Murals being made, part 71: At the hockey rink

From what I've read, having a hockey rink in the middle of a city is unusual. Tucson does, though: the William J. Dawson Memorial DEK Rink at Doolen Middle School, just east of the Boys & Girls Club of Tucson - Frank & Edith Morton Clubhouse. On a storage container in front of the rink are two murals. BG Boyd Photography sent these aerial photos:

He took those from his drone on July 10, 2022. In the second photo, Grant Road is the street behind.

KGUN9 TV interviewed the muralist on June 20th: New Roadrunners mural by Alejandra Trujillo coming soon.

On June 22, 2022, I caught Alejandra working on the murals. Here she's painting the north side, the one closer to the rink:

Here's the finished mural on August 21st:

Let's jump back to the south side (near Grant Road) on June 22nd:

And the finished mural on August 21st:

(As always, you can click on a photo for a slideshow of larger views.)

Children added some blue animal spectators along the edge of the rink:

Stop by to see some hockey and check out the murals!

Family Bargain Thrift Shop

The east wall of Family Bargain Thrift Shop has the mural above at the left (south) side and the mural below toward the right (north):

(The doors to the donation center are in the middle of the mural. As always, you can click for a slideshow of larger views.)

I took the photos June 22, 2022.

Arts Foundation seeking Public Art Coordinator

Here's an announcement posted to Facebook Tuesday, October 18:

The Arts Foundation seeks a full time Public Art Coordinator to effectively implement various aspects of the Arts Foundation’s Public Art Program in accordance with the Percent for Art Ordinances for the City of Tucson and Pima County.

The Coordinator will work closely with the Public Art Manager to administer all public art program functions and activities, including new and active percent for art projects, relocations, deaccessions, donations and private sector projects.

To learn more click the link below.

https://artsfoundtucson.org/new-full-time-job-opening-at-the-arts-foundation/

6th Avenue Asphalt Art Block-Painting Party 10/22

The Tucson Department of Transportation & Mobility and Living Streets Alliance are hosting a block-painting party on 6th Avenue, by Armory Park and Children's Museum Tucson. The project will include painting a large, colorful mural on the asphalt. The community is invited to beautify 6th Ave & enjoy music, refreshments, activities and more! It's this Saturday, October 22, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Details:

https://www.tucsonaz.gov/tdot/news/sixth-avenue-asphalt-art-block-painting-party

In 12 years, this garden mural has grown

The last time I visited the beautiful little street Calle de Jardin (Garden) was 2010. This June (2022) I was checking out a nearby mural for sale (including the house behind it). I walked a block west to see one of my favorite murals. I saw that it had changed:

Here's the center in 2010:

The prickly pear cactus are gone… and the quail must have eaten a lot of food in the past 12 years. :)

Next, closeups from left (north) to right (south), ending with the cute mailbox:

There are closeups of the mailbox in today's post Flashback to this garden box: 103 South Calle de Jardin on the Tucson Mailbox Art blog. Manny Garcia painted the original mural. I'm not sure if he made the updated version.

Tacos y Mariscos Jaliscos

Name changed from Mariscos Chihuahua

By Andres Castro and Tony Plak

 

 

 

 

 

 Click for a larger image.

Hidden Appliances

I found this mural on the west wall of the Tucson Appliance Company.

By Erica Cantua

 

Click for a larger image. You'll see appliances like these:

Thanks to BG Boyd Photography for that close-up.

Rock the Spot: Graffiti art festival October 14-16

Monty Ses Esposito posted on Facebook:

Tucson, Arizona this is it. We are 1 week away. The super bowl of graffiti art in Tucson. Next weekend October 14th, 15th and 16th. Rock the spot graffiti art festival. This art event will feature some of the best graffiti art in the south west. Please come out and enjoy all of the beautiful graffiti art murals. Thank you to the city of Tucson and all of the sponsors and everyone involved. Now let's rock the spot.

It'll be at 63 E. Congress (downtown behind the Cobra Bar on Congress Street… it's in a big parking lot).

Who remembers the WintaFresh weekends that Cyfi organized at Und1sputed Fitness on Stone? Here are photos and video from almost ten years ago: Murals being made, part 14: WintaFresh 2013.

Update (May 12, 2023): Our post on May 9th, Ready to Rock (the Spot), shows preparation for painting the lot and the signatures of artists who did the work. Today's post This Spot (was) Rocked has closeups of most of the 30+ murals after they were finished or (for a few) almost done.

Mysterious Business

I was unable to find the name or nature of the business at this location. However, there may be a clue as to its nature on one of the paintings displayed in the window. It has been signed by "Chronic The Hemp Hog".

 Click for a larger image.

Go Bulldogs!

 Mascot of the Rio Vista Elementary School.

By Camila

 

 

 

 

Click for a larger image.

Tawt you taw a puddy tat?

This year, 2022, is Tweety Bird's 80th birthday (#Tweety80). A mural on the south wall of English Salon & Spa takes you back to those Looney (Tunes) days:

Haven't heard of Tweety Bird or just want to see a fun video? Here it is on YouTube:



(A link to the video in a separate window or tab: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ifwADpFSyA)

Tweety's muwal is just acwoss fwom Isaac Cawuso's juicy citwus muwal:

BG Boyd Photography sent this spectacular version of the photo above:

Nina Palomba painted the mural. Here's her signature at the lower right corner:

I didn't recognize her style in other Tucson murals. It turns out that she's painting Tweety murals around the US. I found that from the QR code, which is at the lower left of the mural:

(Geek note: Look closely — you can click on the image for a larger view. Some of the dots and lines aren't perfect. Did she paint the QR code by hand?!)

That code leads to the web address https://www.looneytunes.com/tweety80/ — where you'll find the bios of Nina and other artists, and photos of other Tweety muwals.

That's all Folks!

Randy Garsee's 2008 Tucson mural tour video

Longtime KOLD 13 TV news anchor Randy Garsee founded this blog in 2006. He loved Tucson's murals and wanted to spread the word. (He passed away in 2013. Some of his story is in our post Farewell, Randy.) I just discovered a video on Randy's YouTube channel showing several Tucson murals. He posted it on August 24, 2008.



The video is low-resolution (TV in 2008!) so opening it in another page may not help you much… but here's a link: https://youtu.be/pKxczQbXomY.

Gone but not forgotten, Randy.

You're being watched on Congress Street...

Ignacio Garcia's new mural covers the entire front of Tierra Antigua Realty's downtown location. It's bright and big, so (as you can see!) it really stands out from across Congress Street. But it's also surprising when you're walking from the west side toward the east:

BG Boyd Photography, who specializes in drone photography, sent this aerial photo (thanks!):

Drivers passing by should be nervous. :)

Denver's neighborhood murals: a vision for Tucson?

During July, I visited Denver. One place I stayed was in a gentrifying formerly-industrial neighborhood along Broadway where the cross-streets are avenues named for states. (To see a map, click on “Location:” at the bottom of this post.) When I went out for a walk, I spotted 20 murals in the four blocks between Iowa and Arizona Avenues.

This blog has over 1,000 Tucson murals over the past 15 years. The number of murals in just these four Denver blocks is close to 2% of 15 years' worth of murals all over Tucson! That's a lot of murals in a small area — something like Fourth Avenue in Tucson. (Denver also has at least one neighborhood packed with even more murals called RiNo — which, by the way, has nothing to do with Donald Trump and Republicans.) This got me thinking that Tucson neighborhoods wanting more visitors could pack lots of murals in a few blocks.

All of these murals gave the area a (literally) artsy feel when I walked through it. Here are unedited quick snapshots of the murals I saw:

I snapped these on July 24th and 25th.

Lucky Wishbone

This is both an advertisement and a mural.  I love the two kids fighting to get their wish.

Artist not known.

Click for a larger image.

Yoeme Unidos

"The Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Area is proud to commission another heritage mural that focuses on empowering indigenous youth to take the expressive traditions passed down from their communities and their own artistic style to paint their understanding of traditional stories, cultural figures and epic histories in a collaborative mural."

Two professional muralists worked with seven Pascua Yaqui youth to paint this mural.  The names of the seven are: Jennay, Erik, Juliette, Raul, Santi, Johnny and Elijah.

The professional muralists are Ignacio Garcia and Anitra "Yukue" Molina

Click for a larger image.

The mural is on the west wall of the Sonoran Stitch Factory located on W. Rillito St.  The mural is seen from N. 15th Ave.  A previous mural appeared on this wall on 10/19/2015 as Near Richey Elementary.

To further explain; the Yoeme are originally from Sonora Mexico around the Yaqui River.  They are more commonly known in the U.S. as the Pascua Yaqui. The Yoeme are the only Native American tribe that has never officially surrendered to either the Spanish colonial forces, the Mexican government, or the United States. 

Several updates from Jerry Peek: I made a note about a post and video I saw on Facebook July 1st showing the mural in progress and finished. (The unveiling was June 26th.)

Here's a clickable link to open the Facebook video page in a separate window: https://www.facebook.com/100010592835349/videos/791951158630194/

The original video is by BG Boyd Photography. You don't need Facebook to see it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUdP5uApIAc

There's more information about the mural and the two professional muralists on this page, Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Murals: https://santacruzheritage.org/yoeme-unidos/

Parade of murals on 910 West Congress

A paste-up mural is usually a piece of paper glued to a building with something like wheat paste. It's not designed to last a long time. We posted a paste-up mural on December 15, 2014, in Spotted at Grande & Congress.

Much later, I looked at the building with Google Maps Street View to see what else was on the wall starting October 2013. Surprise: The mural lasted for years, even on the west side of a building — which is blasted by Tucson's strong afternoon sun, so murals tend to fade. Here are the Street View photos:

October 2013

April 2015

July 2016

May 2017

June 2018

May 2019

February 2021

April 2022

Later Street Views show the same April 2022 mural still there.

Update (May 13, 2024): Today's post Congress mural parade 1 of 3: 910 W. Congress has much better photos of the April 2022 mural.

Talented Toad

Found on the north wall of the Folk Shop.  The shop carries new, used and vintage folk and ethnic musical instruments.

By Ameira Al-Rudham, Katie Leyva, and Bryce J. Rogers

Click for a larger image.

Tucson's Desert Scenery

Found on a residential wall in the Palo Verde Park Neighborhood.

The artist's name is in the lower left corner, but I can't make it out.

 

Click for a larger image.

Mural disappears, comes back even better

The block west of Stone Avenue between Congress and Broadway used to have a square structure with murals on three sides. We posted photos in 2012 and 2014. (I've reposted one of those photos farther below.) As part of downtown rebuilding, the murals were taken down. But one has come back, in magnificent style. I knew it was coming, but I didn't know it was done until BG Boyd Photography sent two great photos. The first is an ultra-wide panorama (so edges appear curved):

See how the colors in the new building work with the colors in the original mural? (As always, you can click for a slideshow of larger views.) Next, a closeup of the mural:

The building is called RendezVous Urban Flats. BG Boyd took the photos early on August 17th, 2022.

On May 17, 2012, I posted a photo of the mural under construction in Murals being made, part 8 (Kindness, part 3) along with more info; you can click there to see it all. Here's that photo, complete with buckets of materials and a NO ACCESS sign: