Wiley Wallace is a residential art professor at South Mountain Community College. He grew up in The Valley and has been an artist since a young age. He has also contributed some time to exploring street art in South Phoenix with Dr. Summer Cherland. Because his interview was conducted as a “drive around,” this story reads less like a biography and more like a summary of their conversation.
Wiley Wallace’s parents were artists and sign painters who owned a shop in Tempe. Wiley grew up loving the smell of paint as he and his brother would help their parents out with the business. He was encouraged to be an artist in many ways, as he recounted often visiting the museums in Old Town Scottsdale. As a teenager, he went to Coronado High School. Then, he attended ASU for an undergraduate degree and the University of California, Santa Barbara afterward. Before switching to art in his first year, he almost pursued a different degree.
After graduating from UC Santa Barbara, Wiley and his wife looked to stay in California. However, they moved back to Arizona to be closer to family.
Clips: [Insert clip: 6:46-7:49, Growing up around art]
As Wallace and Cherland drove around Central to see ancient art, murals, and graffiti. Their first stop was at South Mountain Park, where they saw petroglyphs. Wiley talked about his knowledge of art history and how ancient artifacts like the petroglyphs and cave drawings are art. He stated that they are the earliest recorded forms of human expression. Some theories on petroglyphs and their meanings range from hunting scenes to ones about religion. The South Mountain Preserve has the most extensive collection of Native petroglyphs worldwide. Dr.Cherland shared that they come from the ancient Huhugam tribe and that some have been deciphered to tell Native origin stories of humanity.
From there, the two saw and analyzed a number of other murals and tags that were scattered around Central Ave. Over the course of their hour driving together, Wallace and Cherland discovered many murals and other forms of street art celebrating the artistic history of South Phoenix, Arizona.
Gallery from 2023 “Street Art Drive Around” with Wiley Wallace and Dr. Summer Cherland.
2023. Petroglyphs on South Mountain WWDriveAround (Courtesy Summer Cherland.) 
2023. Martin Moreno on Central WWDriveAround3 (Courtesy Summer Cherland.) 
2023. Wiley Wallace admires a Martin Moreno Mural on Central Avenue. (Courtesy Summer Cherland.) 
2023. Wiley Wallace with Blue Mural on Central (Courtesy Summer Cherland.) 
2023. 148193 Mural on Central (Courtesy Summer Cherland.) 
2023. Osirisrain Mural on Central Ave. WWDriveAround2 (Courtesy Summer Cherland.) 
2023. Fong_s Market 2. WW Drive Around. (Courtesy Summer Cherland.) 2023. Wiley Wallace admires an entire lot of street art on Broadway Road. Courtesy Summer Cherland.)
Narrator | Wiley Wallace |
| Birthdate | |
| Place of Origin | Tempe, Arizona |
| Place of Residence | Phoenix, Arizona |
| Role | Art Professor, South Mountain Community College |
| Years active in South Phoenix | |
| Interview Date | November 1, 2023 |
| Location | South Phoenix “Drive Around” car tour |
| Duration | 1:18:44 |
| Interviewed by | Faculty Researcher: Dr. Summer Cherland |
| Story Written by | Student Researcher: Jalyn Nuth |
South Phoenix Oral History Project 