I AM a re-born TUCSON mural

On September 22 and 23, 2022, Vivian Moore MacKinnon took photos of the Ben's Bells I am TUCSON mural being re-installed at its new home, TCC (the Tucson Convention Center):

The last photo above shows Chad Borseth, the Mural Coordinator for Ben's Bells.

Victoria Sasnett of the Arizona Daily Star made this video interview with Chad showing the mural being made: Watch Now: Ben's Bells recreates "I am Tucson" mural at TCC. One of the things you'll see is that the new mural isn't an exact copy of the original. For instance, volunteers have been making new pieces to use in the mural. Chad also places a small piece without checking any detailed map. (I'm guessing there isn't a detailed map… the reconstructed mural started from a chalk outline.) Also, KGUN9 TV News covered the mural reconstruction in a video: Ben's Bells brings 'I am Tucson' mosaic mural back to downtown.

I stopped by near sunrise on October 17th (so the shadows would be soft when I stood close) to photograph the whole mural:

Next, a photo of the mural taken September 7, 2012:

When you compare that original mural to the new version at TCC, you'll see that the right end of the original is missing from the new version, the mountains are higher, and the one line of writing is now two lines. (As always, you can click on a photo for a slideshow of larger views.) I'm guessing that the color of the bottom half isn't as brilliant because it's not facing the sun.

Here's an overview from Google Street View, looking west from Stone between Broadway and Congress, in April 2016:



The color in that photo is washed-out. Below is a much better photo, courtesy of Ben's Bells… probably taken January 25, 2014. As always (except for Google Street View photos, that is), you can click for a larger view:

Another post, coming soon, will have photos of the original mural being made in 2012.

Now the mural is finally in its new home!