Provo Specials

Provo Specials

This is Block 100 Antiques and Mercantile.  The face of University and Center--the crux of Provo. Its outsides beg for a spot on a Travel Channel special, and the insides for the company of a mild-mannered capitalist to invest in its trinkets.  Russ, the owner of the store, matches its aesthetic aura.  He is a cheerful and calculated fellow, who claims himself as the oldest item in the store.  I found quickly that Russ also makes for an easy friend--much like many of the pieces displayed and for sale.

Wallaroo is a small, ad-agency-like business found between two hole-in-the-wall businesses.  It is the hole between two holes.  I walked in, naturally only because I noticed the insignia on the door, which I thought might be Provo's version of Playboy.  Jokes.  Turns out the atmosphere and good folks inside mirror the painting pictured here quite well--just hard-working and well-to-do employees in a [more] modern and productive working environment.

This piece is found on the wall directly outside a building that used to host the Art Jam.  Now the building stands unoccupied, but the "Art Jam Since 1856" sign remains, hovering over this broken glass wall mural of a red flower.  One can almost hear the small orchestra's violins fade out as the doors close to their turn-of-the-century audience for the night.

Also located along the stretch of Center Street is a building most probably unnoticed unless looked for.  It is a small, decorative house converted into the Crandall Historical Printing Museum.  The museum guides are three witty men in the twilight of their lives, who take much pride in their knowledge of some of Provo's most historically significant relics.  The sign and front window treat their viewers like Disneyland shop patrons, but the tour is free of charge.

This golden nugget is found toward the outskirts of the main stretch of Center Street.  Its presence seems to indicate the end of Provo's midtown culture, and the start of less refined industry.  The gimmicky chicken is unsettling, but drawing enough to wonder what abstract items are in the shop.