These Walls: A Look Back At The 3CG Mural

If you’re a Hanson fan and you’ve been to Tulsa in the past decade, odds are high that you’ve taken a picture (or ten) at the mural on the side of the 3CG building. I've seen group shots, solo shots, blurry selfies, professional photo shoots, and even the occasional cameo featuring a Hanson brother. Maybe you’ve covered all of the above over the years, or maybe you never got the chance. It wasn’t always there, but over the past nine years, the wall has become a must-see stop for any fan visiting Tulsa, and for many, an annual backdrop synonymous with Hanson Day.

This week we learned of its unexpected removal, and I wanted to take a moment to join the fandom's flood of photos and share a little about my own history with the wall as well as a look back to the time before it existed for those who may not have visited Tulsa pre-3CG mural.

It Started at a Hop Jam In The Middle of Nowhere

The mural as we know it (er, knew it ☠) was completed during Hop Jam at the Hanson Day weekend in 2016 by a team of artists called Clean Hands Army. It was the third year of Hop Jam, and the festival was bigger, better, and busier than ever. The turnout was massive, and as a volunteer for the event, I had little free time to wander around or hear rumors of new street artwork. If you attended Hop Jam in 2016, maybe you have your own story of catching a glimpse of the wall in its infancy or even while it was being created. That wasn't my experience.

Part of volunteering at Hop Jam meant helping with teardown, and after all of our hard work was done, anyone left standing would always take a moment to relax and unwind and celebrate another successful year of the festival. It was during this calm after the storm in 2016 that I first learned about the wall. I remember Isaac excitedly telling a couple of us about this cool new mural that had just been completed on the side of 3CG and that we had to check it out before we left. By this time it was 2am or later, I had an early flight out, and I never actually laid eyes on it until the following Hanson Day in 2017. Sorry, Isaac.

After that? I treated it the way I treat all things Hanson: with zero moderation.

Pre-Wall Hanson Days

The alley that hosted the mural might be a sightseeing tradition for fans these days, but that wasn't always the case. Today, 3CG shares that alley with Cabin Boys Brewery, and before the mural existed, Cabin Boys didn't exist, either. It had a short-lived stint as Prairie Brewpub prior to becoming Cabin Boys, but until 2016, the building next door to 3CG was always just a vacant building, and the alley was just an alley. Fans leaned against the barred windows of the future brewery and sat on the vacant stoop for hours in line waiting for the Hanson store. Most of us stole furtive glances down the alley as the line inched closer to the doors of 3CG, but we didn't dare go down there.

Let me blow your mind a little bit if the wall pre-dates your first Hanson Day. I can only speak for myself and tell you that friends agreed--I've never seen this addressed publicly so for all I know it's an unpopular opinion--but the alley always felt like a taboo subject to me. With no restaurant and no mural, the only thing back there were dumpsters and the back door to 3CG that Hanson would sometimes use to avoid the crowds at the front. There was no legitimate excuse to be there, and anyone back there was obviously only there to wait out the band. Having never been welcomed into that space by the band at that point, I think it felt off-limits to most of us. Elephant graveyard vibes; the front half of this building is ours, but we don't go over there in the shadowy place where the light doesn't touch.

Maybe it was an over-the top opinion and Hanson didn't really care. Maybe the few fans brave enough to go back there came away with amazing stories that I've just never heard. I have no idea how Hanson really felt about it, but it felt like crossing a privacy line to me, so I didn't. So when Isaac Hanson was telling me years later to go check out the mural in the back of the alley, my first thought was "Wait, you want me to go back there?" What a crazy concept. 

The Other Wall

Technically, it's not the first mural fans flocked to for photos. Let me take you back to 2010 when the Thinking 'Bout Somethin' video was new, this mural still existed on Greenwood and E. Archer, and our knees were still young enough to go through a jumping phase.

Photo Credit Laura B. for half of these <3 

Before we took photos at the 3CG wall, we took photos at the TBS mural. Before the TBS mural, we laid in the center of the universe. I've watched the space next to 3CG be a vacant building, Hop Jam storage, Prairie Brewpub, and Cabin Boys. Chimera and Antoinette's weren't always there. Even the Fairfield wasn't always there. At this point I feel like I've watched half of North Main Street evolve into something else, almost always for the better. Maybe it feels like we've been going back to the same place year after year, but truthfully, not a single year has gone by without a change.

Paint fades, buildings change hands, and we trade limber jumping poses for wedding dresses and sensible shoes. It's okay to be sad about missing what feels like a piece of fan history, but I think we've done a solid job of making great memories out of whatever life (and downtown Tulsa development) has presented us so far. It's the price you pay for sticking by anything for that many years; may we all be fortunate enough to outlive a dozen different versions and still be around to watch what happens next.

And until then? You actually CAN frame this feeling of the wall on the wall to stare at 'til there is no time because we've got dozens of photos to choose from. ❤