Murals being made, part 1

Barrio Centro (Tucson's Central Neighborhood — which is roughly in the area west of Country Club, south of 22nd, and north of Aviation) has been planning a mural for quite a while. This Saturday, April 2nd, from 10 am to 2 pm is a paint day to add color to the outlines already on the wall — on the east side of the Lucky Wishbone restaurant, 2712 E. 22nd.

I shot these photos this afternoon. In the first one, above — at the north end of the mural — you can see numbers that tell painters which color to use in each spot. (To get a larger view, click on it; click your "Back" button to return here.) The two below — near the south end — don't have numbers, but they do have outlines and some color.

There's more info on the Ward 5 news and the Barrio Centro Neighborhood Mural blog.

Update (April 6, 2011): I rode by the mural this morning. I don't think the painting work is quite finished yet, but what a difference!


Update (April 21, 2011): The AZ Public Media story Beautifying Barrio Centro shows artists painting and has interviews with neighbors who've lived in Barrio Centro for a long time.

Update (June 19, 2011): The mural unveiling was yesterday.

Early-morning mural hunting

If you like to get up early in the summer, mornings around sunrise are great times for mural-hunting. Even on weekdays, the major streets can be quiet enough to slow down in your car and look around at the sides of buildings you've just passed. (And, on a bicycle, streets with skimpy shoulders — like the central parts of Speedway — don't feel as dangerous to me as they do with more traffic whizzing by a foot or two away.)

Here's a mural I spotted as I rolled by 4932 E. Speedway last August. I didn't write down the exact business name, but Google says it's the Elegant Junque Shop.

Watch while you wash

Here's another of the car washes I've spotted with a mural on its side. (The other was A classic car by Luis Mena, posted back in December. If you've seen others, please let me know!) This mural is pretty well faded, but it's still fun to check out before or after your wash (it's on the outside of the wash stills, not the inside...)

This one's at Grant Road Car Wash, 328 East Grant.

Get here early or late...

...because these murals are painted on the steel shutters that cover the windows when Sparks Cycle Supply (3409 E. Grant) is closed:

Other stores with murals like these include Netto's Auto Clinic and Hippie Gypsy.

Arizona Auto Connection

This half-hidden mural is on a wall behind the lot at Arizona Auto Connection, 401 E. Grant.

Beautiful Bronx Wash

As you drive around Tucson, you'll see plenty of washes — with a sign that has the name of the wash (and often — FYI to Tucson visitors — two-way streets on both sides of the wash... there's more info on Tucson traffic quirks on my Tucson page). Most of the washes aren't much to look at, otherwise — and definitely not "beautiful."

One exception is the Bronx Wash mural along Linden just west of 4th Avenue:

At the right side of that second mural is a map of the neighborhood.

Update (April 29, 2015): I just came across an October 2009 article about the painting project on the National Service blog.

Update (December 19, 2016): The west (right) end of the mural has a new part; you can see it in today's entry Bronx Wash mural revisited, part 1 of 3. Two entries after it show the new part being painted and detailed photos of the whole long mural.

Murals on the Marley Building

Inside and outside the Marley Building (1145 E 4th St.) on the U of A campus, are seven tile murals installed by Aurore Chabot in 1997. They're called Cellular Synchronicity. The shot on the right looks up the east side of the building — which houses agriculture and entymology, among others. The artist took objects that researchers were working on and she cast them into tile. You can see a closeup of part of another mural on the post Before Columbus.

22nd and the world

At the corner of 22nd and Longfellow (3975 E. 22nd) is Learning Bee Preschool & Daycare. The photo above shows the map of the world on the north side, along Longfellow. The photo to the right is along 22nd, on the southwest corner of the wall around their property — including some traffic-control stuff that was in front of the mural when I snapped the photo last month.

Update (August 1, 2016): Today's blog entry shows some other murals before and after these two.

Right at home on Wilmot

Here's an early-morning view of Home Style Galleries, 1010 S. Wilmot (at Beverly) — and someone out for a walk.