A helping hand at Parent Aid (Murals being made, part 79)

Last time, we saw a mural downtown by Germaine A Pesqueria, New at English Salon & Spa. He started another mural in January 2024 at Parent Aid — on 22nd Street just east of Tucson Boulevard. I stopped by on January 28th to see the mural in progress:

He posted this nighttime photo to his Facebook that evening:

(He hadn't finished the left hand yet.)

A few months later — May 9, 2024 — I stopped by near sunset to see the finished mural:

The right edge of the mural, around and beyond the fence, is darkness (and also in the late afternoon shade here). Germaine wrote me that the mural is “a visual narrative of transformation and hope, depicting a young soul leaving behind the shadows of sadness to step into a radiant future filled with possibilities.”

Two closeups:

He's painted shadows of plants on the mural; there are also real shadows.

His signature:

New at English Salon & Spa

On November 19, 2021 we showed a mural by on the roll-up shutter of English Salon & Spa, downtown. On April 7, 2024, I noticed this new mural:

It's Audrey Hepburn.

Here's the signature from the lower right corner:

The artist, Germaine A Pesquiera, has painted murals in Tucson for decades. He sent the photos below. (Thanks!)

(I enlarged those photos 2x using Upscale from https://www.stickermule.com/upscale/. It's currently free to use a limited amount each day.)

Next time, we'll see another new mural of Germaine's at Parent Aid.

Tired tagged murals :(

Fifteen years ago — May 29, 2009 — we published two colorful walls of murals at the Armory Park Senior Citizens' Recreation Center. That post is Giant plants (or tiny buildings).

Now, the murals have faded and been tagged too. Here are the walls today, on the northwest corner of 13th Street & 5th Avenue:

(As always, you can click for a larger view.)

Update (October 11, 2024): Today's post Brighter versions of tired tagged murals has closeup photos.

Ant Dogg (not Snoop Dogg)

According to the Ant-Dogg Facebook page intro: “Ant-Dogg is an Independent Recording Artist/Songwriter in genres - Hip-Hop, RnB, Rock and soul.” Here's a mural in (I think!) Ant-Dogg's honor:

As always, you can click on the photo for a larger view.

The mural is on the east side of the wall around 826 W. Calle Ventura. It's a one-minute walk west of N. Calle Central through a vacant lot; the GPS coordinates of the spot on the wall are 32.247520, -110.984947. Here's a Google Maps link: https://maps.app.goo.gl/j1MRDuUM947pwJH9A.

Mural columns at Pascua Neighborhood Center

Drive a block south of Grant on Calle Central to see these:

I was there on January 27, 2024. (A sign just to the left of these warns that anyone photographing on or around the grounds will have their camera confiscated. This seems to be about ceremonies in the park behind. The park was empty.)

Mmmm food and mmmurals

On August 11, 2021, a new eegee's location opened way out Valencia Road, near Cardinal Avenue — far enough that the area is called Drexel Heights, not Tucson. (It's just west of the car wash in our previous post, Wash and watch.) Jessica Gonzales painted the column supports along the outdoor dining room (which was a first for eegee's, KOLD News 13 wrote). The front of the store is along the south (left) and east (right) walls:

Next, both sides of the column supports — and a couple of close-ups:

(The first closeup shows a customer dipping a spoon into the landscape, next to some saguaros. Yum.)

When I was there on February 6, 2024, the column supports along the drive-thru hadn't been painted:

Wash and watch

From the southeast end, this carwash doesn't look very special:

The center of the wash bays has a fun mural:

And once you're at the west end, it's a different story:

The area behind the wash bays is lined with murals. (There are so many photos that I haven't done my usual careful editing to straighten, fix color, etc. Sorry about that.) These photos run along the wall from the west end to the east:

I stopped by to watch (but not to wash) on February 6, 2024.

Better Together

On the north wall of Gym Two Forty Four, next to the Memorial mural for Samantha Silverman, is a newer mural by Hannah Eddy. She posted it to her Instagram @hannaheddyart on January 23, 2024. I was there on January 29th.

Mushroom mural and Cuco Garcia memorial

A building along Speedway just west of Columbus has several businesses. On the west wall — which is also the side of Gentlemen's Lounge — is a mural that had been started when I got there on January 23, 2024. There were lots of mushrooms in what I think is a forest. There was also a memorial mural in the alley behind. I came back on May 7; nothing seemed to have changed. Here's an overall view on January 23:

At the right of the big mural, you can see part of the memorial mural. I'll show it at the end of this post. First, closeups of the big mural from left to right:

This memorial mural for Cuco Garcia is in the alley behind the big mural, on the southwest corner of the Gold & Silver Exchange, 4250 E. Speedway: