A treat along Toole

Even with the refurbished railroad depot to spruce up the area, let’s face it: Toole Avenue isn’t exactly gorgeous. But, along with other murals in the neighborhood, this mural-fronted building, La Frontera ("The Border"), spruces up one side of the street. It’s at the corner of Council & Toole.

Update (May 1, 2010): Here’s the same mural at night.

You can find art (almost) anywhere

Humble murals are okay here! (Right, Randy??) And these murals — at the northwest corner of the bridge across the Silvercroft Wash, near 1700 West Speedway — have some creative tricks. Those raindrops under the cloud on the left side, for instance, cover what look to me like plugged holes in the concrete.
I do most of my mural-hunting on a bicycle. That makes it easier to spot art in places that aren't so obvious (and is a fun way to get some exercise, too).

You can't see it during the day...

...because the painted garage doors here are open then! I snapped this photo early in the morning while Netto's Auto Clinic was closed. It's at 513 W. Ajo Way.

Update (September 17, 2012): The murals are mostly gone, with missing paint and stains.

Art inside and out

The Arts & Culture Partnership, at 35th & South Park, has spaces for artists inside and art for you outside. It's part of a street full of art -- starting 11 blocks north at 24th & Park.

Angels on Park

Billy Sanchez, the artist who did the murals at 30th and S. Park, has been busy down here! He painted more murals for kids at Little Angels Day Care, which is a few blocks farther south at 34th & Park.

Smokin' on South Park

The front of the MVP Smoke Lounge at 2010-B South Park (just south of 30th St.) is covered by this larger-than-life mural that pretty much says it all.

South from 24th St. on Park...

Head south on Park Avenue to 24th Street. On the west side of the street you'll see pillars that introduce what's ahead of you. The pillars tell some mid-20th-century Tucson history that I'd never heard: the African-American community of South Park Avenue, South Park Political Club, free movies under the stars at Mirasol Park, and a lot more.

Up ahead are tile-decorated bridges, bus stops, and benches to rest on. They continue, here and there, until you get to 36th and Park. (You might want to bicycle or catch a bus, by the way, because this'll all zoom by if you're in a car.) While you're in the neighborhood, check out other murals nearby.

Ironic, isn't it?

This 1997 mural, titled "Don't Waste the Scenic Santa Ritas", is on Queen Avenue between 4th & 5th Streets. When I stopped by a few days ago, the mural and the credits to the Tucson Arts Brigade were partly covered by barbed wire and old junk.

Electrifying art ("artifying" electricity?)

One block in the Dunbar Spring neighborhood is filled with a power substation. The view is nicer than it would be, though, thanks to the green fence around it and the art on the corners. Here's the corner of 4th Street at 11th Avenue:

Update (October 10, 2012): There are more murals on the next corner.

Just add water. (Murals provided.)

The artwork here isn't exactly murals... it's actually tile. But this unused plot — which looks to me like it was a community garden at one time — is in the same neighborhood with other murals, and it's worth a look! (The gate was locked when I was there.) It's at the corner of Anita and Williams.

Coming soon...

The I-10 widening project has added a lot of art along the freeway -- and around it, too. Here's the scene from the west end of Williams Street, for instance.


The far right side of this mural (behind the "Road Closed" sign) shows the front of the Anita St. Market, which has two murals of its own! (Too bad you can't see those murals in this mural...)

Murals in (on) store

These two murals are on the side of the Anita St. Market, on Lord St. at the corner with Anita St. Though it's just a block away from I-10, there's a real neighborhood feeling here.

While you're here, check out other murals in the neighborhood, too; there are a lot!

I took the photo on May 14th.

Update (July 23, 2019): Today's blog entry shows the left-side mural repainted.

Land (and a mural) for sale

Want a scenic view every time you pull into your parking lot? Just make a deal with the Arizona Department of Transportation for this lot at the southwest corner of 6th St. & Main. It comes complete with a piece of what looks to me like Monument Valley, with lush plants in front and an eagle above... even a window in the middle where you can peer into the building.

This is the former Art's BBQ that Randy wrote about just six months ago. I didn't realize until I started making the new table of mural locations. It might help you, too, if you want to go mural hunting.

A fun (but not smart) place to skip class

Who, me? I'd never suggest truancy to you students at Tucson Magnet High School. (Besides, this long series of portraits and other tile works is on the wall just south of the school -- along 8th Street, just west of Euclid -- where you'd be easy to spot.) So, come with your classmates when school's out!

The rest of us can visit anytime -- maybe on a walk with the dog, or a stroll with your friends -- to enjoy all the variety that stretches along a lot of the block.

On my honor, I will try...

A ribbon with that pledge stretches the whole length of this Girl Scout mural on their building near the southeast corner of Broadway & Columbus. If you were, or are, a Girl Scout, the symbols that line the bottom of the mural will probably mean a lot more to you than they do to me! But I recognized people in the news, and names of events, that run along the top of the wall. There are lots of happy Scouts, too. Just try to come early in the morning before the sun bakes this west-facing wall -- and before cars fill the parking spaces that line the mural's bottom edge.



Update (April 12, 2012): Cindy Guare painted this amazing mural.

Wall-busting mural

Norhing bashful about this guy! He's smashing through the front wall of Bashful Bandit, on the southwest corner of Speedway and Dodge.

Update (November, 2021): The bar has been sold; it will become a BBQ restaurant. The mural is broken and, I guess, won't be repaired.

Update (April 11, 2023): Remodeling is continuing. It looks like this mural will stay. There's a new bashful mural next to it. Today's post Bye-Bye, Bashful Bandit? has photos, info, as well as an Arizona Daily Star article with lots of history and photos.

No Murals in Iraq

New Mission Won't Affect Murals Project

Your Photos Still Needed

Hello Everyone,

     I'm currently working as a civilian journalist with the United States Marine Corps in Iraq. This doesn't affect the Tucson Murals Project, but may slow it down a bit. That's where you come in. You can always e-mail me pictures of your favorite Tucson Murals at randygarsee@gmail.com.

    Meanwhile, history is unfolding in Iraq. If you would like to keep up with those events, visit my personal blog which now has a new mission.

    Thanks for your continued support!

     Sincerely yours,

     Randy Garsee

Rides in the Sun

Just Mural Cruisin'

Tucson Murals contributer Warren V. says this mural is "on the south side of a garage at 433 N. Santa Rita, just a little south of 6th Street by the U of A campus."

Mural Montage: A Tucson Favorite

While Truckin' Around.....

If you ever drive around the area of the University of Arizona, 

you'll eventually come across this mural.  

It's located at the southeast corner of

4th Avenue & Sixth Street.

Photos Courtesy of Davis Dominguez Gallery

Update (May 14, 2012): Today's Arizona Daily Star article by Carol Ann Alaimo, Tucson Oddity: Mural recalls 4th Ave.'s quirky denizens, covers this 17-by-70-foot mural. Painted in 1996 by Eleanor Kohloss, it's titled “The Thinkers.” All characters have a thought bubble over their heads. (The dog, who's thinking of a steak dinner, is named Beano.) Some of the characters are Tucsonans, and others are fictional.

These Murals Tank!

What Was Oro Valley Thinking?

I have often admired Oro Valley's public art efforts.  I even produced a video of public art in Oro Valley, which you can find on my YouTube Channel. This latest attempt, however, tanks.

Oro Valley has a beautiful new shopping area called the Oro Valley Marketplace.  Smack dab in the middle of this strip mall in the desert are two water tanks.  Someone decided, "Hey, water tanks are unsightly.  Let's paint a mural on them.  Better yet, make them look like massive Giant Saguaros."

As I discovered, the great idea of painting the tanks was mutilated by someone else's idea to surround the tanks with an 8-foot-tall stucco fence.  Drivers can only see the tops of the tanks!  Why not some type of fence so visitors can see the art work from top to bottom?  What a waste to spend all of that tax money for well-painted tanks and then hide most of the work.  

I got the best shots I could get and cropped the cactus flower for better effect.  I even stood on the concrete pillar of a light pole to get shots of the tanks without the wall in front of them.   But if you drive through the Oro Valley Marketplace, I'm sure you'll have the same thought I did:  

"Paint a mural and hide it?  No 'tank' you!  Randy Garsee

Here's a satellite map.

Update (August 7, 2020): There's another painted tank in today's entry Tanked.