Midnight Ravens
Location
Installation Date: 2024
Local artist Jo Rohrbacker has lived in Flagstaff for over 30 years, an area she calls enchanting. Her artist-designed utility cabinet wrap is located near Sinagua Middle School and was funded through a grant from the Flagstaff Beautification, Arts and Sciences program (BAS). The City welcomes emerging and established artists to contribute their creativity to enhance our urban environment.
As an art instructor, she creates safe environments for creatives to discover their own passions.
About the Artwork
About the Artist
Jo Rohrbacker is a Flagstaff muralist who has completed several murals in Flagstaff. Rohrbacker says, the artist’s process can be so humbling and empowering in equal measure and I’m so grateful I get to experience the ebb and flow of the creative journey, through my own experiences but also through others. Both a painter and a storyteller, her future goal is to produce a children’s book accompanied by her watercolor illustrations.
Her latest (September 2025) is Dark Sky City Musical Mural, the first in the city focusing on Flagstaff being the first international dark sky city. This mural is on the side of the Arizona Music Pro building facing W. C. Riles Street. It features heart-shaped branches of a tree with a heart carving of Pluto on its trunk.
Questions for Elementary School Families
How many ravens do you see? What are they doing?
What colors did the artist use in this art piece? How do they make you feel?
What do you think the background tells us about the art piece?
Do the ravens look happy, curious, or something else? What makes you think that?
Why do you think the artist put her artwork on a utility box instead of in a museum?
How do you think it would feel to see this art every day on your way to school?
How can art make everyday objects more beautiful?
Questions for Secondary School Families
How do the colors, shapes, or textures in the artwork make you feel?
Why do you think the artist chose ravens as the focal point of this piece?
What emotion or mood do you think the artist is trying to convey with this piece?
How might the piece look differently at night versus during the day?
What are some of the benefits of putting art on utility boxes?
How does it make you feel when you see local art being displayed like this?
Extension Activity
How could you use art to beautify an everyday object? This artist took an everyday object and turned it into a beautiful piece of art. Can you find an object around your house or town that could be decorated in a way that makes it more fun to look at? Use a piece of paper to sketch out your idea. If it is an object in your house, ask your guardian if you can bring your idea to life. If you picked an object around town, send your idea to Annalisa Hansen at annalisa.hansen@flagstaffaz.gov to see if it is possible to collaborate!
