Jack Balas, 2021;
A PROPOSED REVISION:
IN MEMORY OF R.E. "BOB" MURRAY 1904-1965 PROJECT ENGINEER, ARIZONA HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT, HONOR (#2092)
India ink & watercolor on paper, 30x22 inches

text:
On a Sunday in May I am on my bike crossing the 22nd St. bridge in Tucson, eastbound over the rail yards, when there on the wall protecting pedestrians and other souls from 4 lanes of traffic I spot a bronze plaque, a memorial to the bridge's engineer, a man who lived a shorter span of years than I have already accumulated.

What pedestrian in this industrial no-man's land has come past this plaque in ten years, let alone stopped to read it? In all the times I've crossed I never have. Until today. So here is my revision, a knock-out worthy of the Met, of the Louvre. It will stop traffic, me, everyone in our tracks, even the trains far below.