On November 9, 2019, ULI Arizona and partners, including dozens of professional artists and hundreds of ULI volunteers, neighbors and community leaders, celebrated Paint Day, a day of mural painting, food, music, and community that was the heart of the pilot ULI2D project at Guerrero Rotary Park in Mesa, Arizona. Paint Day resulted in the creation of a 270-foot-long (82 m) series of mural panels on the interior surfaces of perimeter park walls. Over the next few months, ULI2D catalyzed positive outcomes from Paint Day with 20 additional murals on the walls of residential and commercial properties in the Guerrero Park neighborhood that were painted by the same artists.

This first phase of the multiyear ULI2D initiative focused on revitalizing a neighborhood that faces many challenges but also displays great strengths, such as a rich history, family-oriented culture, close ties to community organizations, churches, and local businesses, as well as an organic neighborhood tradition of celebrating the arts.