Doug Quarles, creator of an estimated 50 murals — many along Route 66 — in Tucumcari, New Mexico, died of colon and rectal cancer last week. He was 72.
Several muralists have followed in his footsteps in Tucumcari, but his efforts, starting in 2003, raised the city’s tourism profile and led the chamber of commerce to describe it as the “City of Murals.” It even prints a guide so visitors can seek out his artwork.
His best-known work in Tucumcari remains the Route 66-inspired and 100-foot-long “The Legendary Road” on the side of the Lowe’s Market grocery store.
Quarles’ paintings continue to be displayed and sold at La Cita Restaurant in town.
Here’s an excerpt from a Route 66 News story about him from 2018:
A Louisiana native, Quarles taught himself to paint in a photo-realism style.
He did a few murals in his home state, but a trip out west inspired him to make the move to the Southwest in 2003.
“When I actually got out here and saw the mountains, the rocks, the big sky … it was just beautiful out here,” he said. “I told everybody, ‘I’m going out west to paint. Bye.’” […]
Quarles said he would keep making murals as long as his health permitted.
“I went west to paint, and that’s what I’m going to do if I’m able,” he said.
More about Quarles can be read in the Eastern New Mexico News.
Here’s a 2013 video by KC Keefer about Quarles:
Quarles and his wife Sharon eventually moved to Benson, Arizona, but he continued to return to Tucumcari every few months to touch up his old works and create new ones.
A spokeswoman at the Benson funeral home that is handling arrangements said Quarles will be buried in Louisiana.
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