This is one of the eventual 40, life-size painted mountain lions found around Flagstaff, Arizona, a town of about 70,000. The PAWS project is sponsored by the Coconino Coalition for Children and Youth. Each sculpture portrays one of the developmental assets essential to raising a healthy and successful child. For example, this is “Asset #15 – Positive Peer Influence.” A new sculpture is added annually. The mountain lion, also called a puma or panther, is native to Arizona and is typically eight feet and 115 to 160 pounds. The town’s new city buses are called Mountain Line with a cat painted on the side.
