Matt Winquist

Artist's rendering of completed Maverick Mural in Old Town Scottsdale

A privately-funded public mural honoring John McCain in Scottsdale has been put on hold. The city is reconsidering the project after complaints from local business owners.

The so-called “Maverick Mural” is actually 30,000 pictographs of Arizona’s five C’s — cattle, citrus, climate copper and cotton — that morph into an image of the late senator. It was to be displayed on the facade of commercial building in Old Town.

The $20,000 cost was entirely paid for by a Kickstarter campaign — and the city’s development review board had already given its approval last month. But on Tuesday, Jan. 8, Scottsdale’s City Council voted to reconsider that decision and told organizers to cease work on the partially completed mural.

The action comes after some business owners objected, one of them calling it  a “disrespectful exploitation” of McCain’s image. The artist, architect Aaron Bass, says he is disappointed, but plans to continue fighting for the project.

Matt Winquist

Artist Aaron Bass working on the Maverick Mural in Scottsdale