The mural, in Joplin’s Route 66 Mural Park at 619 S. Main Street, was created by Carthage artist Andy Thomas.
Before he began the design process, Thomas said, he was given a list of things he might include in the mural.
"I kind of just built the mural around a road with its natural course," he said, "it snakes — in the mural's case it snakes through the mural and then the, probably the theme that holds it together is, there's a figure in the middle of the mural who is a miner, and mining is what, you know, kind of bound the area together and really provided a lot of the jobs and the money for the area."
Though several important historical events connect the communities of southwest Missouri, southeast Kansas and northeast Oklahoma, the Joplin Convention and Visitors Bureau said in a news releases, Route 66 has been a primary regional conduit for nearly a century. The region's original association as the Tri-state Mining District has transformed, it said, to shape its existence and future as Route 66 Tri-state Corridor.
Some of the 25 landmarks depicted on Thomas’s mural are the Jasper County Courthouse in Carthage, Miami’s Coleman Theatre, Old Riverstone Store, Carterville’s Supertam on 66, Grand Falls and the 66 Drive-in West of Carthage.
The mural also depicts other things associated with Route 66 and the 1950s and 60s, such as the Katy Railroad, Mickey Mantle, Bonnie and Clyde and the Joad Family from the Grapes of Wrath.
Thomas said the design is whimsical.
"You know, it's kind of a cartoonish style, which is way different from my painting style," he said, "but it's colorful and a little bit cartoonish, and hopefully it appeals to families with children, for one thing, but everybody loves a cartoon."
Thomas said he hopes the mural encourages people to visit the landmarks depicted in it.
The mural will be unveiled at 1:30 on Friday, April 4, at the mural park if it’s not raining. If there’s rain, it will be held on the fifth floor of Joplin City Hall in Council Chambers.
