Grand entrance

Two murals decorate the two-story north entrance to Safford Elementary School. I took this shot from outside the fence at the corner of 13th Street and 5th Avenue. (The entrance is about a block away, so bring your binoculars or a zoom lens — or ask the school office for permission to get closer.)

Update (July 30, 2012): There's a mural at the back of the school. See The World at 14th & Herbert.

La Pilita Museum

Next to the El Tiradito shrine is the La Pilita Museum at 420 South Main.

Update: the major mural is gone — temporarily, at least. It was taken down in summer 2010 during construction work on the building. But here's another mural, in the building's back yard, snapped by Melo King in October 2010:

Update (May 28, 2010): The re-painted mural is almost finished. The new design is somewhat different.

Update (August 17, 2012): Today’s post shows more murals.

Country in the city

This countryside scene runs the whole length of the south side of the Tucson Yoga building at 12th Street and 4th Avenue. As with all of the other photos in this blog, you can click for a bigger view.

You can see the mural on the building's east side in the post Country in the city, part 2.

Bright on Broadway

On Broadway at 5th Avenue, this colorful mural is on the outside of the Childrens Black + White Photography Gallery.

Bikes and murals

BICAS (Bicycle Inter Community Action & Salvage) is a non-profit bicycle recycling and education center, where you can get bicycle parts, work on bikes, take classes on art (and bicycle repair), and more. Like a lot of the downtown warehouse district these days, things at BICAS aren't at all certain.
For now, at least, their walls are decorated with murals -- like this one on the alley named Ash, just north of 6th Street.

Murals past and present

The murals reported here, less than a year ago, at 300 N. 4th and 400 N. 4th, are both gone. Times change, and so do murals...

There's another bright spot on the block, though: wall-filling murals on both sides of the outdoor stage around Winsett Park, 316 N. 4th. Here's the south side:

and a part of the one on the north:

Bicycles on stage shows the mural behind the stage.

Update (May 7, 2012): The May 5, 2012 post has wraparound photos all around Winsett Park.

Arte para y por los estudiantes

Was your school playground lined with murals? It was if you went to Davis Bilingual Learning Center, 500 W. St. Marys (at Granada). This artistic school is one of the many bright spots you'll find around this arty corner of Tucson, nestled against the east side of I-10. (Check the mural table to find more of them.) Thanks to the students, mentors, the Barrio Anita Association's mural restoration program, and a mural grant from the City of Tucson.

Though the gates were open and no one was around during the early morning time I was there, you might want to check with the school office (520/225-1400) before you come on your own tour.


Update (June 12, 2013): Here are more photos.

Train, trolley, and a three-eyed alien

Next to the tracks, along one end of the Toole Parking Lot (191 E. Toole) is this wild mural that includes a bunch of Tucson landmarks, a guy (?) with a paint roller over the courthouse dome, a saguaro, a locomotive, the archway at El Tiradito, and much more. I'll let you find the alien yourself, but here’s a hint: look for the paper airplane.

Update (May 1, 2010): Here's another detail from the same mural at night (it's the second photo on that page). If you compare that photo to this one, you'll see that the later version of the mural has a lot more detail added in the “sky” and the doorways. (If you'd like to jump between the two, try your browser's "back" and "forward" buttons.)

Update (May 21, 2015): The mural has been (mostly) covered by white paint.

Update (September 18, 2015): There's a new mural at the right end of the wall.

A treat along Toole

Even with the refurbished railroad depot to spruce up the area, let’s face it: Toole Avenue isn’t exactly gorgeous. But, along with other murals in the neighborhood, this mural-fronted building, La Frontera ("The Border"), spruces up one side of the street. It’s at the corner of Council & Toole.

Update (May 1, 2010): Here’s the same mural at night.

You can find art (almost) anywhere

Humble murals are okay here! (Right, Randy??) And these murals — at the northwest corner of the bridge across the Silvercroft Wash, near 1700 West Speedway — have some creative tricks. Those raindrops under the cloud on the left side, for instance, cover what look to me like plugged holes in the concrete.
I do most of my mural-hunting on a bicycle. That makes it easier to spot art in places that aren't so obvious (and is a fun way to get some exercise, too).

You can't see it during the day...

...because the painted garage doors here are open then! I snapped this photo early in the morning while Netto's Auto Clinic was closed. It's at 513 W. Ajo Way.

Update (September 17, 2012): The murals are mostly gone, with missing paint and stains.

Art inside and out

The Arts & Culture Partnership, at 35th & South Park, has spaces for artists inside and art for you outside. It's part of a street full of art -- starting 11 blocks north at 24th & Park.

Angels on Park

Billy Sanchez, the artist who did the murals at 30th and S. Park, has been busy down here! He painted more murals for kids at Little Angels Day Care, which is a few blocks farther south at 34th & Park.

Smokin' on South Park

The front of the MVP Smoke Lounge at 2010-B South Park (just south of 30th St.) is covered by this larger-than-life mural that pretty much says it all.

South from 24th St. on Park...

Head south on Park Avenue to 24th Street. On the west side of the street you'll see pillars that introduce what's ahead of you. The pillars tell some mid-20th-century Tucson history that I'd never heard: the African-American community of South Park Avenue, South Park Political Club, free movies under the stars at Mirasol Park, and a lot more.

Up ahead are tile-decorated bridges, bus stops, and benches to rest on. They continue, here and there, until you get to 36th and Park. (You might want to bicycle or catch a bus, by the way, because this'll all zoom by if you're in a car.) While you're in the neighborhood, check out other murals nearby.

Ironic, isn't it?

This 1997 mural, titled "Don't Waste the Scenic Santa Ritas", is on Queen Avenue between 4th & 5th Streets. When I stopped by a few days ago, the mural and the credits to the Tucson Arts Brigade were partly covered by barbed wire and old junk.

Electrifying art ("artifying" electricity?)

One block in the Dunbar Spring neighborhood is filled with a power substation. The view is nicer than it would be, though, thanks to the green fence around it and the art on the corners. Here's the corner of 4th Street at 11th Avenue:

Update (October 10, 2012): There are more murals on the next corner.

Just add water. (Murals provided.)

The artwork here isn't exactly murals... it's actually tile. But this unused plot — which looks to me like it was a community garden at one time — is in the same neighborhood with other murals, and it's worth a look! (The gate was locked when I was there.) It's at the corner of Anita and Williams.

Coming soon...

The I-10 widening project has added a lot of art along the freeway -- and around it, too. Here's the scene from the west end of Williams Street, for instance.


The far right side of this mural (behind the "Road Closed" sign) shows the front of the Anita St. Market, which has two murals of its own! (Too bad you can't see those murals in this mural...)

Murals in (on) store

These two murals are on the side of the Anita St. Market, on Lord St. at the corner with Anita St. Though it's just a block away from I-10, there's a real neighborhood feeling here.

While you're here, check out other murals in the neighborhood, too; there are a lot!

I took the photo on May 14th.

Update (July 23, 2019): Today's blog entry shows the left-side mural repainted.

Land (and a mural) for sale

Want a scenic view every time you pull into your parking lot? Just make a deal with the Arizona Department of Transportation for this lot at the southwest corner of 6th St. & Main. It comes complete with a piece of what looks to me like Monument Valley, with lush plants in front and an eagle above... even a window in the middle where you can peer into the building.

This is the former Art's BBQ that Randy wrote about just six months ago. I didn't realize until I started making the new table of mural locations. It might help you, too, if you want to go mural hunting.

A fun (but not smart) place to skip class

Who, me? I'd never suggest truancy to you students at Tucson Magnet High School. (Besides, this long series of portraits and other tile works is on the wall just south of the school -- along 8th Street, just west of Euclid -- where you'd be easy to spot.) So, come with your classmates when school's out!

The rest of us can visit anytime -- maybe on a walk with the dog, or a stroll with your friends -- to enjoy all the variety that stretches along a lot of the block.

On my honor, I will try...

A ribbon with that pledge stretches the whole length of this Girl Scout mural on their building near the southeast corner of Broadway & Columbus. If you were, or are, a Girl Scout, the symbols that line the bottom of the mural will probably mean a lot more to you than they do to me! But I recognized people in the news, and names of events, that run along the top of the wall. There are lots of happy Scouts, too. Just try to come early in the morning before the sun bakes this west-facing wall -- and before cars fill the parking spaces that line the mural's bottom edge.



Update (April 12, 2012): Cindy Guare painted this amazing mural.

Wall-busting mural

Norhing bashful about this guy! He's smashing through the front wall of Bashful Bandit, on the southwest corner of Speedway and Dodge.

Update (November, 2021): The bar has been sold; it will become a BBQ restaurant. The mural is broken and, I guess, won't be repaired.

Update (April 11, 2023): Remodeling is continuing. It looks like this mural will stay. There's a new bashful mural next to it. Today's post Bye-Bye, Bashful Bandit? has photos, info, as well as an Arizona Daily Star article with lots of history and photos.

No Murals in Iraq

New Mission Won't Affect Murals Project

Your Photos Still Needed

Hello Everyone,

     I'm currently working as a civilian journalist with the United States Marine Corps in Iraq. This doesn't affect the Tucson Murals Project, but may slow it down a bit. That's where you come in. You can always e-mail me pictures of your favorite Tucson Murals at randygarsee@gmail.com.

    Meanwhile, history is unfolding in Iraq. If you would like to keep up with those events, visit my personal blog which now has a new mission.

    Thanks for your continued support!

     Sincerely yours,

     Randy Garsee

Rides in the Sun

Just Mural Cruisin'

Tucson Murals contributer Warren V. says this mural is "on the south side of a garage at 433 N. Santa Rita, just a little south of 6th Street by the U of A campus."

Mural Montage: A Tucson Favorite

While Truckin' Around.....

If you ever drive around the area of the University of Arizona, 

you'll eventually come across this mural.  

It's located at the southeast corner of

4th Avenue & Sixth Street.

Photos Courtesy of Davis Dominguez Gallery

Update (May 14, 2012): Today's Arizona Daily Star article by Carol Ann Alaimo, Tucson Oddity: Mural recalls 4th Ave.'s quirky denizens, covers this 17-by-70-foot mural. Painted in 1996 by Eleanor Kohloss, it's titled “The Thinkers.” All characters have a thought bubble over their heads. (The dog, who's thinking of a steak dinner, is named Beano.) Some of the characters are Tucsonans, and others are fictional.

These Murals Tank!

What Was Oro Valley Thinking?

I have often admired Oro Valley's public art efforts.  I even produced a video of public art in Oro Valley, which you can find on my YouTube Channel. This latest attempt, however, tanks.

Oro Valley has a beautiful new shopping area called the Oro Valley Marketplace.  Smack dab in the middle of this strip mall in the desert are two water tanks.  Someone decided, "Hey, water tanks are unsightly.  Let's paint a mural on them.  Better yet, make them look like massive Giant Saguaros."

As I discovered, the great idea of painting the tanks was mutilated by someone else's idea to surround the tanks with an 8-foot-tall stucco fence.  Drivers can only see the tops of the tanks!  Why not some type of fence so visitors can see the art work from top to bottom?  What a waste to spend all of that tax money for well-painted tanks and then hide most of the work.  

I got the best shots I could get and cropped the cactus flower for better effect.  I even stood on the concrete pillar of a light pole to get shots of the tanks without the wall in front of them.   But if you drive through the Oro Valley Marketplace, I'm sure you'll have the same thought I did:  

"Paint a mural and hide it?  No 'tank' you!  Randy Garsee

Here's a satellite map.

Update (August 7, 2020): There's another painted tank in today's entry Tanked.

Faded Pussy Cats

Faded Mural

In the Ash & Toole Street area

Contributed by Davis Dominguez Gallery

Rialto Theatre backstage door

Outside the Rialto Theatre

Contributed by Davis Dominguez Gallery

The mural is at the southeast corner of the building, 318 E. Congress.

Update (August 2, 2012): Here's a closeup of the sign to the right of the mural. I photographed it on April 4, 2012; the edges are curled and the bottom-right corner is missing. I edited the photo to make the words easier to read. You can click on the sign for a larger view — or, here's an even larger view. It's from muralist Salvador Duran.

Update (June 26, 2024): Today's post Rialto Theatre new & old, part 2 of 2 has detailed photos of this mural — and two others nearby, also by Salvador Duran.

That's Chicago... Again.

Warren V writes,

"The mural has changed on the back of the Chicago Music Store downtown [Tucson] since the May 9th [2008] photo posting. Here is a shot of the new one."

Update (September 30, 2012): The mural has been removed during construction.

Update (November 23, 2012): That's McKenzie Haggerty-Harrison in the mural. Here's more of the story.

Arizona's Artist: Maynard Dixon

A short documentary on the late artist 

Maynard Dixon

hosted by Dr. Mark Sublette, owner of Medicine Man Gallery

in Tucson, AZ and Santa Fe, NM.

To see this video produced by 

Randy Garsee, 

hit play below:

For the Veterans on Veterans' Day

This patriotic mural is on the wall at 

Miller's Surplus in Tucson at 406 N. 6th Ave.

Remember to honor your military veterans today.

Photo Courtesy of Davis Dominguez Gallery in Tucson.

Update: Five and a half years before this blog entry went online, the mural had been trashed. I found the story from March 28, 2003 in the Tucson Citizen archives: ‘Cowards’ deface military icons on store.

Putting the Art in Art's BBQ

If you've ever doubted good barbecue is an artform,

then this mural should put your artistic tastebuds to rest.

Bon Appetit!

You can find it here on our highlighted map link.

Photo Courtesy of Davis Dominguez Gallery in Tucson

Update (September 2, 2012): The mural is gone, and this building is now the new home of Dinnerware Artspace.