International School of Tucson

Two school buildings are decorated with murals. First, on the side of 711 Lester St. (at 1st Avenue) — a former convenience store that's now part of the school:

Just south of there is the entrance to the preschool, on the south side of 1730 N. 1st Avenue:

I took the photos in October and November of last year.

Update (November 17, 2014): When the school moved, it left colorful walls behind.

Good evening...

Like almost anything, murals can look different under streetlights than they do during the day. A year ago, I tried some late-night photos of murals with creatures, ctitters, and so on, in Murals by moonlight. But none of those photos turned out as "different" as I thought they might.

Today, a new contributor to the Tucson Murals Project sent a mural photo that really is different at night. It's part of the mural-covered front of Dale's Doors, 321 S. Kino Parkway:

(Compare that to the daytime view.)

There's a story behind this story. Back in March, Howard posted a comment on Right at home on Wilmot. From there, I found his blog, Sky Island Riders. Howard enjoys riding around Tucson, snapping photos. He sent in four today. Three of them are daytime views, improvements on the ones we'd already posted.

As you've probably seen, I've got a backlog of photos and I usually only post twice a week. But I didn't want to let this great nighttime shot get lost in the stack, so here it is.

Thanks, Howard!

Art Awakenings

There's a spot of sunrise light at the top of this roll-up door, 222B N. Arizona Avenue (just south of 6th Street)... which fits a place called Art Awakenings, doesn't it?

I've ridden by here quite a few times since I took this photo in mid-October 2010, but I've never seen the door open. A quick online search showed Art Awakenings at the address 450 N. 6th Avenue — which Google Maps says is on the other side of the building from this alley door. I'll put it in my list of places to check...

BJ's exposé

So far, I think, all of the murals we've posted here have been one-of-a-kind, designed and created for the spot. That's not true of all the murals in town, though. If I'd stood closer to the two handsome murals on the BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse location at 5510 East Broadway last month, maybe I'd have noticed.

But wait: is this supposed to be an exposé or a confession? Right. Here's the north side of BJ's location at 4270 N. Oracle this past weekend:

Looks identical to me — right down to the Mondrian-style lines and color blocks. Hey, BJ's, can't you afford to hire a muralist to make an original? (Maybe I should ask them before I accuse them. Hmmm. But hey, this is an exposé. :)

(China) Roses for Mom

What perfect timing to come across these rose-covered walls on my early-morning Mothers' Day bike ride! Thanks to China Rose, 5101 E. Speedway (at Rosemont).

Update (January 4, 2012): the China Rose building has been torn down.

Flashback to 2010 (and 1912)

After a couple of recent mural shots, it's back to the archives. This photo was taken on October 19, 2010 — of photos of murals (or murals of photos?) on the west side of the building at 5th & Congress, to advertise the exhibition of artifacts from the sinking of the Titanic in April, 1912. Since then, the scene on that corner downtown has changed.

Time flies! (Here's another view of the same spot — from May 30, 2009.)

Appleseed Bob?

You've seen other work by muralist Joe Pagac on these posts — most of them announcing shows at the Rialto Theatre. (To find more, use the search box at the right-hand side.) Joe does great work, but there's so much of it that I decided not to try to keep up with it... and, instead, let you visit Joe's website.

When I drove by Bookmans store at Grant & Campbell yesterday, though, I saw a new Joe Pagac work in place of an earlier mural by other artists:

I'll bet that the Johhny Appleseed of books there in the foreground is Bookmans founder Bob Oldfather. (Or maybe the backstory is a completely different tale that I've never heard. If you have an idea, please leave a comment!)

Skrappys, October 2010

This photo shows the front of Skrappys (a.k.a. the Tucson Youth Cooperative), 191 East Toole, last October.

This building is covered with murals! One of the most spectacular is on the northwest side; it's in our May 25, 2009 post. To find more, check the table of murals for Toole Avenue downtown.

BJ's N&S

As you've noticed, we've got a backlog of mural photos. I was about to post this photo, from last August, of the mural on the front (North) side of BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse, 5510 East Broadway:

But something told me to check the other side of the building. Today, driving home from an Easter party, I found another handsome mural on the back (South):

(I checked the east and west sides, too. :)

Blooming with murals

As you've seen here on the Tucson Murals Project, some Tucson businesses brighten their streets for customers and passersby. (If you love murals, please stop by and thank them by being a customer.) At the end of 2010, for instance, we covered the murals that cover Mariscos Chihuahua restaurants.

Another company that gives Tucson a lot of color (and not just with their murals!) is Roses & More. Mid-2009, we showed a sunny scene on the store at Broadway & Tucson. Here are the spectacular murals on their location at 5501 East Speedway (at Craycroft) last August 18th:

There'll be more Roses & More. Stay tuned.

Update (May 7, 2019): For more color, see today's entry More Roses & More photos from Chris Andrews

Update (March 4, 2021): The store is being torn down.

Cool spot on Speedway

It was a hot mid-August day when I spotted these two cool scenes at JJ's Smoke Shop, 5846 E. Speedway:

The murals are signed TEST1, myspace.com/bigtestone.

Back to Bambi's

Randy's September 2006 post Beer & A Deer was the 15th on The Tucson Murals Project. He posted photos of the east wall and the sign out front of The Bambi Cocktail Lounge, 5050 E. Speedway.

Four years later, in August 2010, I rode past again. This time I shot the mural on the west wall. (Like the one on the east side, it has a waterfall). Here's the view:

(This is our 320th post, and we've got more than 100 new photos ready to show you. Thanks for "staying tuned!")

Murals being made, part 4

On January 6th, after driving under the railroad crossing over Stone Avenue, just north of downtown, I turned right on 6th and saw an artist painting a mural a block east:

I pulled over, of course. :) The muralist was Andy Steinbrink, and he was creating a new mural on the wall outside of The HangArt Space (512 N. Echols Avenue). I'd never heard of that venue, but I found more on their home page.

A few weeks later, Andy sent me a link to photos of some of his murals. Please check out his page... and click on the image next to the title "Murals" to see more of his work.

Here's the HangArt mural six weeks later, on February 20:

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.