Thursday, May 28, 2015

Eller inspiration next to the Rillito

Out for a walk on the south side of the Rillito River, just east of 1st Avenue, I noticed a long mural on the side of a parking lot wall facing the Rillito. Here it is, from left to right (the first one shows my shadow):

I was there near sunset on March 5th. Thanks to Eller (UA) Make a Difference Day 2012.

Monday, May 25, 2015

Murals being made, part 28

Back on May 7th, I posted a photo of what I thought was a complete mural. But when I rode by the mural again on May 13th, the long white area underneath the words and handprints had more words.

So that photo on February 28th wasn't complete. Here's my photo from May 13th:

(I'm re-posting this to fix a mistake in the title. It's part 28, not part 27.)

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Tucson scene mural (mostly) whitewashed

The longstanding mural on the wall of the Former Skrappy’s youth center has been replaced by… nothing. Well, almost… the edges of the former mural are still there:

I snapped the photo on May 12th. Let's hope that the mural is replaced with one that's as imaginative!

By the way, the former mural — without some of the embellishment — is in our May 25, 2009 entry.

Monday, May 18, 2015

Mexicayotl murals mostly missing

Back on August 15, 2013, we posted photos by Mark Fleming showing murals pasted on the front of Mexicayotl Academy. The years — and weather — aren't kind to pasted-up murals. I stopped by on April 5th and saw this (mostly) sad scene:

On the roof, I spotted a mural that I'm not sure Mark saw or decided to send to me:

Update: (February 4, 2016): There's a new mural around the corner.

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Tagger trashes amazing Dunbar/Spring mural

I'm sad to tell you that one of Tucson's most magnificent murals has been tagged. The mural covers much of the block of 9th Avenue south of University in the art-filled Dunbar/Spring neighborhood. I noticed the damage on April 25th, but I'd forgotten to post it until now. (Maybe I wanted to forget this awful vandalism.)

Let's start with the photo from 9th & University on the May 25, 2008 entry:


Now for a view of the same spot from the opposite side, then a close-up of the lovely tag:

I know that the city hires a contractor to erase tags on places like the blank walls along Aviation Bikeway. But how to erase a tag on a work of art like this? I'm afraid to try to contact artist Susan Kay Johnson — who lives nearby — because I'd guess this destruction makes her even more sad (and furious) than I am.

Monday, May 11, 2015

Majestic mural on Main

David Aber just sent this photo of a tile mural that fills the home's porch from floor to ceiling:

He took the photo on January 26, 2014. Thank you, David!

Thursday, May 07, 2015

Hands and stars for public education

Though it's a bit hard to see (click on the photo for a larger view), the longggg mural says “Support public education!!” It was on the north side of Broadway, across from the corner with Bryant Avenue, on February 28th.

Update (May 25, 2015): There's more now.

Monday, May 04, 2015

Signs morph into a banana

Foe years now, muralist Joe Pagac has been painting murals on the east side of the Rialto Theatre. Most of the murals were about upcoming concerts, but the right end of the murals sprouted something new in 2012: a man holding a sort-of protest sign. From time to time, the sign changed. A few years later, a change on the building led to a change on the sign. Let's take a look.

April 11, 2012
May 17, 2012
February 23, 2013
December 25, 2013
December 21, 2014
March 7, 2015

In the next-to-last view above, a new drainspout covered the right end of the mural. Joe didn't wait long to replace the half-covered man with a painting showing the man's arm wrapped around the drainspout... and, instead of holding a sign in his other hand, he holds up a banana. Brilliant... and fun!

I'm not sure that I caught all of the signs over the years, but you get the idea. Thanks, Joe.