COMMUNITY
THE MESA TRIBUNE | JULY 3, 2022
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Mesa artist’s murals dazzle in Asian district BY SRIANTHI PERERA Tribune Contributor
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s a child growing up in Sun City West and with strong family ties to the community, Kadhima Tung performed dances and martial arts during Chinese festivals in the Valley. Hence, it’s perhaps natural that the City of Mesa selected her to capture the vibrancy of Mesa’s Asian District with brush and paint. “I had my pulse, growing up, on where all the main Asian gatherings would be,” said Tung, now a professional artist who lives in Mesa. Tung has just completed the first set of many murals to come to the district, the one-mile stretch on Dobson Road in West Mesa, roughly between Broadway Road
and Main Street. The murals, drawn on both sides of the 13 pillars wrapping around Mekong Plaza, comprise the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac and a caricatured painting of the shopping center itself. The color palette contains a lot of red, orange and yellow and the art has a whimsical, fun vibe. Each animal is drawn in the same art style and has something relatable to the culture in the background, such as an ingot, the Chinese symbol of prosperity, and the rising sun. “I think it was really exciting for me personally, just because it’s very rare to have these chances,” said Tung, who graduated from Arizona State University with a painting major and runs an art business
see MURAL page 16
Kadhima Tung stands by her rooster mural on one of the 13 pillars wrapping around Mekong Plaza. (Srianthi Perera/Tribune Contributor)
Greenhouse a hands-on lab for MCC students BY DAWN ZIMMER Tribune Guest Writer
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ompleted at the height of the pandemic in early 2020, the renovated greenhouse at Mesa Community College provides a rare learning environment for landscape horticulture and sustainable agriculture students. Located on the southeast side of MCC’s Southern and Dobson Campus, the 5,400-square-foot greenhouse was built with funding from Proposition 301, an Arizona initiative providing annual funding for education. “The goal of the new greenhouse is to provide students with a high-tech, industry standard learning facility to prepare them for career opportunities in greenhouse management and urban agriculture,” said Peter Conden, MCC agriculture/ landscape horticulture faculty member and greenhouse design and management
The greenhouse is outfitted with a state-ofthe-art computerized environmental control system and is used for plant propagation as well as aquaponic and hydroponic vegetable production. (Mesa Com-
munity College)
instructor. Providing a wealth of learning experiences for students, the greenhouse is outfitted with a state-of-the-art computerized environmental control system and is used
for plant propagation as well as aquaponic and hydroponic vegetable production. “Most classes in the sustainable agriculture or landscape horticulture associate of applied science degree or certificate of
completion use the greenhouse as a handson teaching laboratory,” Conden explained The greenhouse complements the programs developed by the MCC Center for Urban Agriculture to promote and advocate for education, beautification of the global environment and public awareness for healthy eating and living through sustainable urban agriculture, aquaponics and local food production. MCC was also awarded $119,000 from a USDA grant to expand student interest in agricultural research. The three-year USDA college grant was received in 2018 and is a collaboration with Arizona State University and the U.S. Arid Lands Agricultural Research Center (ALARC) based in the city of Maricopa. MCC’s award was part of the larger grant awarded to the partners. Because ASU and MCC transitioned
see GREENHOUSE page 16
