Ted DeGrazia's inspirations: Orozco and Rivera

A week ago — May 15 — The DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun Museum posted that painting by Tucson artist Ted DeGrazia on their Facebook and Twitter accounts. The Facebook caption was:

Because DeGrazia had interned for both Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco, many of DeGrazia’s older works were patterned after them. The influence it had on the Tucson artist, in both style and subject matter, is evident.

DeGrazia’s "Skipping Rope", oil on canvas, 1944.

#TedDeGrazia #DeGrazia #Ettore #Ted #Artist #GalleryInTheSunMuseum #Gallery #Museum #NationalHistoricDistrict #Nonprofit #Foundation #Adobe #Architecture #Tucson #Arizona #AZ #SantaCatalinas #Desert #DeGraziasOlderWork #SkippingRope #OilPainting

In case you aren't familiar with those Mexican muralists, here are searches on DuckDuckGo (a private alternative to Google):

• Diego Rivera
• Jose Clemente Orozco

Ted DeGrazia's 1964 mosaic mural

Last week, on #ThrowbackThursday, DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun Museum tweeted about a 1964 mural by DeGrazia:

In 1964 artist #TedDeGrazia completed his first 96-square-foot mosaic mural titled “The Desert Medicine Man". This colorful mosaic is on permanent display just west of the gallery. Happy #ThrowbackThursday! #DeGrazia #GalleryInTheSunMuseum #Tucson #AZ #Mosaic #MedicineMan #TBT pic.twitter.com/n5CGUFTFlI

— DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun Museum (@DeGraziaGallery) April 8, 2021

Happy Throwback Thursday!

DeGrazia chapel reopens

The fire-damaged chapel, which was lined with murals by Ted DeGrazia, has reopened. A Catholic Mass and a formal rededication of the mission are planned for December 8th. Here are two articles from the Arizona Daily Star with photos and the story of the restoration:

DeGrazia's chapel, a Tucson landmark for prayers and weddings, reopens after fire

Photos: DeGrazia Mission in the Sun, fire and restoration

DeGrazia photo essay shows chapel murals before 2017 fire

On May 3rd, @DeGraziaGallery retweeted a photo essay by Cintia Soto showing places around the outside of the gallery — including lots of photos of the chapel before the May 30, 2017 fire:

A Photo Essay @DeGraziaGallery In The Sun via @cintiasotoz #FreeYourself #Tucson #travel https://t.co/Js0t9WNJo4 pic.twitter.com/Gq3x6q6yRB

— Alexa Meisler (@52perfectdays) May 4, 2019

(To see the photos, click on the ow.ly/6XRo30c0ZGw, which will take you to the essay on 52perfectdays.com.)

AZPM's Emmy is for DeGrazia mural story

Congratulations to Arizona Public Media on their Emmy award! It's for their eight-minute story Restoring DeGrazia, which was Arizona Illustrated episode 407. The description says, in part:

A mysterious mural in a Tucson backyard turns out to be the largest Ted DeGrazia mural still in existence. It was originally painted by the artist in 1948 or 1949 and gives us a glimpse into DeGrazia’s mind before his fame and fortune.

Here's the whole video. If you'd like to skip to the mural story without the intro, scroll the player to 1:58…



Update (October 20, 2017): An article about the mural is in the October 2016 issue of Zócalo Magazine.