More murals under I-10

Murals along freeway underpasses are pretty common sights — especially along the recently-renovated stretch of Interstate 10 through downtown. Yesterday's post showed the 22nd Street underpass, which probably thousands of people drive by every day. I thought I'd start 2012 with a more unusual mural spot in Tucson. You won't see these from the freeway. Instead, park and walk — or ride your bicycle — four blocks north, to the 18th Avenue underpass. When I took these photos on June 1, 2011, the underpass was for pedestrians only.

I walked around the underpass clockwise from the southeast corner. Here's the southeast:

Second, the southwest corner:

Third, in the northwest:

The north center (much bigger than the others):

And, last, the northeast corner:

Happy mural-hunting in 2012!

22nd Street underpass

The underpass that takes I-10 over 22nd Street is lined with murals. Both sides looked similar (though I didn't check carefully), but the north side is signed Gonzalo E. 2005 to 2009, and the south side is signed Gonzalo E. Super Barrio 2010. Here's the north side:

You can click on the image for a larger view, but Blogger's new image-viewer still shrinks the width to fit your screen. For a full-size image that you can scroll across to really see the mural, try this wide view.

Parque de San Cosme

El Parque de San Cosme is along Simpson Street, just south of the new fire station, east of I-10 and just east of the El Paso & Southwestern Greenway. (The "official" address, from the Tucson Parks & Recreation “special places” web page, is 496 W. Cushing Street, but it's actually on Simpson.)

Neither Google Maps or Mapquest had it at the time I checked. But here's a Google Map with the marker on the spot. It's a nice spot, with tables, a gazebo, and a big wraparound mural. Here's the mural from the southwest side:

and the southeast:


The muralist was Luis Gustavo Mena.

Update (December 23, 2013): There are more photos and information in today's entry, Parque de San Cosme, on the blog Tucson's Pocket Parks.

Update (March 3, 2014): Here are two close-ups of the mural from its center and right panels:

Near La Frontera Arizona

I rode by this mural on June 1st. It's in front of the parking lot for La Frontera Arizona, 502 W. 29th. The muralist was Carlos Valenzuela.

Casa de Bernie Sedley

This mural is near the building entrance at 411 E. 29th Street in South Tucson. I took the photo on June 1, 2011.

Elvira neighborhood

This sign is at the northeast corner of Elvira & Santa Clara (south of Valencia). I took the photo on May 30.

Santa Clara School

Lots of schools have murals, and Santa Clara elementary (at 6910 S. Santa Clara) is no exception! I snapped this photo on May 30th.

Travelers' murals at TUS

If you're flying in or out of our airport (Tucson International - TUS) this holiday season, and you have some time to spare, head to the east side of the ground level to check out the murals next to the former Sun-Tran stop:

There's art all over the airport, so plan some time to stroll before you go into your concourse — or after you come home. Happy Holidays!

Maybe a mural, part 30: flowers over a window

We've shown several kinds of decorations on Tucson homes — such as glazed tile, painted wood, or even framed pictures — that aren't painted directly on a wall. Here's another one —at 1017 N. Dodge.

(It's just up the street from yesterday's post.)

Mural-decorated home

That spray of flowers between the prickly pear and mesquite is an example of the murals decorating the home at 1009 N. Dodge:

We only show murals that are on view to the public without walking inside private fences or doors. Here — back on May 30th, at least — there were more murals than this one for neighbors and people passing by to enjoy. Thanks to the home's owners!

(By the way, Dodge is a good north-south bike riding alternate to busy Alvernon — with a couple of tricky crossings, at 5th and at Speedway.)

Is it real or is it mural? (Part 1)

From time to time, we post a building front — usually a home — with plants painted on front. But this home, at 355 S. Bryant, takes the idea farther:

That's a real pot with a plant growing out of it... in just the place that the painted mural starts “growing” up. Clever, eh?

I took the photo on September 23rd.

Update (April 8, 2012): Here's part 2 of this post.

Martha Cooper public library

Murals in the early-morning sun on May 29 at Martha Cooper public library, Catalina & Fairmount:

Holiday Mart

Here's the scene from the back side of Holiday Mart, 560 W. 22nd Street (just east of I-10), on May 28. (As always, you can click to get a closer look.)

Our 500th post: Feld Davis Park

We've been posting photos of murals for more than five years now. This is post #500 (and there are still many more murals to go)!

I try to make each "hundredth" post a bit special. I saved Feld Davis Park for the 500th partly because of where most of the murals are painted: on the street instead of a wall.

The park has a unique story, too. It was built by volunteers from the Rincon Heights Neighborhood Association and the Watershed Management Group as a community park that would also reduce pollution in High School Wash, which runs by the park. People dug water harvesting basins, using plants, soil, and organic matter to filter pollutants out of the wash. Along with the nice setting, the details of the murals are fun to see:

Feld Davis Park is at the southeast corner of 8th Street & Martin, just west of Campbell. I rode by on the morning of May 11th.


Update (November 4, 2013): There's an overall photo, and more info, in today's entry on the Tucson's Pocket Parks blog.

El Barrio Market murals

On my early-morning bicycle ride May 28, I rolled by El Barrio Market — on the northwest corner of 1001 S. 6th Avenue. There were two murals: one on the building and another on the wall along the parking lot.

(The color in my original photo of the long mural was washed-out. I fixed it with my favorite free photo editor, GIMP.)



Update (January 19, 2012): El Barrio Market is closed. The first mural above is still there; the second (on the parking lot) is half painted-over. A business called "Taxes Libre" is open in a part of the building, suite 135.

(Automotive) Superheroes on South Sixth

I found this three-panel mural on Arizona 1 Automotive & Repair — at 1016 S. 6th Avenue (the southwest corner with 20th Street) — on May 28th.

Update (September 22, 2014): There's a new mural here.

Maybe a mural, part 29: a building at Bonillas

The gates were closed early Friday morning, May 27th, at Bonillas Basic Curriculum Magnet School, 4757 E. Winsett Blvd. So I looked in with a zoom lens, from the corner of 16th & Swan looking east, and got this photo of a building with a series of single-colored tiles.

Maybe the artists spent hours choosing the perfect compliment of colors? Maybe they used a pattern based on the alignment of the stars... or the pattern from some video game one of them was playing? Or maybe not. Whatever, this is another in our occasional series of "your choice" about whether this tiled wall counts as a mural. (A regular or repeating pattern of square tiles probably wouldn't count. Imagination helps!)

Searching for mural news

I've never studied art or done any painting. I didn't know anything about the Tucson mural scene when I started contributing to this blog almost five years ago. ("David Tineo?" Joe Pagac?") I've been learning! If you'd like a tip: You can read more about murals on a Tucson news website.

For instance, try:

• Zócalo Magazine
• Tucson Sentinel
• Arizona Daily Star
• Tucson Citizen "Morgue", Part I (2006-2009)
• Tucson Citizen "Morgue", Part II (1993-2009)
• Tucson Weekly

Search for "mural" or for the name of a group like "Tucson Arts Brigade" or "CODAC". Then browse through the search results. You'll see both old and new articles.

There are lots of news sources online, including TV, radio, entertainment, and more. You can also read a selection of news about murals (generally from outside Tucson) near the top-right corner of this blog, underneath the search box. If you have suggestions of good places to find news about murals, please leave a comment below.

Vail Middle School

The school grounds were closed when I spotted this mural on a building by a basketball court at Vail Middle School on May 27th. I was looking southwest from the corner of 16th & Craycroft.

Maybe a mural, part 28: St. Michael's

This looked to me more like a painting hung on a sign than a mural. But, since it was displayed like a mural — and it's beautiful, too — I decided to let you make up your own mind. I found it on May 27th outside St. Michael & All Angels Episcopal Church & School, 576 N. Wilmot.

Home Plate's maybe mural(s), part 27

From time to time I post a photo of something that might or might not be a mural, depending on your definition. For instance, when a business shows their product on the windows or the store front, is that a mural? I often think it isn't. Here's one I that might be.... it's at Home Plate, 4880 E. 22nd. What do you think?

I took the photo on May 27th.

Molina's Midway (maybe) mural, part 26

A mural on a signpost? Why not? Or maybe you wouldn't call flowers a mural. Anyway, this photo is at Molina's Midway Mexican Food, 1138 N. Belvedere, on May 24th. (It's north of Speedway, between Columbus and Swan.)

There are murals on the restaurant windows too....

Mural on a bus (with Trolley news)

The Old Pueblo Trolley stopped running this fall. We posted a photo of a trolley mural back on May 23rd.

Here are a few pages of trolley and streetcar news, as of yesterday:

• Old Pueblo Trolley website (see the headline and story "OPT Suspends operation During Modern Streetcar Construction")
• 4th Avenue trolley in its last weekend (KVOA, October 28)
• Tucson Modern Streetcar (official website)

That mural was of a trolley, on a wall. Just by chance, I spotted an old bus parked in someone's back yard with a Tucson mural painted on the side. (There may be more murals on other sides, but we only show murals that are visitle from public places.) Normally I wouldn't show a painting on the side of a vehicle, but this one looks like it's going to stay put:

I found this on September 28, on the south side of the alley between 9th & 10th Streets, on the west side of Swan, behind a cinderblock wall. Here's a satellite map... and a closer view:

Just a zebra

Many murals contain a lot of objects. This one is simple: just a zebra on a boarded-up window. What a zebra, though!

I found this on May 11 at the southeast corner of 5th Avenue and 6th Street.

Update (November 23, 2019): When I walked by this mural two weeks ago, it was almost completely gone. A Google Street View vehicle found the same view shown above during April, 2019, so it hasn't been gone long.

Stop before you look back

This mural is on the north side of a building, along the west side of 6th Avenue, just north of Speedway. Since traffic is one-way northbound, you'll pass this beautiful mural before you can see it... and, once you do, it may catch you by surprise!

When I opened a satellite view from Google Maps and clicked in front of the mural location, it showed the address as 1125 N. 6th Avenue, and the latitude/longitude were 32.236419,-110.968997. (It's probably easiest to just park nearby and look around.)

The mural is dated 2009, and I took these pictures on May 11, 2011. The photos below seem to be artists' signatures. If you know, please leave a comment below or send me some email.

Just off Fourth Avenue...

...on the east side of Trinity Presbyterian Church (400 East University Boulevard) by the sanctuary entrance, is another mosaic mural that complements the two on the other side.

Update (November 16, 2012): There's also a mural on the north side.

Majestic mural (almost) restored

If you haven't seen the long mid-town mural of the Tucson Mountains, take a look two years ago. I heard from a friend this summer that the mural was destroyed by a tagger. With thoughts in mind (and heart) about how the artists must feel (the credit panel is at the right), I stopped by as soon as I could: September 22, 2011.

The news was better than I thought. It looks like the tags were mostly cleaned off. I didn't even notice them until I got close and stood at the right angle against the early-morning sun.


(By the way, this parking lot is now the University of Arizona's Lot #9007. Another reason to get there early — if you drive a car, at least — is that a permit is required from 7 AM - 5 PM weekdays. The mural will probably be blocked by cars during that time, anyway. Enter from Ft. Lowell just west of Mountain: turn south to enter the lot.)

Pancho Villa's Grill

When I stopped by on May 11th, some parts of this mural — on the east side of Pancho Villa's Grill, 401 E. 5th Street — needed repainting. I'm guessing that it was tagged and the tags had been covered with white paint. Whether that's the story here, or not, I've been saddened to see more and more tagged murals in the past year or so.

The work is signed SandOner.com.

Munchkins on Swan

This is one of the mural-covered windows at Munchkin's Preschool & Daycare, 920 N. Swan, on May 8th. It's signed: Autumn Mt. Arts, (520)245-4924.

Little Germany Foreign Car Repair

Here's the mural-lined front of the store on May 8, 2011:

Carmelin Castro Itom Usim Park

	From the east, you can enter the park at the northwest corner of 10th Avenue and 40th Street — just on the border between the cities of South Tucson and Tucson. Carmelin Castro Ítom Úsim Children's Park winds west from there to 12th Avenue. There are picnic benches and places to play. And, of course, there are murals!

Sunset Villa Neighborhood

I found this three-sided wall on May 1st at the northwest corner of S. 12th Avenue & Calle Juliet W., just south of Pueblo High School). Click on the photo to see more of the fun detail.

When I searched the Web for information, I found that there are actually four of these around the neighborhood. This one is titled “Historia.” I'll plan to go back and snap some photos for the blog — but you can click there now to see more — and see other works of these artists. The artist credits for this work are: Gail Roberts & Lori Ryder.

Update (October 1, 2012): We've posted photo of the other three.