Spicy mural

The mural that wraps around El Pueblo Viejo Salsa Company (2514 S. 4th Avenue) has some parts in outline (like the ghostly musician on front), some parts flat (like the painted-on window and the bricks around the door), and some parts... well, check it out yourself when you're in South Tucson for a meal or a visit to see all of the art along the streets.

Sit a while, enjoy the art

If Jeff's Auto Parts weren't on a main street -- 2412 S. 4th Avenue in South Tucson -- you might think you were right at home, with two places to sit and two mosaic murals to admire.

Sue's Fish & Chips

You'll find these two murals along 4th Avenue in South Tucson, at the corner of 35th Street, Sue's Fish & Chips. The second one is signed Lira Designs, 218-9882:



Update (November 27, 2014): Today we posted Mark Fleming's photos from September, 2014 showing a much-improved mural. For instance, the rough "steak fingers" sign and corral at the left edge of the second photo above are now bright and crisp.

O&J Tire Shop

This mural at O&J Tire Shop, 2610 S Park Avenue (at 36th St.), is in memory of Neto Ramirez.

Quincie Douglas Center

At this big recreation center, swimming pool and public library, 1575 E 36th St., mosaic murals line the front and back of the monument out front. At the entrance to the central building is a bench with hand-made tiles: (Click on an image for a larger view. Use your browser's "back" button to come back.) Update (November 10, 2020): There's much more art now.

Welcome to South Tucson (on 29th)

Coming from the east on 29th Street, you enter South Tucson as you cross the railroad tracks. (Here's a map.) These three welcoming murals are all on the north side in the first few blocks -- before you get to 4th Avenue.

Update (September 29, 2014): I've found details about the second mural in La Tusa, The Tattoo Mural.

Tucson Greyhound Park on 36th

Here are two of the murals lining South Tucson streets. These are on 36th Street along the parking lot for Tucson Greyhound Park.



Update (October 5, 2015): David Aber stopped by and wrote this about the first mural:

It’s on the south side of E. 36th St. and across the street from number 325 … If you take a close look at the Chevy’s license plate, you’ll see that the mural was completed in 2009 by Las Artes (a Pima County youth program).

South Tucson shows off

South Tucson ("the pueblo within a city") has decorated its main streets with murals and bits of color on benches, bus stops, trash cans, plaques, and more. Here are a few examples from the blocks of South 4th Avenue just north of 36th Street:

Decorated bridges along the Rillito

On a sunny winter day, you'll meet lots of other Tucsonans walking or biking the paths along the Rillito River. (Maybe you'll even see some water! :)

Bridges along the way are decorated with tile and mosaic. Here are a few. All of these are between Campbell and Alvernon. (As always, you can click on any photo for a bigger view. Come back with your browser's "Back" button.)

Country Club	Camino Real
Hacienda del Sol
Christmas	St. Phillips

And click to see bridges between Alvernon and Swan.

Half-missing mural

Did the artist stop after painting the top part, or was the bottom part covered over? (I think it's probably the latter... though that leads to the question of why?) This is on the side of Jim's Market, 805 E. 36th Street.

Update (January 16, 2011): The building — and this half-mural — have been painted over in a sort of pink color.

Boys & Girls Clubs preview

This simple mural in front of the organization's Holmes Tuttle Clubhouse, 2585 E 36th Street shows what you'll find inside:

Dale's Doors

Need a real door? Dale's Doors, at 321 S. Kino Parkway, should be able to help you. If you have a wall waiting for a mural with a door, Dale's can probably tell you which muralist painted this scene on their wall.

Update (May 17, 2011): Here's part of the same mural at night.

Bright idea on Edison

You'll find this mural along the driveway at 2702 E. Edison.

Murals and mosaics at Miles

Tucson schools have a lot of great public art, but Miles Exploratory Learning Center, 1400 E. Broadway (at Highland) is special. Let's start with views from the north and south:


(As always, you can click on any photo for a larger view. Use your browser's "Back" button to return here.)

There are murals all around the school, like this one along the parking lot:


and The ABCs of Tucson (J for Jalapeños, N for Norteña music, ...):


Between Broadway and the school building, though, is the part that's best: The Gardens, a series of different gardens with mosaic plaques at the entrance...


...and along the paths.


There's also an artistic courtyard inside the school that I didn't see. If you visit the garden during school hours, by the way, sign in at the school office. It's just through the doors in left-hand photo at the top.

Barn south of Broadway

This barn-shaped building, painted with farm animals...


...is at the Highland Free School, 510 S. Highland.

Scholars on Second Avenue

This mural runs along 2nd Avenue, at the corner of 6th Street. It's the edge of the campus of Roskruge Bilingual Middle Magnet & Elementary School. Martín Moreno worked with students to paint it.(The school history is interesting...)

The other side of the mural is on the November 3, 2011 post.

Update (February 17, 2022): Today, KGUN 9 TV broadcast the story Muralists seek to renovate Roskruge mural, create new art. A group of muralists including Allison Miller want to restore the mural and add a new one on the other side of the wall.

Update (June 13, 2023): The mural along 6th Street and 2nd Avenue has been repainted. See today's post Roskruge repainted. The mural on the other side of the wall along 2nd Avenue hasn't changed (yet).

Dressing up a drab corner

Got a boring brick wall on your business? Why not hire a mural painter to dress it up? That's what John Jacob's El Parador (2744 E. Broadway) did with the southeast corner of their building:


The works are signed "Tineo '09". I'm guessing this is David Tineo, the Tucson muralist. (By the way, he'll have a retrospective at the Tucson Museum of Art opening on February 27, 2010.)

Undisputed urban art

Call it tagging on steroids, or ugly, or brilliant, or whatever you feel... but there's no missing the walls filled with murals at Undisputed Fitness & Training, 1240 N. Stone. Both sides of the vacant lot south of the building are wrapped with art:


Santa shows up a couple of places around that lot. Here's a bit of the building's south wall:


The building's east wall -- which used to have Arnold Schwarzenegger alone and with company -- has been repainted since the summer. It's a different style than the south wall:


Love it? Loathe it? Either way, the artist(s) put a lot of work into these walls.

Update: The venue for all of this graffiti art is the annual Winta Fresh. There's more in our post from July 6, 2011.

Mural in the mesquite

I just came across these photos from a year ago (January, 2009). I remember riding by this mural, which is on a wall around a storage tank on Treat at Waverly, and wondering which came first: mesquite or mural?


Did the neighbors decide mesquite looked better than the mural? Or has the mesquite grown taller since the mural went up? (The bushes seem too close to the wall for painters to do their work.) If you know the real story, please post a comment or send email.

Update (May 6, 2024): There's been a new mural here since 2022 or so. There's also a small park around the mural. Today's post Mural at midtown butterfly garden has photos and a link to the Tucson's Pocket Parks blog.

St. Ambrose School

You'll find this mural above an entrance to the St. Ambrose Catholic School at 300 S. Tucson Blvd..

Church art, part 2

Muralist Jim Ru (see Randy's previous post) told us that the mural he painted at American Evangelical Lutheran Church also has a flip side -- on the other side of the wall, inside the patio. So I stopped by 115 N. Tucson Blvd. (the corner of 10th) with my camera:


The church has more art outside, too -- though it wasn't painted by Mr. Ru. You'll see a rainbow at the end of the west-side parking lot... which leads to you the northern wall with painted panels:

Love One Another: A Muralist Comes Forward

This mural originally appeared on the Tucson Murals Project in March 2008. Here's the original post, followed by an update:

This Christian message can be found "on northbound Tucson Blvd just north of Broadway. This mural is still there."

Submitted by Neil R. Amstutz

Now the update:

The muralist is Jim Ru. He recently e-mailed to explain the inspiration. "Hey and thanks for [the Tucson Murals Project]. It's really great. I actually considered doing the same thing many years ago when I lived in Tucson. The city is so full of mural art and it was undocumented," Ru wrote in the e-mail. Ru said he painted the mural the week of the invasion of Iraq "as a message to those driving by." He also added, "I love showing off your web site to people showing them all the amazing murals in Tucson. More cities should be so lucky. Jim"

And thank you, Mr. Ru. I hope this encourages more muralists and/or mural enthusiasts to view the Tucson Murals Project, let us know the name of the muralist (if it isn't posted), and contribute or pass along our web site. Tucson's murals are a true asset to the Old Pueblo. Thanks, Randy Garsee

miaoural

Maybe you didn't know that the sounds animals make are written different ways in different languages? (See Derek Abbott's Animal Noise Page for a list.)

Anyway, I used to do a lot of traveling overseas. When I saw this mural of happy pets on the front of Creature Comforts Pet Resorts (2104 E. 13th St., at Olsen), I was thinking of (what turned out to be) the French spelling of the noise cats make, miaou... and then I thought of how a cat might say "mural". Once I got home, I found out that cats in the US say meow instead, but I decided to go ahead with that wacky French/English title for this post. Whatever...

(Hey, it's not easy to come up with titles for a hundred different murals! :)

Mural or mess?

There are lots of different definitions of "art," and urban art (a.k.a. graffiti, a.k.a. tagging) can be tough to call. As I ride around Tucson on my bike, I see plenty of ugly graffiti. So what about something like this?

(This is on the back of the building at 3591 E. Golf Links, at the corner with Richey Blvd; I shot it from the vacant lot west of 3602 E. 34th St.)

I don't have an exact definition. If it seems to me like the painter(s) put some thought into the design, and it looks "artistic" (whatever that means), I snap it... and let you decide.

Happy 2010 — and new decade — everyone!