How a Phoenix-area artist painted a 21-story mural from a 'swinging stage'
Scottsdale born and raised, Leila Parnian has spent her whole life wanting to pursue art full time. Now, at the age of 40, she not only is a full-time artist but she just painted one of the tallest murals in Arizona.
The new Saiya apartment building in downtown Phoenix sports a colorful mural that's a whopping 230 feet — that's 21 stories — tall. The mural depicts a woman's face looking out over the city. The eyes and eyebrows are Parnian's.
"The face is like an abstract face. You can tell it's essentially a female, it has female attributes, but it has a sense of mystery but yet she's bold and those are actually my eyes and eyebrows on her," Parnian said.
"I wanted to do it in a way where I'm kind of looking over the city. The piece is called 'Through Her Eyes' and it's like it's through my eyes because I saw this vision for years and our vision is on the wall and I'm looking over the city and hoping to inspire others."
How Leila Parnian went from selling furniture to making art
Parnian's family moved from Iran to the United States in 1977 and Parnian was born eight years later, in 1985. Her parents started Parnian Furniture, a high-end contemporary furniture store in north Scottsdale.
But Parnian didn't feel fulfilled working at her family's store, and the familial expectations instilled in her were that art is a hobby, not a career.
So she tried to find a balance. She spent her days running the store and her nights commissioning paintings for clients.
Parnian quit the store in 2018 to focus on art full time.
"It was a scary time because I had no savings," Parnian said. "I had to borrow money from a few of my friends just to pay for my living expenses and bills."
'You say yes and you figure it out later'
In the summer of 2018, State 48 Brewery commissioned Parnian to paint a mural on its new two-story building in downtown Phoenix.
"At the time I had never painted a mural," Parnian said. "I had only been painting on canvas, and I had never spray painted.
"I quoted so low honestly out of just ignorance and because I wanted the job. I got the job, and I didn't know anything about spray painting. I didn't know anything about scissor lifts. I had to just figure it out.
"The thing I learned from the brewery job is you say yes, and you figure it out later."
In 2019, Parnian was approached by Mitch Pinckard, of real estate developers True North Studio and MPact Development. He was a fan of her murals and wanted to connect her with Oz Friedman of Hatteras Sky, a commercial real estate development firm, to commission a mural for a new apartment building.
When Parnian met with Pinckard and Friedman to talk about the project, they asked her what her dream was as an artist.
"I think they were thinking for me to be like, 'I want to paint a building or do a big project or an apartment or something,' and I'm like, 'My dream is to hang off the side of a high rise and paint a mural,'" Parnian said.
After several delays and the project going on pause during the COVID-19 pandemic, the mural got underway and now her dream has come true.
He's on a smiley face mission: Meet the muralist bringing joy to Phoenix
Here's how you paint a 21-story mural on the side of a building
To achieve painting a 21-story mural, Parnian called in her right-hand artist Danny Lorden and Shawn Forten, both based in Baltimore, to help with the massive undertaking.
One of the biggest hurdles was the architecture of the building. Right where the mural would be painted are two skinny wall panels between a set of balconies with a metal wall jutting out on the right.
"I'm confined between these two tiny spaces on the swing stage, which is literally a platform of two metal cables that go to the roof, and you're going left and right, swinging, going up and down," Parnian said.
"I don't think I could've done a more challenging mural."
Another challenge came in the form of Parnian breaking from tradition by not using a grid system to paint the mural. Instead, she free-handed the entire piece with a 12-inch architectural scale and a tape measure.
With a sponsorship from Dunn-Edwards paint store providing the paint, two assistants and a dream to hang off the side of a building and paint, Parnian produced a memorable artwork.
During the six-year waiting period, Parnian joked that if this job ever came to fruition, she would paint her face, or at least part of it, on the building as "a kind of beacon of hope and inspiration. I hope my story will inspire other creatives."
Turns out it wasn't a joke. The mural isn't Parnian's exact face but the eyes and eyebrows are hers.
And the mural contains a nod to Parnian's "Silence Speaks" paintings. These acrylic on canvas works are on display at her Scottsdale studio. They depict faces with a red "X" painted over the mouth, meant to bring awareness to mental, verbal and emotional abuse.
Parnian continued this theme in the "Through Her Eyes" mural by including a red X as an earring.
How to see the 21-story mural in downtown Phoenix
The Saiya apartments are at 802 N. First Ave. in downtown Phoenix. The mural faces First Avenue.
Meredith G. White covers entertainment, art and culture for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com . She writes the latest news about video games, television and best things to do in metro Phoenix.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Tallest mural in Phoenix is 'a beacon of hope'. Here's why
