Murals being made, part 3

When I rode by at the end of March, the storage container above was sitting behind the fence along Tucson Boulevard, near the corner of 15th Street, on the field at the north side of Howenstine High Magnet School.

What do you think is planned for the blank spots at the left side? Here's a close-up of the middle of that area. (It's easier to see the outline if you click on the photo for a bigger view. Use your browser's "Back" button to come back here.)

Murals being made, part 2

Tucson muralist David Tineo has been struggling with macular degeneration, which led him to decide to stop painting murals. (You can read more in our May 2, 2008 post El Rio by Tineo.) So I was surprised when an artist I know, K. Loren Dawn, told me that she was contributing to a neighborhood mural project led by David Tineo! She wrote:

Several panels will be linked together to create the final mural. It will be installed sometime in May along Mountain Ave. with a dedication event. The theme is "Changing Hearts and Minds". It was done in conjunction with CODAC and the Hedrick Acres neighborhood.

She sent these photos. The first is of David and other artists working, and the second shows one of the panels:

Thanks, Loren!

UPDATE (July 9, 2011): The frame for the mural is being installed. (No mural yet.)

Murals being made, part 1

Barrio Centro (Tucson's Central Neighborhood — which is roughly in the area west of Country Club, south of 22nd, and north of Aviation) has been planning a mural for quite a while. This Saturday, April 2nd, from 10 am to 2 pm is a paint day to add color to the outlines already on the wall — on the east side of the Lucky Wishbone restaurant, 2712 E. 22nd.

I shot these photos this afternoon. In the first one, above — at the north end of the mural — you can see numbers that tell painters which color to use in each spot. (To get a larger view, click on it; click your "Back" button to return here.) The two below — near the south end — don't have numbers, but they do have outlines and some color.

There's more info on the Ward 5 news and the Barrio Centro Neighborhood Mural blog.

Update (April 6, 2011): I rode by the mural this morning. I don't think the painting work is quite finished yet, but what a difference!


Update (April 21, 2011): The AZ Public Media story Beautifying Barrio Centro shows artists painting and has interviews with neighbors who've lived in Barrio Centro for a long time.

Update (June 19, 2011): The mural unveiling was yesterday.

Early-morning mural hunting

If you like to get up early in the summer, mornings around sunrise are great times for mural-hunting. Even on weekdays, the major streets can be quiet enough to slow down in your car and look around at the sides of buildings you've just passed. (And, on a bicycle, streets with skimpy shoulders — like the central parts of Speedway — don't feel as dangerous to me as they do with more traffic whizzing by a foot or two away.)

Here's a mural I spotted as I rolled by 4932 E. Speedway last August. I didn't write down the exact business name, but Google says it's the Elegant Junque Shop.

Watch while you wash

Here's another of the car washes I've spotted with a mural on its side. (The other was A classic car by Luis Mena, posted back in December. If you've seen others, please let me know!) This mural is pretty well faded, but it's still fun to check out before or after your wash (it's on the outside of the wash stills, not the inside...)

This one's at Grant Road Car Wash, 328 East Grant.

Get here early or late...

...because these murals are painted on the steel shutters that cover the windows when Sparks Cycle Supply (3409 E. Grant) is closed:

Other stores with murals like these include Netto's Auto Clinic and Hippie Gypsy.

Arizona Auto Connection

This half-hidden mural is on a wall behind the lot at Arizona Auto Connection, 401 E. Grant.

Beautiful Bronx Wash

As you drive around Tucson, you'll see plenty of washes — with a sign that has the name of the wash (and often — FYI to Tucson visitors — two-way streets on both sides of the wash... there's more info on Tucson traffic quirks on my Tucson page). Most of the washes aren't much to look at, otherwise — and definitely not "beautiful."

One exception is the Bronx Wash mural along Linden just west of 4th Avenue:

At the right side of that second mural is a map of the neighborhood.

Update (April 29, 2015): I just came across an October 2009 article about the painting project on the National Service blog.

Update (December 19, 2016): The west (right) end of the mural has a new part; you can see it in today's entry Bronx Wash mural revisited, part 1 of 3. Two entries after it show the new part being painted and detailed photos of the whole long mural.

Murals on the Marley Building

Inside and outside the Marley Building (1145 E 4th St.) on the U of A campus, are seven tile murals installed by Aurore Chabot in 1997. They're called Cellular Synchronicity. The shot on the right looks up the east side of the building — which houses agriculture and entymology, among others. The artist took objects that researchers were working on and she cast them into tile. You can see a closeup of part of another mural on the post Before Columbus.

22nd and the world

At the corner of 22nd and Longfellow (3975 E. 22nd) is Learning Bee Preschool & Daycare. The photo above shows the map of the world on the north side, along Longfellow. The photo to the right is along 22nd, on the southwest corner of the wall around their property — including some traffic-control stuff that was in front of the mural when I snapped the photo last month.

Update (August 1, 2016): Today's blog entry shows some other murals before and after these two.

Right at home on Wilmot

Here's an early-morning view of Home Style Galleries, 1010 S. Wilmot (at Beverly) — and someone out for a walk.

Happy 60th, Bob

Bookmans founder Bob Oldfather (here's his official story from the Bookmans website) has kept new murals on the wall of their flagship store, Grant at Campbell, for years. When I drove in this evening, I saw that Bob is celebrating his 60th birthday (and also, as I found on the website, his store's 35th). This mural on the store's east wall is signed (520)312-7076 Rock Martinez / Tommy Chambers / Art Terrain 2011.

Happy 60th, Bob!

Where is this mural?

If you enjoy Tucson's murals from the comfort of your home (or office, or wherever you see this blog), you can just read and scroll down. Once you see a mural you'd like to enjoy in person, though, you need to be able to find it. When I snap a mural photo, I jot down information that I hope will help you. Since most murals are on buildings, I can give the address — or so I believed until after I snapped this photo of a wall of the former El Rapido restaurant downtown:

When I shot this, I was on West Washington Street — no question. The numbers to the right of the door say 77. So, the mural is at 77 W. Washington, right? That's what I thought until I typed that address into Google Maps... and it put the location pointer a block east of the actual spot. I searched for El Rapido and people quoted that same address: 77. What to do?

Luckily, I could ask Melo King for advice. (She created the mural maps that you really should check out if you haven't already.) The bottom line is that the address of a piece of land can change — especially if the streets are close together, so the parcel could "be on" one of several streets. Pima County has online GIS (Geographic Information System) to help you find a current address — and an amazing amount of other information. (See http://gis.pima.gov/maps/mapguide/ and click on "Main MapGuide Map".)

There doesn't seem to be a 77 West Washington Street anymore. I can tell you that the mural is on the north side of Washington in the middle of the block between Meyer and Court. To get a more precise location, I opened a satellite view of the area from Google Maps, clicked on the front of the building, and chose "What's here?" from the pop-up menu. It says the mural (actually, a spot a few feet north) is at latitude 32.224539 and longitude -110.974388. Here's that view.

What we do for art! :)

In case you blinked...

...along I-10 at the Miracle Mile exit, here are the three tile murals you would have seen on each side of the freeway. They're all signed Mackender 1994 / Tile by Artistic Tile, but I thought they were added during the recent freeway widening project? Anyway, they're worth a closer look. (To zoom in on a photo, click on it. Come back with your browser's "back" button.)

First, the three murals on the westbound side, from south to north:

Next, the eastbound side, from north to south:

Those are lamps and desert plants at the edges of most photos.

A classier carport

Dress up your carport with a mural — like this one at 6142 E. 14th:

(By the way, we only show murals that are visible to the public. You can see this as you walk by on the street. If, say, this mural had been inside a garage, we wouldn't show it.)

Five horses on Speedway

Speedway (at least a lot of it in central Tucson) isn't a great place to be on a bicycle. I tried it early one morning last summer — as the sun was rising and before traffic got bad — to find murals I hadn't seen. (That's a lot easier to do at 10 or 15 miles an hour than at 35 or 40.) For some reason (maybe because my bicycle is an Iron Horse brand — great bike, by the way), all of the murals I spotted fit that theme. (Well, sort of. :)

The first was at Red Garter, 3143 E. Speedway:

At the other end of my ride along Speedway were two horses in a desert scene at Bookstore Southwest Adult Shop, 5754 E. Speedway (click to zoom in):

The last two horses (actually made of iron — or steel), were at Sir Veza's Taco Garage, on the corner with Swan:

P.S. I just noticed that Warren V. sent a photo of the Red Garter horse — more than two years ago — in Randy's post Horsin' Around at the Saloon. With more than 300 murals online here, this is another good reason for Melo's mural map... to help us prevent duplicate photos. In the meantime, thanks to Warren and Melo!

Update (September 22, 2020): I've posted closer photos of the wraparound mural on Bookstore Southwest. And Sir Veza's Taco Garage is gone.

Murals with heart(s)

When you're shopping at Rancho Center, in the 3300 block of East Speedway, cross the street to check out these four mosaic murals in the center island. Artist Linda Haworth built them with community youth in 1993.

(To zoom in on a photo, click on it. Return with your browser's "back" button.)

Luke's Italian Beef on Alvernon

The restaurant, at 1615 S. Alvernon, has this little outdoor seating area on the north edge of its parking lot.

Update (July 2, 2015): The mural has been changed.

Three hundredth is Fourth

Depending on your frame of mind — and maybe where you live — "4th Avenue" means different parts of Tucson. There's the primarily-residential street north of downtown. Between downtown and the university comes the chunk full of fun shopping and eclectic eating. Another stretch of homes fills Fourth south of downtown. Then, south of 22nd Street, Fourth morphs into a string of businesses and (mostly) Mexican-style restaurants as it crosses through the city of South Tucson. (Past there, I'm not sure... but I'm planning to head far south to check that mural scene.)

For this 300th post — almost five years after Randy started blogging about Tucson murals — here's the latest I've found along Fourth: north, central, and south. (I also have lots more to post from South Tucson!)

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In a neighborhood on the north, the home at 1248 N. 4th has wraparound murals — mostly on Mabel Street. The first view below is from the east end along Mabel, and the second is from the west:

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Head south across Speedway and pass Catalina Park... and you'll be on the university/downtown section of 4th. I'm surprised that I never snapped these next two murals. They're on the northeast corner of Epic Cafe, 745 N. 4th. (As always, you can click on any photo for a larger view... and use your browser's "Back" button to come back.)

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Across the street, on the northwest corner of Trinity Presbyterian Church (400 E. University), are two mosaic murals:
(There's a third mural on the east side.) Update (November 16, 2012): There's also a mural on the north side.

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At the north end of the Magpies Pizza patio is a storefront that looks as if had another business in it sometime recently. If you know what it was, please tell me.	Farther down 4th, The Fathead Shop has opened a new establishment next door called Mr. Head's Gallery & Bar.

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Sacred Art and Piercing Studios, 315 N. 4th, is one of the businesses that keeps mural-hunters busy. Back in August, we showed two of their murals. Here's the same wall a few days ago (January 22)... the mural is signed Rock Martinez & Ruben Moreno:

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On a window of Food Conspiracy Co-op, 412 N. 4th, is the best-hidden mural on the street... this little gem over the shopping carts, a sort of self-reflection:

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Let's finish this trip down Fourth Avenue in the section near South Tucson. At the corner with 22nd Street, La Buena Cocina (248 E. 22nd) was closed for renovation when I stopped by yesterday afternoon. I hope this mural will still be there when they reopen. (Check out the "shelf" at the bottom. It's painted onto the flat wall, but — in this photo, at least — it looks like a piece of wood.)

Thanks for coming along on this lengthy tour of one of Tucson's best mural streets. As I said, there'll be lots more to come from farther down Fourth, and the rest of South Tucson, in the next hundred posts (and the ones after those).

These murals aren't trash

Murals can change ordinary public places into art... and that includes dumpsters. Here are two examples I spotted at the end of July. The first was at Martha Cooper library, 1377 N. Catalina Avenue...

...and the second, at 4215 E. Fairmount Street:


Update (April 29, 2015): I just ran across an article about the dumpster art in the Arizona Daily Star: Midtown area creates 'dumpster art' to beautify streets, deter graffitists effort to discourage graffiti taggers,