A long time back ...perhaps more than a dozen years, I saw a PBS
documentary about a painter who created large scale outdoor murals on
walls and buildings in several cities across America. He used a team
of painters. They were huge murals. However he never painted scenes or
objective imagery. He painted architecture.  He always painted
architectural foms on flat walls, such as windows, colums,
ballustrades, ornamets, cornices, etc, to blend in with the city.  I'd
love to locate this documentary about him, idealy on DVD, but most of
all I want to hear his philosopy again; that the only type of outdoor
art that is harmonious to the city is imagery that looks like the city
itself. i.e. don't force the city to be an art gallery.  I'm fighting
an ugly public mural in my neighboorhood.   I'd be very excited if you
could come up with anything. My memory is faint on this one because I
don't even remember when I saw it. Long ago. But I believe he had
works in many big American cities like St. Luis, Chicago, Boston, NYC,
if I recall.   Dying to know...

ah_oooh-ga  --

Let me start with the direct answer to your question and then describe
my search strategy, which should give you some guidance in pursuing
your interest in this artist further.

The muralist's name is Richard Haas.  He was born in Spring Green,
Wisconsin (home of Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin) and educated at the
University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee and the University of Minnesota. 
Here is link to his website, which includes biographical material,
images of many of his murals, and more:
Richard Haas
http://www.richardhaas.com/introfra.html

Here is a succinct summary of how Haas differs from most muralists:
"In the twentieth century, murals … have been used to address
cultural, political, and social issues. … Richard Haas [is] a
contemporary American artist whose murals strive to mend the visual
ailments and aesthetic challenges of urban environments."

The quote above is an excerpt from an article in the newsletter of the
North Texas Institute for Educators on the Visual Arts.  It contains a
very informative summary of Haas's artistic methods and point of view,
along with an interview with Haas.  These three linked pages comprise
the text of the article:
NTIEVA Newsletter: Mending the Urban Environment: The Murals of
Richard Haas
http://www.art.unt.edu/ntieva/news/vol_12/no_2/page6.html
http://www.art.unt.edu/ntieva/news/vol_12/no_2/page8.html
http://www.art.unt.edu/ntieva/news/vol_12/no_2/page9.html

Here is a gallery of images of Haas murals in Yonkers, New York, which
demonstrate well the distinctive features of Haas's work:
Friends of Philipse Manor Hall
http://www.philipsemanorfriends.org/16_2a.htm

Mr. Haas was the subject of a documentary film entitled "'Painting the
Town': The Illusionistic Murals of Richard Haas."  It premiered at the
1990 Sundance Film Festival and was broadcast by PBS in 1991. 
Information about its producer, Amalie R. Rothschild, and about the
awards won by the film, can be found at this linked page:
University of Baltimore: Biography of Amalie R. Rothschild
http://raven.ubalt.edu/staff/simon/womeninfilm/family/amalieBio.html

A VHS copy of the film can be purchased online for $29.95 from Direct
Cinema Limited:
Direct Cinema Limited: "Painting the Town": The Illusionistic Murals
of Richard Haas
http://www.directcinema.com/dcl/title.php?id=81&list=81,82,83,84,85,151,152,208,188,204,195,236&alpha=P

Finally, here is a link to two books by and about Haas that are
available for purchase online:
Barnes & Noble: The City Is My Canvas (2001)
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=1OOMJM4MG7&isbn=3791325051&itm=1

Abebooks.com: An Architecture of Illusion (1981) (Used copies from
various sellers) print)
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/BookSearchPL



Additional Sites:

Here is a thumbnail description of the Haas documentary:
All Movie Guide: "Painting the Town": The Illusionistic Murals of
Richard Haas
http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=A123231

Here is a link to the White Street Detention Center mural in New York
City:
New York City: Richard Haas
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcla/html/panyc/haas.html




Search Strategy:

I discovered the name of the muralist based on the very accurate
details you provided in your question (e.g., PBS broadcast 12 years
ago, cities where his murals are located).   My first successful
Google search used the following search terms:
murals cities architecture OR architectural
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=murals+cities+architecture+OR+architectural+


The first result of that search was the North Texas Institute
newsletter quoted above.  I then narrowed down the search by using the
following terms:
murals richard haas
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=murals++Richard+Haas

The result of this search yielded most of the information provided
above.  If you would like more information on individual murals by
Haas, I suggest that you simply use the same Google search terms and
add the name of the city in which the murals are located, such as:
mural richard haas miami
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=mural++richard+haas+miami

Adding "Miami" (or any individual city) to the search terms will
result in sites focusing on Haas's projects in that city appearing
near the top of the returned list of links.



I am confident that this is exactly the information you are seeking,
and I am happy to provide you with a prompt response.  If any of the
above is unclear, please ask for clarification before rating this
answer.


markj-ga

Fantastic! Everything I asked for, and more. (I love this service! )
You gave me abundant links, an excellent digest, summary, and even
instructions for further searching.  Great job; very happy !  : )

ah_oooh-ga  --

Thanks very much for the five-star rating, the kind words and the tip.
 It was my pleasure.

markj-ga