Giant plants (or tiny buildings)

One of the things I like most about painting is that artists can shift perspective and make, say, a barrel cactus as big as a building. Here's an example: the wall around a patio on the south side of the Armory Park Senior Citizens' Recreation Center. It's on the northwest corner of 13th Street & 5th Avenue.

Grand entrance

Two murals decorate the two-story north entrance to Safford Elementary School. I took this shot from outside the fence at the corner of 13th Street and 5th Avenue. (The entrance is about a block away, so bring your binoculars or a zoom lens — or ask the school office for permission to get closer.)

Update (July 30, 2012): There's a mural at the back of the school. See The World at 14th & Herbert.

La Pilita Museum

Next to the El Tiradito shrine is the La Pilita Museum at 420 South Main.

Update: the major mural is gone — temporarily, at least. It was taken down in summer 2010 during construction work on the building. But here's another mural, in the building's back yard, snapped by Melo King in October 2010:

Update (May 28, 2010): The re-painted mural is almost finished. The new design is somewhat different.

Update (August 17, 2012): Today’s post shows more murals.

Country in the city

This countryside scene runs the whole length of the south side of the Tucson Yoga building at 12th Street and 4th Avenue. As with all of the other photos in this blog, you can click for a bigger view.

You can see the mural on the building's east side in the post Country in the city, part 2.

Bright on Broadway

On Broadway at 5th Avenue, this colorful mural is on the outside of the Childrens Black + White Photography Gallery.

Bikes and murals

BICAS (Bicycle Inter Community Action & Salvage) is a non-profit bicycle recycling and education center, where you can get bicycle parts, work on bikes, take classes on art (and bicycle repair), and more. Like a lot of the downtown warehouse district these days, things at BICAS aren't at all certain.
For now, at least, their walls are decorated with murals -- like this one on the alley named Ash, just north of 6th Street.

Murals past and present

The murals reported here, less than a year ago, at 300 N. 4th and 400 N. 4th, are both gone. Times change, and so do murals...

There's another bright spot on the block, though: wall-filling murals on both sides of the outdoor stage around Winsett Park, 316 N. 4th. Here's the south side:

and a part of the one on the north:

Bicycles on stage shows the mural behind the stage.

Update (May 7, 2012): The May 5, 2012 post has wraparound photos all around Winsett Park.

Arte para y por los estudiantes

Was your school playground lined with murals? It was if you went to Davis Bilingual Learning Center, 500 W. St. Marys (at Granada). This artistic school is one of the many bright spots you'll find around this arty corner of Tucson, nestled against the east side of I-10. (Check the mural table to find more of them.) Thanks to the students, mentors, the Barrio Anita Association's mural restoration program, and a mural grant from the City of Tucson.

Though the gates were open and no one was around during the early morning time I was there, you might want to check with the school office (520/225-1400) before you come on your own tour.


Update (June 12, 2013): Here are more photos.

Train, trolley, and a three-eyed alien

Next to the tracks, along one end of the Toole Parking Lot (191 E. Toole) is this wild mural that includes a bunch of Tucson landmarks, a guy (?) with a paint roller over the courthouse dome, a saguaro, a locomotive, the archway at El Tiradito, and much more. I'll let you find the alien yourself, but here’s a hint: look for the paper airplane.

Update (May 1, 2010): Here's another detail from the same mural at night (it's the second photo on that page). If you compare that photo to this one, you'll see that the later version of the mural has a lot more detail added in the “sky” and the doorways. (If you'd like to jump between the two, try your browser's "back" and "forward" buttons.)

Update (May 21, 2015): The mural has been (mostly) covered by white paint.

Update (September 18, 2015): There's a new mural at the right end of the wall.

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...)