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.

"I am Tucson" mural in its first home (Murals being made, part 73)

Our November 29 post I AM a re-born TUCSON mural showed this Ben's Bells mural…

…in its new location at the Tucson Convention Center. The photo above was taken in the mural's original location, northwest of the corner of Broadway & Stone — likely on January 25, 2014. Thanks to Ben's Bells for that photo.

Before and after original mural was made

Courtesy of Google Street View, we can rewind to March 2011, from the northeast (Stone south of Congress), before the mural was started:



Below is the same view in July 2013. Although the color is washed out, you can see the mural on the sunlit side of the structure:



That structure (a ventilation tower for the parking garage underneath, I believe) had Ben's Bells murals on three sides. Below is a view from the southeast (Broadway at Stone) in May 2015:



This blog has photos of the other two Ben's Bells murals on the structure in Murals being made, part 8 (Kindness, part 3) and Ride on, Tucson.

Original mural being made

Now on to 2012, when the “I am Tucson” mural was being made. Thanks much to Monique from Ben's Bells for collecting and sending the historical photos below. The dates came from data hidden in the photo (which can be wrong if the camera's clock wasn't set correctly).

On August 22, 2012, the mural had been outlined onto the refinished side of the structure:

On August 24, 2012, the mural was starting to take shape at 8:05 AM:

Later on August 24, at 6:58 PM, the crew had done a lot…

… but there was more to do, like the rays of sun near the top left:

Here's the finished mural again:

Goodbye to the original mural

I dialed Google Street View back to June 2018. It shows the plaza with the murals. Street View also showed that, in April 2019, the new building which would replace the plaza was taking shape. The photo below shows the scene sometime between those two dates. It's looking south from near Congress toward Broadway; Stone is at the left edge. I've outlined the structure, with at least one of the murals still on it:

In its new home

As we showed last week in the post I AM a re-born TUCSON mural, this is the mural in its new home at Tucson Convention Center:

"I am Tucson" mural celebration December 5

The re-installed “I am Tucson” mural (click to see our November 29th post) will be dedicated at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday, December 5, at 4pm:

If you're going, please RSVP: https://myemail.constantcontact.com/You-Are-Invited.html?soid=1138421104299&aid=dx-9kKXpdcI

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!

Ben's Bells Box

I'm guessing that someone from the Barrio Centro neighborhood brightened it up by painting this utility box with a Ben's Bell and more cheery art:

I rolled by on November 23, 2021.

Rest at Robison

The main entrance of Robison Elementary school, at the corner of Treat and 18th, has a Ben's Bells mural, two artsy benches and a mosaic panel:

I almost stopped for a snooze during winter vacation: December 26, 2021.

(PS: I just noticed that today is 2/22/22. Here's a look back at our 1/11/11 mural, El Mezon del Cobre.)

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.

Want a glittering Ben's Bells mural?

On Thursday the 10th, Gloria Knott wrote in the Arizona Daily Star that several murals near the now-demolished La Placita complex have been removed for storage:

Due to construction in downtown Tucson, Ben's Bells murals need new homes

Here are links to the photos we have of the murals. I think we might be missing one of them:

• Murals being made, part 8 (Kindness, part 3)
• I am Tucson (Kindness, part 4)
• Ride on, Tucson

(I not only loved the glittering murals. I also loved the multicolored complex of buildings that used to be La Placita. Here's a page from my personal photography site, JerryPeek.com: Lamps of La Placita - Tucson, Arizona. The short "tour" ends with a favorite photo that shows La Placita from the Garces Footbridge crossing Broadway. I'm aiming to update the site to work well on mobile phones, too; I want to keep my "tour" pages like these intact.)

(Not) Mural Lovers, part 3

I was walking along Tyndall, just south of University Boulevard, two days ago. The south side of the buildings that face University (along their opposite side) have a series of brilliant mosaic tile murals. There used to be a tree mural wrapping around the southwest corner of the building along Tyndall, but now — as you can see — the mural is partly covered by a sign advertising the business to come:

This is almost as much respect for art as the destroyed murals along 22nd Street at Aviation Highway. Trashing a tree for natural food (which is what Cup It Up serves)?? Couldn't the business owner have made the sign more squat and put it just over the mural?

If you feel the same way, here's contact information for the location at 1101 N. Wilmot: 520-398-6700, www.cupitup.com. Or, if you're at the U of A, maybe the door along Tyndall will be open if you pass by it. Why not stop by or give them a call — and give them a piece of your mind (or heart)?

Sheesh.

Update: Not long after this blog entry appeared, I got a message from the restaurant that the mural had already been damaged before they moved into the building and replaced the existing sign with another at the same place. Fair enough, I suppose, though for people who don't know the story (as I didn't) it still shows the owner in a bad light. Because it's a mosaic with lots of different-colored and shaped tiles it seems like this would be a fairly easy mural to fix.

Update (July 12, 2018): I got email from Amy Collinsworth of Ben's Bells to point out that they designed the mural to fit around the original sign. As you can read in the previous update, the owner said he just replaced the original sign. (That still left me the impression that the original sign had been placed on top of the mural, since the tops of branches seem to go under the sign. But I was wrong!) Here's part of a photo that Amy sent to show the original installation:

Thanks for pointing this out, Amy — and my apologies.

First mural in "kindness corridor"

Last week, Philadelphia mosaic artist Isaiah Zagar led a team of volunteers to put up the first of a planned series of murals around the University of Arizona. The theme is kindness, and the murals should eventually stretch along University Blvd. and Fourth Avenue into downtown. The idea came from Ben's Bells founder Jeannette Maré-Packard. This first mural wraps around walls on the north side of a parking lot on Tyndall Avenue southeast of the corner with University (the back sides of the Campus Athletic store):


A closer view (two people; the one at left is wearing a hat):


And a closeup of the separate mural at the far right of the first photo above... I count at least three (or five?) animals in it:

Part of the mural are pieces of mirror. Stand close to see yourself and the scene behind you:


Update (May 13, 2012): There are new kindness murals in the works. See our post from earlier this morning, Kindness, part 2.

Update (August 6, 2015): Today we posted photos “A bit farther east…”