Casa Molina on Speedway gone?, fading

I think it was a kitchen fire a couple of years ago that closed the Casa Molina location on Speedway. I was driving along Rook Avenue, just west of the restaurant, on Christmas Day 2023. The mural by the entrance to the parking lot there is in rough shape:

The Speedway side doesn't have any sign that it's closed or for sale, so maybe the restaurant will come back:

Update (May 22, 2024): Today, the Arizona Daily Star published Iconic Tucson Mexican restaurant could face the wrecking ball. The restaurant had a lot of issues that would need to be fixed before it possibly re-opens.

Galaxy Smoke Shop on Fort Lowell

Our previous post showed Galaxy Smoke Shop on 22nd. Their location on Ft. Lowell is more spectacular. Here's the building's west side, a closeup of the store's name between the posts at the left, and a closeup of a small part farther to the right:

Next, the east side. It has the artist's signature:

I hit my car's brakes when I saw this building March 29th.

Galaxy Smoke Shop on 22nd

The mural on Galaxy Smoke Shop South is much simpler than the spectacular one we'll see next time at their North location (on Fort Lowell):

I spotted it as I rolled by on December 23, 2023.

Ben's Bells at Pima Country Day School

Ben's Bells has kindness murals all around Tucson. A lot of them are at schools — like this one:

I spotted this tree mural as I was driving along Country Club on December 17, 2023.

Welcome to Cabrini Neighborhood

Just east of Country Club on Presidio Road, on the north side of the street, is this sunny sign. Maggie Mae Mosaics is just behind the sign, so I think I know who made it.

I took the photo on December 17, 2023.

Maggie Mae Mosaics

The Maggie Mae Mosaics building is covered with… you guessed it.

I was there on December 17, 2023.

This fence rocks

This home near the corner of Country Club and Blacklidge has a painted fence along the alley side and a rock fence along Blacklidge. I'll start at the northern side of the fence around the alley, then show photos around the fence.

The posts along the fence have a mural-like pattern.

I was there on December 17, 2023.

Youth murals on TDS and next door

In case you aren't familiar with it, The Drawing Studio teaches art classes — and much more than drawing. Somewhere in the mix is the MOCA Tucson Minor Mutiny (see the second photo below). Their Fall 2023 page says “Minor Mutiny is a leadership program for high school students between the ages of 13 and 18 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson. Selected participants will receive a $350 stipend for the Fall 2023 semester. Participants will work with museum staff and community partners to design and implement public art projects.”

I'm not sure how this all fits together. But I do know that there are murals on the west side of The Drawing Studio building and just south of TDS along Tucson Boulevard on the boarded-up front of what looks like a former convenience store.

The Drawing Studio

The second mural is just south of the first one:

Just south of TDS

Here's the storefront…

…and each mural, left to right, along with two closeups:

Not my market

Last December 16, when I saw Jerry's Market, I naturally stopped (my name is Jerry…) and noticed that the whole west side was covered with murals:

I couldn't fit it all into one photo. So here's the left side…

…and the right side:

My photo of the center had deep shadows. So I came back on a cloudy day a month later — January 22, 2024 — to take another:

South Park is the neighborhood: just west of Park Avenue.

Long lost (by me :) Joe Pagac butterfly mural

Tucson has so many murals that it's easy to lose track. David Aber and I share a spreadsheet listing murals to post on this blog, but sometimes I forget to add a mural. That happened with this mural. Joe painted it in 2019. The photos are from April 12, 2020. Last week, I started looking for them on the blog. Oops.

One advantage of my forgetting is that these photos show the mural when it was almost new. By now, four years later, the mural has started to fade.

First, the whole mural — which fills almost the whole block of 8th Street from 4th Avenue to Hoff Avenue:

If you stand close, you'll notice that the top left corner of the mural shows the stages of the butterfly's life:

Even closer:

The left side of the mural, to the left of the glass doors:

Middle of the mural:

Right side:

If you're looking at this on a small screen, you might not notice the people riding giant butterflies or the prickly pear cactus pads flying as if they were butterflies. (As always, you can click on a photo for a slideshow of larger views.)

Field of (Alphabet Mural) Dreams, part 3 of 3

This is the third in a series of three posts about murals west of Taqueria Pico de Gallo on 6th Avenue. (The previous post was Field of (Mural) Dreams, part 2 of 3.) There's a series of 26 murals, each with a stylized letter A through Z. This is a bit off the beaten path, but I think you'll see that it's worth a visit!

Pen Macias (The Desert Pen) wrote on Facebook: “Sal of Wagon Burner Arts organized this as a birthday gift to his son. I believe 26 different artists participated.” I'm trying to find the artists. If you know any, please leave a comment at the end of the post (you can remain anonymous) or use the Contact Us form at the right edge.

The mural runs from east to west, starting at the corner of 7th Avenue and 36th Street. (To get there from 6th Avenue, turn west on 38th Street, then go north two blocks.) There's a satellite view map at the end of this post. Let's start the photos with an overview from the east end:

Part of the fun is deciding what the mural around a letter represents. For instance, I think that C is for Coyote.

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

I closeup

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q by Coda one

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z by Coda one

The map below shows where the murals in each of the three posts (parts 1 through 3) are located. Today's group is at the top left corner of the map. You can click on this (or any other image) for a slideshow of bigger views.

By the way, if you're in a car, 36th Street ends for a short distance not far west of 6th Avenue. You might want to park on 36th near 6th Avenue and walk — instead of trying to drive all the way around here. (However, there are more murals farther west on 36th at Mission View Elementary.)

As you can see on the map, the El Paso & Southwestern Greenway passes in front of the murals.