Manzo Elementary

David Aber (mostly) and I (a little) have started photographing murals at schools around Tucson. This project has been on my to-do list for years, so I appreciate David taking this on!

In the case of Manzo Elementary, though, we didn't need to visit (though it looks like an interesting school! You can see the school's website by clicking there). The principal, Steven La Turco, sent us three photos:

The first mural is by Joe Pagac (signed at lower left). The second (artist names along the top) and third are by David Tineo. Both had the help of students — and, on Joe's mural, from parents too. There's more information in The Spotlight article Manzo holds mural dedication (May 15, 2015).

Thank you so much, Mr. La Turco!

Not a mural, but too fun to miss

David Aber is a co-editor on this blog, but he sent this as part of a group of mailbox photos for the Tucson Mailbox Art blog. As he pointed out, this isn't a mailbox or a mural. (Still, it's sort of a wall — where a mural might be painted if it were flat.) I agree with Dave that the homeowner must be half-crazy — or very fun:

He took the photo on September 12th.

Somewhere around 3636 E. 2nd

Here's the last (I hope!) of Mark Fleming's photos from 2013 that I missed posting back then. It's a poolside mural just west of Alvernon, probably on 2nd Street. Google Maps couldn't find that address; neither could I when I drove along 2nd Street. It's an interesting mural, though…

Next time, we'll be back to our regularly scheduled murals. Thanks once more, Mark.

Update (October 7, 2016): David Aber found the exact address: 3653, not 3636. I've added it as the "Location" below. Thank you, David!

Beautify a street corner

I just saw a tweet from ‏@artsbrigade about this City of Tucson program:

Mural Art Pilot Program

The project is painting murals on the white traffic signal control boxes that you'll see (if you notice them!) at Tucson intersections. If you'd like some inspiration, there are lots of examples at Houston's Mini Murals website home page.

Lost Barrio, 2013

Here's another set of photos that Mark Fleming took but I lost (until now). They're of the Lost Barrio: along Park, south of Broadway. The EXIF data inside the photos says that he took them on August 30, 2013:

At least your lost photos have finally been found, Mark. Thanks!

Und1sputed Fitness, December 2013

The lot on the south side of Und1sputed Fitness hosted the WintaFresh mural painting weekend for years. The festival is gone now, but the murals surrounding that lot keep on changing.

On December 6, 2013, Mark Fleming took photos of a mural along the south wall of that lot. By accident, I never published it — until today. First the whole mural, then two closeups:

Belated thanks, Mark!

More posts, more Mark (more BLX!)

David Aber and I have so many mural photos that we're going to start posting them here three times a week (instead of twice).

I'll start with a few photos that Mark Fleming sent me between 2013-2015. He contributed a lot of photos during that time. As I was cleaning out my TucsonArt.info mailbox yesterday, I spotted a few photos of Mark's that (I think) I never posted here. Here's the first one: a mural on the side of the former BLX skate shop during September, 2013:

While BLX was at that location (it's since moved from 7th Avenue to 7th Street), they had a new mural (by a different muralist) every month or so. Some of the others are:

• October 3, 2012
• December 30, 2012
• May 28, 2013
• December 8, 2014 (after BLX moved away)

More of Mark's photos on Monday.

Maneater

Audrey II (The Mean Green Mother From Outer Space) from the movie "The Little Shop of Horrors". See an excerpt at:  Mean & Green

Found in one of the bays at Smitty's Car Wash.  Photo taken on July 6, 2016.  Click on the photo for a larger image.

Leonardo

Here's Leonardo da Vinci on the campus of the Compass High School (a Charter School) on E. 22nd St.  Here are more murals at Compass

The image appears on an overhead sliding door at one of the buildings.  Apparently, it is not a line drawing, but a printed graphic vinyl.

Bad Attitudes

Photographed on July 31, 2016 at the Speedway Center, a strip mall on the SW corner of Speedway and Swan.  The mural can only be seen from the alley behind the Center.

Click on the photo for a larger and sharper image and don't overlook the volkswagen.

The initials YPN in the upper left may be the tag of a graffiti crew calling themselves "Your Property Next".  Or not.

This mural was painted sometime in June or July of 2016.

Apollo Middle School

I took this photo on Jan. 23, 2016.  A covered eating area blocks much of the mural.

Click on the photo for a larger image.

Cavett Elementary

Murals at Lillian Cavett Elementary School photographed on May 7, 2016.  The artist is Joan Arnold with numerous student assistants.  Painted in 1998.

As usual, click on either photo for a slide show of larger images.

Update (February 4, 2017): There'll a photo of a faded mural near the school's parking lot on this blog once the Cavett continued entry goes online February 27, 2017.

Lynn-Urquides Elementary School

Very long and artistic mural.  Unfortunately, it is covered by a chain-link fence.  Why anyone would feel the need to have both a block wall and a chain-link fence is beyond me.  Here are 10 photos that cover the entire mural:

Learning

is power

The Sponsors are listed in photo no. 5 and the Artists are listed in photo no. 7.  It's a shame that the names are mostly blocked by the fence.
Click on any photo for a slide show of larger images.
Photos taken on March 5, 2016.

23rd St. Shed

This mural is on a shed in the back yard of a home on E. 23rd St. The only view is across the alley from Best Mortgage Finders, Inc. located at 6132 E. 22nd St.

As usual, click on the photo for a larger image.
Photographed on March 3, 2016.

K42 Tattoos

K42 Tattoos first appeared in the Tucson Murals Project on April 22, 2010.  Then, the only mural was on the side of the building.  Sometime after May of 2015, additional murals were painted on the rear wall of the parking area.  I photographed them on March 3, 2016.  Note: By 5/11/2016, the first mural in the series (the spider) has been painted over.

Click on any photo for a slide show of larger images.

Replacement Mural

This mural replaced the Muhammed Ali Memorial Mural at Smitty's Car Wash.  See The man who has no imagination has no wings... The Ali Mural was up for less than two months.

With all due respect for this mural and the artist who painted it,  I question the motivation and judgement of whoever authorized the disposal of a work of art in favor of an advertisement.  With that in mind, I contacted the news organization that first reported the Ali Mural.  See the Ali Article.

We'll see if there's any follow-up.

Photographed on Aug. 7, 2016.

Ford Elementary

My wife (a retired teacher) was in her "Cat In The Hat" costume reading to students at the Inez C. Ford Elementary School on Feb. 18, 2016 as part of TUSD's "Love of Reading" week.  I took the opportunity to photograph this mural on a stand-alone wall.  It's on a (mostly) unused lot in the back of the school.  Easily photographed from the school's parking lot.

Click on photo for a larger image.

Another mural at Ford appeared in the "Tucson Daily Photo" on  22 October 2011.

Update (September 1, 2018): Today's Cactus Catz blog entry has a few more photos and info: Feline Friday : Ford Elementary School Mural, Eastside Tucson.

Learning Bee lost and (re-)found

Back in March, 2011, we posted 22nd and the world with a couple of photos of murals at Learning Bee Preschool & Daycare. The photos didn't show some signage, along 22nd west of Longfellow, that was basically just advertising.

Fast-forward to July, 2016. I did some hunting with Google Street View — which is a great tool for finding older murals, by the way — and found that, back on February 2008, there was a mural lining that same wall along 22nd. (Click there to see it. The mural is fuzzy if you zoom in enough to try to see detail.) Learning Bee's owners obviously support mural art… and keep changing it, too. Another Google Street View photo, below, shows it in April 2016:



(You can also see that in a bigger window by clicking on: Google Street View from April 2016.)

Notice the blank wall at the right side, running north on Longfellow? It was blank in April 2016. When I drove by on June 26th of this year, the Longfellow wall had been newly painted. Because it's a long, low wall, I'll show it in two halves: first the south part (closest to 22nd) and then the north part:

For more murals from Learning Bee, stay tuned to this blog!

Update: (October 12, 2021): A new Google Street View photo of the 22nd Street side, dated March 2021, looks the same as the Street View five years earlier that's shown above. Between then and today, the wall has been repainted. I'll take photos ASAP.

Update (December 17, 2021): On 11/11/21, I stopped by to take photos of their new mural along 22nd Street. (Click there if you'd like to see it.) I realized that we didn't have a photo of the artist credit for the murals shown in this post, five years before. Here it is:

Stingray on Speedway

Allison Miller, a muralist who also works at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, sent this photo of a new mural along the south side of Speedway where it (over-)crosses Highland Avenue:

(Click on the image for a larger view.)

Allison wrote:

In June, the Desert Museum (with the help of community volunteers) completed the attached stingray mural; it is located at the top of the Highland Underpass (off of Speedway Blvd, between Mountain & Cherry). It’s the first mural in a series of works that are designed to promote Sonoran Desert conservation awareness. The next mural will be on a TEP substation in the Menlo Park neighborhood (on Simpson, off of the I-10 Frontage Rd.); its theme is all about Pollinators! The Desert Museum is currently seeking volunteers who are interested in becoming involved: www.desertmuseum.org/volunteer.

What a gorgeous mural! Thanks, Allison. I'll be looking forward to the next one on the power substation.

Update (October 3, 2016): There's a series of photos of the mural in progress in the entry Murals being made, part 39: TEP south of Cushing.

Flamingos

Lots of Flamingos - I count 160.  You can count the palm trees - let us know how many.  The mural is very long so I've broken it down into 10 photos from left to right. The mural is in front of the Flamingo Palms Mobile Home Park along Prince Rd. The artist is Sergio L.  Photographed on 12/28/2015 when it was the Bel-Air Mobile Home Park.

Click on any photo for a slide show of larger images.

(UPDATE by Jerry: I found the same mural that David did! I noticed that Sergio L's phone number, written on bottom right corner of the mural under his name, is 520-940-1083.)