"Mural View Elementary" is a better name

This school's real name is Mission View Elementary. Back on May 11, 2010, we showed three murals near the corner of 37th Street and 8th Avenue in Mission View (or Mural View?) Elementary. There are several murals I didn't photograph in 2010 — probably because they weren't there then. Since the end of 2023, I've made two trips to try to catch all of the murals around the outside walls.

South wall (along 37th St.)

Let's start at the school entrance along 37th Street, a ways west of 8th Avenue. To the right (east) of the entrance is a mural that's been there since at least 2010. I snapped it on May 25, 2024:

A bit farther east is a patio with a mosaic bench along the west side and a mosaic hanging on the east wall. The photos are from May 25th:

Just east of the patio is this mural:

At the right edge of the mural is what looks to me like a tall chile or gourd. It's titled Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Amigos del Desierto (friends of the desert). Near the bottom is 98-99 (1998-1999), Artist: Russell Kahn and Consultant: Axhel Muñoz.

Southeast corner (37th St. @ 8th Ave.)

Maybe partly because of their wide-angle setup, Google Maps Street View had a more complete photo than I could get of the southeast corner:



I chopped the left and right sections of the first mural into two photos so it's easier to see details. Here's the left:

Next, the right section of that mural. The banner has faded a lot, so I've tried to make the closeup easier to read:

It says:

NUEVOS HORIZONTES ART AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION PROGRAM ~ 1994

A CELEBRATION OF OUR DIFFERENCES ~ A TRIBUTE TO OUR ANCESTORS

The Sueñalo Logralo mural was added long after the mural to the left. (Google Maps Street View shows a blank white space from February 2008 to January 2021, and the mural in April 2022.) In English, that's: Dream it. Achieve it.

Northeast corner (36th St. @ 8th Ave.)

On the northeast corner of campus, December 16, 2023, were a round wall that looked like a sitting area to me and a mural on the north wall:

When I came back on May 25, 2024, parts of the round area were broken into chunks. I didn't take photos. Here's the December version:

Next, the mural. The tree at top right is a real tree, not part of the mural:

The mural has several names of people and families. These closeups show most of them:

Just west (to the right) of the mural, lying in a nook of assorted fence parts and other stuff, is what looks like a mural panel. I spotted it on May 25th. The top (at left, in shadow) has some names and a deer dancer:

Two last notes:

• The center and corners of intersection just northeast of the school are painted. See our August 10, 2021 post 8th Avenue & 36th Street from above.
• Next time, we'll show a little building farther west from the main building.

Hidden at Tucson Self Storage (Start of BG Boyd series)

BG Boyd Photography is building a searchable database of Tucson murals at TucsonAZMurals.com. I realized that there's no reason for me to take photos of a mural if he already has some. He agreed that I could share his photos to this blog when I don't have a photo of my own. That'll usualy happen on Fridays. In this series of posts, I'll add clickable links below the photos so you can find the original in his mural database at https://tucsonazmurals.com/murals/. Thanks as always, BG, for helping people find Tucson art!

Today's murals are on the end of storage buildings at Tucson Self Storage on Golf Links Road. Unless you rent a unit there, though, you can't get close to the murals… you can only see some from the fence outside. But BG did it! He also caught an aerial view from his drone:

thank_you_for_your_service
(2nd photo on that database page)

thank_you_for_your_service
(1st photo on that database page)

oregon_trail

the_grand_canyon_state

greetings_from_tucson_self_storage

Click on any photo for a slideshow of larger views. Click on the link underneath a photo to open it in BG Boyd's mural database.

El Pais Motel

This is not your typical motel. The entrance is lined with pink flamingoes and a lyric from the B-52s. Inside are rooms with whimsical names, each with its own mural; vintage trailers; and even a swimming pool with a mural on the bottom. El Pais supports artists in any way they can, and artists have obviously gone all-out to paint great murals.

This mural, on a wall facing Benson Highway, was the first one painted here. The artist was Alejandra Trujillo (@atrujillo_art on Instagram):

At the entrance, from the B-52s (created by Gabrielle Ames):

Not far from the entrance on the left is the clubhouse. Here's what's outside, painted by Jessi (on Instagram @arterosas_, with an underscore at the end):

On the far side of the clubhouse is a covered seating area with a mural by Lyn Sweet (her Instagram has changed to @lynthesweet):

To go along with the vintage trailers — and the spaceship in the mural above — is one of the first electric cars. Randy L. Barton (@randy_boogie on Instagram) painted it:

Randy posted photos of the unpainted and painted car, as well as two videos of it being painted, on his Instagram. (Click there to see it. To see all, drag or use the arrows at right and left edges.)

Many of the guestrooms have their own name and a mural to go with it. From the front of the motel to the back, the first room with a name and mural is “Musician,” painted by Alejandra Trujillo:

Next, the “Comic Book room,” another by Alejandra Trujillo:

The Streamline Moderne room (after the art-deco style Streamline Moderne) has its mural by David Suggs (@suggscess on Instagram):

The “Casita de Khalo” is named for Mexican artist/icon Frida Kahlo. It's by Gabrielle Ames:

At the far end of the building with guestrooms is another mural by David Suggs:

The property was closed during August, so there was no need to keep the pool clean (from all of the dust blown in by the monsoon). The dust made it tough to photograph the mural on the bottom, painted by Gabrielle Ames… but there are (currently, at least) photos on the murals page of her website. The wall behind the pool has another of Gabrielle's murals, though… and yes, that's a mannequin in front:

The pool safety sign actually came from the previous owners, but it fit right in:

The motel's website elpaismotel.com has some fun photos, and the Arizona Daily Star article Mom-daughter team transforming Tucson trailer park into vintage gem has more info and photos.

The motel is private property with paying guests, so the owners ask that you not look around on your own. You can contact them for a tour, though. My tour was on August 2nd.