PHOENIX — A life-size mural of Pat Tillman will soon be on display at a middle school in Phoenix by a nationally renowned artist.
Artist Mike Sullivan with the Legacy Art Foundation spent Thursday morning beginning the painting of the Tillman mural that will be placed at the Pat Tillman Middle School.
Tillman, ASU athlete and scholar and Arizona Cardinals recruit who put his NFL career on hold and joined the U.S. Army following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Tillman was killed by friendly fire after his unit was attacked.
The Legacy Art Foundation is a non-profit that works to inspire students by giving them opportunities of art education with educational services, art supplies and school fundraising support.
Sullivan has worked on murals of athletes from across the country, as well as inside schools. He has worked on pieces from Maria Sharapova to Jackie Robinson.
However, Tillman is a special piece that he is working on with a view of ASU’s football stadium. Sullivan knows he will spend more time on this piece, “to be able to work here, and paint here and look down on his statue, and look down at the field, it's really inspirational.”