When Strayhorn owner Aaron Smith decided the restaurant’s back wall needed embellishment, he knew exactly who to turn to—artist Gary Bizer. Aaron’s parents, Shelly and Rod, had commissioned Bizer in the 1980s to paint a mural in their eatery, Pancho’s Villa. Bizer, assisted by collaborator Joyce Tullio, created a lively portrayal of the establishment’s namesake and his gang girding themselves to fend off approaching Apache warriors. 

“We had no money at the time, so we paid them with tacos,” Shelly said. 

The Smiths lost contact with Bizer over the years. A Grand Junction native, he’d alternated living in Grand Junction with stints in Denver, Las Vegas and Oklahoma. Fortunately, Shelly had maintained her high school friendship with Bizer’s sister, Kathy Klements, so locating him was a matter of one phone call. 

Artists Joyce Tullio and Gary Bizer reunite for a collaboration at Strayhorn Grill in Fruita.

 Turns out Bizer, 78, was living in Grand Junction again and his longtime collaborator Tullio, 75, resided in Fruita. 

Bizer was diagnosed with cancer in December of 2023. After 30 radiation treatments, it has now metastasized. Tullio suffers from chronic COPD and is constantly aided by portable oxygen. In addition, she’s the primary caregiver for her husband, who has dementia. 

Undaunted by their personal challenges, Bizer and Tullio began the project in late September 2024. Knowing he was on borrowed time, Bizer told Shelly, “We painted your first mural and this is probably our last one.” 

GUNSLINGERS AND MORE

Aaron knew he wanted the mural to depict a Western saloon, but it was Bizer who conceptualized the details. His inspiration was the 1976 movie, “The Shootist.” 

“I liked that movie, and in it [the character portrayed by John Wayne] was in a bar scene where he got shot.” 

However, in the mural, Wayne is simply observing the action from the side of the bar while the central figures are in the beginning stages of a shootout over a card game. A mustachioed man with a bright red bandana around his neck is pointing a pistol at his black-hatted opponent. A fancily dressed Doc Holliday—a gun slinger on the right side of law—is drawing his weapon while his left hand is clamped tightly on Big Nose Kate’s upper arm. 

“Doc’s going to shoot the gun right out of that guy’s hand,” Bizer explained.

Gary and Joyce begin filling in the rough sketch of the Strayhorn Grill mural.

 The Smiths gave Bizer free rein with the mural, with one notable exception. Above the bar is a painting of a blonde woman, reclining luxuriously on a crimson coverlet-draped bed and scantily clad in a black feather-trimmed negligee. 

“In my original drawing, she had nothing on,” Bizer explained with a mischievous smile. “That’s the way it was back in them bars.” 

Shelly, who serves as Strayhorn’s front-of-the-house manager, had to put her foot down. 

“Gary fought me for quite some time on that,” she said. “But this is a family restaurant, after all.” 

TWO OF A KIND

Both Bizer and Tullio are individually accomplished artists. Bizer’s body of work ranges from portraiture to landscapes and animal paintings, while Tullio specializes in caricatures. 

The two met through a friend in what Tullio describes as their hippie days. 

“Our kids were about the same age and we enjoyed camping together in the desert, playing guitars and singing David Allan Coe’s music,” she said. 

The pair began collaborating on artistic endeavors, like a ZZ Top poster contest, which they won. Other projects followed, like billboards and advertisements on the sides of buildings. 

Like most longtime friends, Bizer and Tullio regularly engage in good-natured bickering. When she’d finished painting Big Nose Kate’s face, Bizer criticized her work, saying Kate’s eyes shouldn’t be pointing straight ahead instead of at the action.  

“I did them that way because she’s watching for the sheriff to come [bursting] through the saloon doors,” she explained.

Despite their health issues, the pair completed the mural in just over three weeks. 

“I could tell climbing up and down the ladders was challenging for them,” said Shelly, “but it was awesome watching these two seniors come in here and work.” 

In fact, Bizer’s sister told Shelly the project had given her brother something to look forward to each day. For Tullio, it was an opportunity to relieve the stress of being a full-time caregiver. 

“Gary kept me from going off the deep end by making me come in here every morning and paint,” she said.

Their compensation for the Strayhorn project included, of course, free meals. And it was a step up from the Pancho’s Villa tacos of 40 years ago. 

“There was definitely more variety this time around,” Bizer laughed. 

Stop in to see the mural at 456 Kokopelli Drive in Fruita.