Building or mural?

When you're sitting in front of Tokyo Imports, it's hard to tell — except for the front door and a drainpipe opening — whether you're looking at a building or a mural. The mural covers the entire front:

I was there, dazed and confused ;-), on January 9th.

IncrediblAlley

On January 22nd, we showed a bunch of David Aber's photos of Una cuadra llena de arte (an art-filled block) in South Tucson: the 3600 block of South 7th Avenue. But Dave sent more photos! He wrote:

On Jan. 22, photos were posted to the Murals Project from the 3600 block of S. Seventh Ave. All of these photos were in front, or to the side, of 3649 S. Seventh Ave. This is the headquarters of Tierra Y Libertad Organization (TYLO). Note that the acronym TYLO is embedded in each of the two main murals. Here is a link for further info: blog.whyhunger.org/2012/02/visiting-tierra-y-libertad-organization-in-tucson-az/.

In the alley behind TYLO there is a block wall that begins at TYLO and runs north to W. Veterans Blvd., a distance of 175 paces and at least 350 ft. It is filled with art.

I believe that all of the art in the alley is connected with TYLO in one way or another. I have no proof other than the acronym TYLO appears on the wall twice. Also, I consider the art to be one continuous mural. There’s no question that multiple artists worked on the project or that there are multiple themes. However, there was little or no attempt to distinguish where one artist’s work ends and another begins.

With thanks to Dave's explanation of these 17 photos, here's the TYLO alley!

Murals being made, part 27: Repainting the Rialto

This time-lapse video shows Joe Pagac and crew painting a new mural on the northeast corner of the Rialto Theatre. He posted it on February 27th.

Our 1,000th post: Jos at Park Place mall

Eight and a half years have gone by since our first entry on The Tucson Murals Project — July 12, 2006. Randy Garsee, the longtime Tucson TV news anchor who founded this blog, wanted to spread the news about Tucson's murals. Now, you'll find one thousand entries here — and more than 1,000 murals, since some entries show more than one mural. There are plenty more to come!

In post #1000, we'll take a look at spectacular murals by one of Tucson's most prolific muralists, Jos Villabrille. He painted three-dimensional Sonoran Desert scenes — most of them two-sided — at the ends of Park Place mall concourses. Let's start with the southeast entrance, near unit 270:

Looking up from underneath shows how three-dimensional these murals are. See the prickly pear blossoms and the hummingbird's wing?

Next, the west end: first, entering Macy's and next, leaving it:

On to the south center, entering the food court:

And, last, the east end: entering Sears and leaving it:

I took the photo tour on February 5th. Next time, we'll start our second thousand entries!

Main & University #2

That's another mural painted (but not designed) by Wesley Fawcett Creigh and Jenna Francine Tomasello. I took the photo on January 9.

There's more of Wesley and Jenna's work on our Monday entry.

Update (February 5, 2017): I was back at this corner on May 14, 2016, and found four murals of running dogs; this mural was gone. I think that at least this mural here has changed again since early 2015. I'm just posting our entry Main & University #3; it'll go online March 6, 2017. I'll show all four dog murals then.

Main & University #1

This mural of five running dogs was designed by Jenna Francine Tomasello and Wesley Fawcett Creigh. I took the photo on January 9.

Thanks for the tip, Jenna! (There's more of Jenna's work on our January 9th entry, and even more of hers and Wesley's this coming Thursday.)

2012 story about Joe Pagac

I just ran across a story on the Tucson Local Media site about one of Tucson's best-known muralists. It's titled Magic Pagac painting. (By the way, Joe's last name rhymes with “magic.”)

More from Central City Assembly

Last time, we showed Jeane Cohen's new mural in progress at Central City Assembly.

Thanks to Tucson Arts Brigade, CCA has several other murals (with more to come). Here are photos of part or all of most, as of February 11:

Murals being made, part 26: Jeane Cohen at CCA

Philadelphia artist Jeane Cohen has been visiting Tucson this month to collaborate with Chicago filmmaker Carl Elsaesser. While she was here, she also painted a mural on the wall northeast of Central City Assembly. Thanks to Tucson Arts Brigade, I met Jeane and Carl and had the chance to watch her paint the mural — with help from Tucson artist Alice Glasser.

On February 10th, Jeane and Alice put a primer coat on the wall. Next, they used a projector to shine Jeane's design (printed on transparent film from her computer) onto the wall, where they used Sharpie markers to trace the design onto the new paint:

Here's the finished mural on February 15:

Why I Love Where I Live launches new mural

About two hours ago, KGUN9-TV posted their report online: Local participation needed to launch Valentine's Community Mural Project. KGUN's post appeared in the middle of the event, which ran from 10am to noon today.

It's a bit late now to catch the mural launching, but you can stop by to see the mural (address below) and follow the project from Kristin Tovar's @whyilovewhereilive Instagram photos and the AZ Valentine Mural Event Facebook page.

Mesa Street at I-10 #2

Monday (in Mesa Street at I-10 #1), we showed the left of two mural panels at the end of tiny Mesa Street. (It's just west of the new fire station — and, as photographer David Aber pointed out, little Parque de San Cosme, which you can see there on the Tucson's Pocket Parks blog.)

Here's the right panel:

It's signed by Jolie Bernal, David says.

New Ben's Bells mural (and many more...)

Two days ago, TV's Tucson News Now posted a story about a new mural at Ironwood Elementary School in Marana: Marana school unveils mural in district-wide kindness project.

Here's a similar mural at City High School in our March 24, 2014 entry:

The TV story made me wonder whether Ben's Bells has a list of their murals online. They do: It's on their murals page. Near the bottom, click on murals in the communities or murals in the schools. (The lists don't seem to be completely up to date... but then, neither are the murals table or map here on TucsonArt.info... volunteer projects don't always have time for everything!)

Mesa Street at I-10 #1

This tiny street runs into the wall along the east side of the I-10 frontage road. The mural is at the end of the street, just west of the street corner with Sentinel Avenue. There are two mural panels here: left and right. Let's start with the left panel:

David Aber sent the photo (thanks!) and mentioned that this panel was signed by Letitia A. Gonzales, Amanda Valenzuela, Raymond Lofton, Cesar Galaz and Alyssa C. Valenzuela.

We showed details of the murals on March 5, 2010, but this photo covers all of the first mural. We'll see the second panel on Thursday.

Joe in January

Here are two more of Joe Pagac's long-running series of concert murals on the east side of the Rialto Theatre:

I snapped the photo on January 24th.

Update (March 5, 2015): You can see the mural being replaced in the YouTube video in today's entry Murals being made, part 27: Repainting the Rialto.

A treat on Treat... and more to come

There are arroyos/washes all across Tucson. At least a few have murals on concrete walls along their banks. (Two of them are Beautiful Bronx Wash and Whatta wash!.) I found two more wash murals last week:

They're where the Treat Walkway crosses Arroyo Chico (click there for a Google Map). In case you haven't been there: Treat Avenue becomes a walkway for a few blocks between Broadway and 22nd. It's a pleasant spot just west of Reid Park. Here's the bridge:

A bit farther west on Arroyo Chico (the road) — on the south side road (from Tucson Blvd., turn east) — don't miss Malvern Plaza. Click there to see photos and more description. (That article is part of the Tucson's Pocket Parks blog.)

And coming soon to the neighborhood: mosaics along the Treat Walkway. That link takes you to a Tucson Arts Brigade Facebook page.

Murals being made, part 25: Osiris space mission

From time to time, I catch mural painters in the act. Thanks to a tip from Michael Schwartz of the Tucson Arts Brigade, I caught one of the Saturday painting sessions — November 22nd — on the west wall of the UA’s Drake Building for a new mural commemorating the Osiris space mission:

It's just around the corner from the Mars mural on the south wall:

We have a lot more photos of the Mars mural in our May 12, 2008 entry.

Here's the finished mural on January 9th:

The mural got a lot of press:

• A January 22nd article in the Arizona Daily Star, Artists explore asteroid
• The January 22nd story Massive mural unveiled honoring UA scientists' historic mission on KGUN 9 TV.
• And Tucson Weekly on January 23rd: OSIRIS-REx Space Mission Gets a Super-Cool Mural

Too bad more murals don't get this much attention!

Update (June 19, 2022): BG Boyd Photography sent an aerial view, taken (according to the data in the photo file) a week ago, June 11:

Thanks as always, BG!

Greetings from Barrio Santa Rosa

This mural, signed Johanna Martinez MMXIII, is on the Rubio Avenue side (the west side) of the building at 20th Street & Rubio. I snapped the photo November 8th.