Powerful art, and broken windows, after downtown protests

At sunrise this morning, I headed downtown to see what had changed since this week's protests. I found two powerful new murals — and a lot of destroyed building windows with Ben's Bells “Be kind” and “Sé amable,” plus other messages, painted on the boards covering them. Many businesses had paper signs like “THIS IS A LOCALLY OWNED TUCSON BUSINESS” on front — to encourage people not to break their windows, I imagine.

On the east side of Hotel Congress is a new mural by Tucson artist Camila Ibarra:

There were flowers and cards underneath (as always, you can click on the photo for a larger view):

KOLD News 13 has an interview with the artist, as well as some other art downtown, in their story Artists cover downtown in murals, messages for the Black Lives Matter movement. In the article Black Lives Matter mural project launches in Tucson amid protests, unrest, The Arizona Daily Star wrote that Camila Ibarra is an Arizona State University student studying civil engineering who was “distressed about the killing of George Floyd and the oppression of African Americans … ‘I really wanted to contribute to the cause and make a statement piece,’ the Tucsonan said.”

Across Congress Street, on the east side of the Rialto Theatre — where the murals have (until the pandemic) promoted shows at the Rialto — is another new mural:

Although the man and the (I think it's a) chimpanzee at the right, with “Mural by Joe Pagac.com” are there, they're only for to the Prince mural at the left. This mural is by Robbie Lee Harris:

The Star article I linked to earlier quotes Harris: “‘When you see a big art piece, you get lost in that moment,’ he said. ‘It hones you into whatever the message is. My idea is when someone turns the corner and sees the mural, they see that it portrays the innocence that the girl is wishing for. At the end of the day, I hope it triggers the conversation that needs to happen amongst everyone’.”

From my parking spot between Hotel Congress and the Rialto Theatre, I walked west along Congress to Church, then east along Broadway back to where I started. A lot of businesses had boarded-up windows… all of them had the Ben's Bells kindness sign and other words. Some, like the Rialto, had Ben's Bells on their intact windows. Here are photos along my walk:

Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress

Scented Leaf Tea House, 308 E. Congress

Playground Tucson, 278 E. Congress

Caffe Luce, 245 E. Congress

Supercuts, 254 E. Congress

Close-up of Arizona Ave. side of Supercuts, 254 E. Congress

Iguana Cafe, 210 E. Congress

Left side of Iguana Cafe, 210 E. Congress

Former Chicago Store, 130 E. Congress

Zen Rock, 121 E. Congress

Between Senae Thai Bistro and Jimmy John's, just west of Scott Ave.

The Aquadec, 61 E. Congress

Chic Boutique and Spa, 25 E. Congress

Krikawa Master Jewelers, 21 E. Congress

Bruegger's Bagels, 1 W. Congress

Fox Theatre, 17 W. Congress

Subway, 29 W. Congress

Caffe Milano, 46 W. Congress

Community Partners, 44 W. Broadway

Penca Restaurante, 50 E. Broadway

Downtown Kitchen & Cocktails, 135 S. 6th

Blackrose World Class Tattooers, 47 S. 6th

Flash in the Past, 43 S. 6th

Former Tucson 12, 124 E. Broadway

South side of Broadway, west of 5th Ave.

AC Marriott Hotel, Broadway side

AC Marriott Hotel, 5th Ave. side

Italian artist's murals change hospitals into magical realms

The Southwest University of Visual Arts tweeted from @SUVAedu on Twitter about the story 30 Pics Of Italian Artist’s Beautiful Hospital Murals That Help Children And Adults Alike on the site BoredPanda.com. The before-and-after photos show the amazing way that art can change a forbidding place into somewhere people feel comfortable — even fascinated.

Mural on a box in a garden

In a mostly overgrown community garden for the Barrio Kroeger Lane Neighborhood Association…

is a storage container surrounded by murals:

Here's a look around it:

If the garden comes back to life, this partly shaded picnic table could be a nice spot:

Even better, little Verdugo Park (click there to see it on the Tucson's Pocket Parks blog) is just north of here.

I stopped by on May 9th.

Visual Arts

I found these two murals at the Southwest University of Visual Arts on Feb. 23, 2020.

By Sahra Fong-Kee

By Tyler Otero

Click on either photo for larger and sharper images.

Dancing again, 13 years later

It was thirteen years and a day ago when my first mural photo appeared on this blog. I'd found the mural and, since I'd seen the blog, decided to send it in. As it turned out, Randy Garsee, who started the blog, was going to leave town; he made me co-editor without asking. (Clever guy.) Here's that photo:

Fast-forward to April 3 of this year. I turned off 22nd St. just past the railroad overpass to make a phone call. The mural, in front of me, looked much brighter. It had been repainted!

(I've brightened the mural, which was in the shade.) Next, closeups from left to right:

I'm guessing that the homeowner behind the mural is behind the repainting. What a gift to the neighborhood!

Which came first?

I spotted this wall on April 3rd at the northwest corner of 7th and Hoff, a block east of 4th Avenue:

If you look closely (you can click for a larger view, if you'd like), there are a few different layers: a block wall partly painted tan, but partly with a mural on it, then with another smooth tan layer on top, then signs and equipment on top of the rest as if the rest weren't there… Hello?

The Boxyard

This mural (I've named it 'Floaters') depicts 8 of the 10 shipping containers used for casual dining at "The Boxyard".

By Joe Pagac

This mural (I've named it 'Grimace') is painted on the end of one of the shipping containers.

By Donovan White.

Both murals were photographed on 9/15/2019.  Click on either photo for larger and sharper images.

Don't miss this on Prince

Just west of Tucson Blvd. on the south side of Prince Road, is a tile mural standing alone on a long wall:

The wall is set back from the road, so you'll need to watch for the mural. Here it is:

The three mailboxes have three addresses, so I'm not sure exactly which one to give this mural. The one mailbox labeled says 2326.

Rillitobend Neighborhood

On a wall at the northeast corner of Prince & Cactus is this new mosaic mural by Sue Ann Breems, neighbors and friends:

(As always, you can click on the photo for a larger view.) It's 33 feet wide, full of gorgeous details like these:

It was dedicated on March 8th, a few weeks before I took these photos on April 4th. You can read more in the Arizona Daily Star article Labor of love: New mural captures natural beauty of north-side neighborhood, Rillito River. It lists several other artists who I've added to the “Labels” list at the end of this article. Two more articles have video close-ups: RillitoBend Neighborhood mural 1 and RillitoBend Neighborhood mosaic tile mural 2.

Want a pandemic project: discovering murals?

Some places in Tucson — especially near downtown and in South Tucson — have had murals on the same wall for years or decades. For 15 years, this blog has been showing murals, but we've missed a lot of them… there've been many thousands of murals in this town. One way to find them is with Google's Street View, which takes photos along streets every few years. You can use their Time Machine to jump between photos of the same corner, like this:

The big view shows the corner in August, 2016, and the small view is from March 2011.

If you'd be interested in doing some research and sharing what you've found on this blog, drop me a note by using the "Contact us" form in the right column of this page and let's talk about how you can help. (It could make a great project for days you're stuck at home.) Thanks from everyone who loves Tucson murals and Tucson history!

I'll finish with blog photos from that corner, 740 North Main, during the past decade:

April 12, 2013

January 9, 2015

May 14, 2016

Red-headed Lady

Photographed Jan. 24, 2020 at 4502 E. 25th St.  The mural is on the west wall of the house along S. Belvedere Ave.

Artist not known.

Click on the photo for a larger and sharper image.

Books coming alive

Jessica Gonzales, who's painting a lot of murals, has finished another along the parking lot of Antigone Books on 4th Avenue.

As always, you can click a photo for a larger view. Here's a closeup of the left end of the mural:

Dakin Martin worked with her. Here's a photo of the mural being made, thanks to & Gallery:

The mural's name and credits are at the far right of the first photo above, in the shade:

The photos (except the one from & Gallery) are from April 3rd.

Update (October 19, 2021): There's a new mural at the left edge of this one: "Living" TUCSON AZ mural.

Playing, and living, together

On the 5th Avenue side of the Playground Bar & Lounge is that new mural by Jessica Gonzales. In case you're seeing this blog entry years from now: The mural is for Tucsonans who are pulling together to get through the huge disruptions at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Can you guess what each letter symbolizes? David Aber, who told me about the mural, wrote:

A local property group is using art to remind the community we are in this together during the coronavirus crisis. “LoveBlock Partners” commissioned a mural in downtown Tucson by local artist Jessica Gonzales. … The mural includes typography from different iconic businesses to highlight a united community. “So the T is from the ‘Old Tucson’ sign, the O from the ‘Fox Theater’, the G is from ‘Hotel Congress’, the [first] E is from ‘Eegees’,” said Gonzales.

I'll add some guesses: The H has an ice cream cone from ‘The Hub Ice Creamery’, the T is the saguaro neon sculpture on Oracle Road, the second E is from Ben's Bells ‘Be Kind’ (like the mural at City High School) and the R is from the ‘Rialto Theatre’.

Here are closeups of the top right and bottom right corners:

I took the photos on April 24th.