Time to see Sonoran Skylines!

Yesterday, November 14, around 3 pm, I saw that Sonoran Skylines, which is billed as Arizona's largest mural, is finished. It's on the south end of the west wall of Park Place mall, around the food court entrance. The barricades that had blocked the parking lot around the right half were gone. A truck was hauling away one of the lifts that the artists had used for a couple of months, from the southwest corner of the parking lot then toward the east:

Another way I could tell: Artists had been working on the top right section of the mural, from the bird at the left (north) to the saguaro at the right (south), since the dedication on November 2. Here are photos from November 7 near sunset and yesterday at 3 pm:

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Closeups from left to right:

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The Park Place Instagram page has a video by BG Boyd that shows the mural from near the start to near the end. Click here to open it in a new browser window (or maybe your app?)… I don't think you need an Instagram account:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DCAGPOLNL3_/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

If that link is broken, here's a version from YouTube. It doesn't have the ending showing people waving from high up on the mural:

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Come see for yourself! (Depending on your screen, the color in these photos may not be as rich as it is in person.) The light is best in the afternoons, when the sun is in the west.

Giant Park Place mural almost finished

Sonoran Skylines, which is billed as Arizona's largest mural, is almost finished on the south end of the west wall of Park Place mall. This was the view yesterday near sunset:

(As always, you can click for a larger view.)

Two artists were working on what I think is the last part to finish: the top right. (Jessica Gonzales and her husband Dakin Martin are the main artists. Neither were here… I think these are other artists helping with this massive project.) Someone had shouted at them from the parking lot below, and they were waving in that direction:

Once the mural is finished, there'll be lots of photos here!

Rialto Theatre new & old, part 2 of 2

Last time, in Rialto Theatre new & old, part 1 of 2, we looked at the new(ish) mural on the south wall at the southeast corner of the Rialto Theatre. Jessica Gonzales and Dakin Martin made that mural, which was also the cover art for a new album. And we mentioned old murals; they're on the east wall at the southeast corner. This photo, which I took on February 6, 2024, shows the new mural and one of the three old murals:

The other two murals are behind the stairs at the right edge of that photo.

First mural

All three of these murals are by long-time Tucson artist Salvador Duran. The closest mural has faded some since we showed it last — December 25, 2008 — in our post Rialto Theatre backstage door:

If you'd like to see a closeup of the explanatory sign to the right of the mural, click on the link above the photo to open the December 2008 post.

The mural looked like this in February, 2024:

As always, you can click on a photo to get a slideshow of larger views. Below are some closeups:

Second mural

A bit farther north, directly underneath the stairs to the second floor, is a smaller mural:

Third mural

Just to the right (north) of the second mural is the third mural:

Walk a bit farther north. There's:

1. a mural by Jessica Gonzales for Love Block Partners. Keep walking to see:
2. a memorial mural to the singer Prince; Joe Pagac painted it in April, 2016: Prince tributes from Tucson artists (and stencil-ists).
3. at the northeast corner (at Congress St.), are Jessica Gonzales’ always-changing show murals. There's info in our previous post Rialto Theatre new & old, part 1 of 2.

Halfway around the building from there, far up on the southwest corner, is La Guitarrista. Our February 9, 2024 post Guitarist tops the Rialto shows it, but I think it's best to see in person. (To look at the intricate detail, bring binoculars.)

Rialto Theatre new & old, part 1 of 2

Jessica Gonzales does a lot of painting outside the Rialto Theatre downtown. On the northeast corner, she — assisted by Dakin Martin — paints murals for upcoming shows there. Here's one example from her Instagram: the May 17 and May 21, 2024 murals. (She wrote “I love that these show murals allow me to experiment and learn new things in the process.”)

Her March 24, 2024 Instagram post shows her book of Show Murals from 2019-2023. To see her latest show murals, go to her Instagram front page @jessicagonzalesart and scroll down.

From here, walk south along the alley (formerly Herbert Avenue). You'll pass murals that we'll see in part 2 of this series. At the south end, turn around to see this mural on the south wall:

Their signature is at bottom right:

This sign, painted to the right of the mural, says the mural is Album cover art for Gabriella Pietrangelo’s “Back to the Heart” and first single “Tucson”.

The music video, on YouTube, shows Gabriella singing in front of the mural as Jessica and Dakin paint it. This clip starts at 1 minute, 3 seconds:



Here's a link directly to the YouTube video, starting from the beginning: Gabrielle Pietrangelo – Tucson (Official Music Video). There's more in the Arizona Daily Star story on December 12, 2023, Veteran singer-songwriter finds inspiration in Tucson hometown.

In the photo above, of the east wall along the alley, you can see one of the old Salvador Duran murals that we'll show in detail next time.

Tuxon Hotel

I found these two murals at the Tuxon Hotel.  They are located on interior walls in tight quarters.  Even though I was using a wide angle lens, I was unable to photograph the complete mural in either case.

The artist is Jessica Gonzales assisted by Dakin Martin.

Lady In Glasses

Lady In Moonlight

Note the bloodthirsty Bat.

 

The following photo was copied from Jessica's Facebook page.  It shows the conditions that make it difficult to obtain complete photos.

Click on any photo for enlarged images.

"Southwest Strings"

By Jessica Gonzales assisted by Dakin Martin.

The aerial photo below is by BG Boyd Photography:

Click on either photo to see larger images of both.

Jessica Gonzales was back at Arizona Picture & Frame

Around the start of 2021, Jessica repainted the south and west sides of the store. Like most of us, the store owners probably couldn't get enough of her great murals, so they hired her again to paint the southeast corner — to the right of the mural she painted before:

She wrote on Instagram that the mural is meant to be seen from the corner, like this:

As you see if you compare the photos of the south wall carefully to the ones from last year, the store has replaced their sign near the ground and added one along the top of her previous mural.

Let's finish with details from near the corner. First, I'm always interested in how muralists work around fixtures and other things that stick out the sides of buildings… like this gas meter:

Jessica worked with Dakin Martin:

I was there on January 8, 2022.

Quetzalcoatl

Facing the Memorial mural for Samantha Silverman in our previous post is a mural on the south wall of Amazing Discoveries. Quetzalcoatl is the feathered serpent god of the Aztec and Toltec cultures.

By Jessica Gonzales assisted by Dakin Martin

Click on the photo for a larger and sharper image.

Creative Machines

Tucson has more and more large murals. Which one is biggest? Someday I could get one of the gadgets that lets you measure lengths from a distance. In the meantime, here are two of the largest — at Creative Machines on Irvington. It's probably closed today, New Year's Day, but you should be able to look at the murals from outside the fence. Or stop by during business hours — when you can be right next to them.

There are two murals. The one at the left (farther north) is by Jessica Gonzales and friends; the other is by Nadia Hagen and friends:

The west side and then the south side of Jessica's mural, followed by the signature at the bottom right corner:

Nadia's mural — which is quite a bit wider than Jessica's, so next are a few close-ups:

I took the first photo on November 8, 2020, from outside the fence and the rest from inside the fence on November 9.