Hi, I live here in Eugene, and I even grew up with Ila Rose. The thing about the mural project here is that the City of Eugene actually failed miserably in trying to "pretty up" the town.

We have a vibrant and active art community here, many of whom i have the good fortunate to be friends with, and many of whom would have loved an opportunity to contribute work to the city's project. Yet the city council completely side-stepped any local involvement in favor of flying in well-known (and expensive) artists from all over the place. These artists have no connection to this place, and the murals reflect this fact. They seem out of place, and disconnected, and irrelevant. Plus, the money these artists were paid for their work is siphoned straight out of the community, instead of being recycled into local businesses. The exception to this, of course, is Ila, who is at the top of her game, as well as the local scene.

So now we have a bunch of (for the most part) ugly, if not well-executed, murals to remind us of how the city council enjoys wasting our tax dollars on PR stunts instead of ACTUALLY improving the community in any meaningful way. Good job, Eugene.

Every time I see this stuff around town, it just reminds me of the gaping pits from decades past, that stood for an incredibly long time as a testament to the self-interest and ineptitude of our maladroit political class.

As the poet once said, "Ever thus."