, Ill., a historic town named for and by then-Springfield resident Abraham Lincoln. Minnesota Letterhead Mike Meyer set up the meet after a signartist from Atlanta, Ill., posted on the site that Lincoln could use the Letterhead touch.

Meyer approached Lincoln resident Adam May, a photographer and graphic designer, who then enlisted local support. May got Main Street Lincoln, the local branch of the national nonprofit downtown revitalization organization of which he is a member, to help make the meet work. Main Street got Lincoln College to provide dorm rooms for lodging, local restaurants to provide food and local businesses to provide ladders, scaffolding, paint and supplies.

Meyer pulled together the 30 painters who participated, including Vargas, whom Meyer asked to be one of 11 project leaders.

"I just met Cisco last year in California," at the Volcano meet, Meyer says. "He's a helluva talent, and he said he liked to travel, so I thought I'd get him to a meet."

May and his wife, Sarah, along with other members of Main Street Lincoln's design committee, researched the style and color of historic Lincoln signs for months beforehand. They pored over books and found pictures of examples for the artists, who then created prototype re-creations on small panels. Images on the panels then were scaled up to proportion on the walls, where the artists re-created the images. Once the 11 large-scale murals were completed, the panels were auctioned off, with proceeds going to support the expenses for the meet.

Letterheads came from Arizona, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin and Arkansas, as well as California, and three came from Scotland and Ireland.

"They were awesome," says Cynthia McGill, Main Street Lincoln's executive director, of the Lincoln Wall Dogs. "We're really happy. The people were great to work with, and they don't get paid, bless their hearts. I wish we could've paid them, because our town will enjoy those signs for another 50 years."

Vargas' project, which can be seen on the Letterhead Web site, was a Falstaff Beer sign on the wall of Lincoln's Alley-Bi Saloon. He also worked on the City Service sign, and on a mural with the theme of Abraham Lincoln that the Wall Dogs did at the end of their stay as a surprise gift to the town.

Letterheads are giving people. They don't earn a penny for their meets, and they often have to pay their own way, relying on their hosts for food and lodging. They come for the camaraderie and the friendships, and for the love of their craft.

"After that, I can't not be," he says. "It's having a love of what you do graphically and having a willingness to share and learn."

Meyer is putting together the next big national meet in his hometown -- Mazeppa, Minn., a small farming community of 800 about 70 miles south of Minneapolis.

"We almost doubled the population the last time we had a meet here" in 1999, he says. "This one will be even bigger."

Meyer is trying to streamline the meet process a little more, putting together a package to show others how to set one up, and also to help cities better understand what the Letterheads can do for them.

"It's hard to educate people," he says. "I take newspapers and videos, but they don't get it till they see it. Then, when it happens, they're like, 'Oh, my God!' And I ask them to write it down so other cities can learn, but they say, 'It's hard to explain.' "

If Vargas is able to get a meet going in Fresno, he'll have no trouble rounding up a posse.

"If Cisco can get something together there, I'll be there," May says. "I'd do anything for Cisco."

Special to The Bee

Vargas joined other artists to repaint signs and create murals in Lincoln, IL Ann Klose, Lincoln Courier- Special to The Bee

(Updated Sunday, September 26, 2004, 6:53 AM)

I've just finished reading the story about Cisco Vargas [Sept. 16] and his desire to bring The Letterheads to Fresno, and I'm so excited I can barely write.

I remember seeing news coverage of the mural symposium going on in Lindsay, Tulare and Exeter and how I was inspired by the efforts to showcase the beauty and unique personalities of those towns. I applaud Mr. Vargas for wanting to give such a boost to our community.

I live in the Tower District and work at the Daily Planet, which for 24 years has been an anchor for the area's thriving restaurant scene. Planet owner Hannah Benson has tried before to get support for a mural on the west wall of the Chicken Pie Shop, another longtime landmark.

This wall faces our establishment and, at times, is literally a glaring eyesore. For various reasons, including lack of funds and disagreement about design, efforts fell flat.

Wouldn't it be terrific to invite Mr. Vargas and his fellow muralists to work their creative magic and transform the wall into a tribute to our beautiful, unique area? Everyone who lives in, works in or visits the neighborhood would appreciate the special touch these world-class artists could give to our beloved arts and entertainment district and the downtown area.

I hope Mr. Vargas and his colleagues will keep up the good work, and I thank them for their dedication to improving the scenery and self-image of the towns they touch.