Part of Paul Coze’s mural inside Sky Harbor International Airport. Photo by Sky harbor

Paul Coze saw Phoenix through the eyes of a fascinated Frenchman, and for many decades his public artwork defined the Valley. Catch it before it disappears.

Anyone who lived or vacationed in Phoenix in the 1960s and 1970s would have been hard-pressed not to know about artist Paul Coze and his work.
His jaw-dropping mural of a Phoenix welcomed travelers at Sky Harbor International Airport’s then-new Terminal 2. His Western and Native American scenes greeted patrons inside Veterans Memorial Coliseum. A complex mural turned heads at Phoenix City Council chambers.
In less than two decades, Coze won some of the city’s most visible public and private commissions. His pieces focused largely on Native American people and their lives, Arizona’s Western roots, Phoenix history and the mythical Phoenix bird, blending real life with the abstract and the past with the future. The scale of his works ran the gamut from a bronze sculpture to a sprawling three-panel mural, and he used materials as varied as stained glass and dirt.
Much of Coze’s public art has been lost or altered over the years. In some cases, his work was covered up or taken down as owners changed their building interiors. In another case, a notable mural was lost when a building was torn down.
Three commissions were removed in Coze’s lifetime, and it’s not clear why: Were they considered controversial, too unusual or simply out of character for the buildings? Was there concern over a Frenchman creating Native American-themed works? In the meantime, fears persist that his beloved airport mural won’t be saved if aging Terminal 2 is torn down (the city has no firm plans for the terminal).