Train Engineer and Onlooker

I've taken two photos of this mural almost 5 years apart. The original artist was Joe Pagac who told Jerry Peek that "It was tagged and then a very talented young artist who goes by Rose Kaiotii did the updated repaint." You can find it at the SW intersection of E. Alameda St., N. 6th Ave. and E. Toole Ave.

Photographed 09/21/2014

Painted by Joe Pagac

 Photographed 05/29/2019

Updated repaint by Rose Kaiotii

The face and clothing of the onlooker have changed dramatically.  Here are the before and after photos:

Although not a self-portrait, the clothing and tattoos on the right appear to be the same as those worn by the artist.

Click on any photo for larger and sharper images.

"A" Mountain and a giant fork

I've heard that each Trader Joe's store has an artist on staff. When I look around the store — at the shelf tags, for instance — I think it might be true. That's a mural above the shopping carts outside. Next, a couple of closeups:

I snapped the photos on June 23rd.

Tortilleria Don Juan

The artist, Jilmar Alaniz, happened to be in the restaurant at the time I took this photo on May 27, 2019.  He came out and we talked for a while.  And that's how I found out the mural is a portrait of the owner's parents.

The father (Juan) and mother (Che)

Click on the photo for a larger and sharper image.

Update by Jerry (May 6, 2022): There's an unfinished mural next to the store entrance: Panaderia at a tortilleria

Update by Jerry (May 1, 2024): A second location on Prince Road was open for about two years. There's a photo in today's post Adios, Carniceria Don Juan II.

Hem & Her

Back on July 13, 2016, the Tucson Mailbox Art blog showed a giant pair of scissors underneath a mailbox. Since then, the obviously fun-loving owners of Hem & Her Bridal have painted a mural on the wall at the north side of their parking lot:

I zipped by (and stopped) on May 16, 2019.

Murals being made, part 53: Mural lovers

Back on October 5, 2016, I posted (Not) Mural Lovers, part 3. I had seen a business sign that was apparently put on top of a Ben's Bells mural: the third one in their “kindness corridor.” I was outraged, so I wrote that entry.

Soon I heard that the new business owner had simply replaced the former business sign and left the mural as it was. But I just ran across a folder on my computer (I'm going through old folders to find murals I haven't posted) with photos of the mosaic mural being installed. I'm not sure whether I got them from Ben's Bells or from the former store owner, but I'm basically 100% sure that I wouldn't have saved them if I didn't have permission to post them to this blog. So here they are:

First Thursday Art Walk, Jeanette Maré & Maggie Gedbeou

Ben's Bells Studio Manager, Colleen Corlin, applying mirror to the Kindness Tree mural design

Ben's Bells Executive Director Jeannette Maré

Ben's Bells Executive Director Jeannette Maré, CTP Student Joe Cox & KOLD News 13 Reporter Lauren Burgoyn

The photos were on a flyer saying, in part, “The mural installation was open to the public and several passers-byers had the opportunity to put mosaic pieces on the wall.” A hidden comment in the first photo's data said "Photo from Amy Collinsworth of Ben's Bells". Thanks, Amy! The captions above are from the flyer.

I don't have a date, but it must be before the photo I posted in October 2016.

Und1sputed urban art

The vacant lot on the south side of the Un1sputed Fitness gym on Stone has been ringed by urban art murals for years. (To see some of them, click on “Search this blog” in the right column and enter Und1sputed — with a digit 1 instead of the letter i.) I stopped by on May 16, 2019 to see the latest.

First, here's the south wall of the building overall, from west to east, with two closeups:

Next, the other (south) side of the lot — including one closeup of the cartoon character Speedy Gonzales:

College Kids

Mural by Danny Martin.  I found it at the Broadway Village Apartments.  Photographed on April 27, 2019.

Click on the photo for a larger and sharper image.

Two years ago at TMA

If you suspect that I'm not the world's most-organized person, you would be right. :) But at least I remember murals! I was at the Tucson Museum of Art earlier this summer… I saw the slab outside the Education Building, thought back on two murals that used to be there, remembered that I'd taken photos but never posted them here. This morning, I found those photos — from August 8, 2017. The museum regularly repaints this slab, so I'm glad I got the photos when I did:

It's never too late for good art. :)