Sky Smoke Shop shows style

I photographed these graffiti murals on the Sky Smoke Shop location at 247 W. Grant, just east of 11th Avenue, on February 22nd.

Here's the west wall:

Next, the south wall. It's dated Dec. 2010 and has a signature I couldn't read (if you can, or if you know who painted this, please leave a comment below or send me an email!)

The last photo shows the east wall:

5th & 6th

I spotted this mural (signed, I think, Royal Orphans 2011) on February 22nd at an address that's approximately 300 E. 6th Street. It was on south side of the building just east of 5th Avenue, on the cinderblock wall between the driveway to the garage door and the parking lot. Google Maps gives the coordinates 32.227446, -110.966946. (It might be easier to find the mural if you just go to the corner of 5th Avenue & 6th Street, then look around. There's a lot of graffiti art in the area, from showy to subtle. The contemporary art galleries just down 6th Street are well worth a visit too.)

Whatta wash!

Tucson's washes (arroyos, often lined with concrete) are a magnet for muralists — those who have permission (and even encouragement) from the neighborhood, as well as ones who do, well, "unofficial" painting. This wash, just southeast of Speedway & Alvernon, is of the first type. Here's the view from the southern end, along Second Street:

You're probably wondering how to find this extended mural? First, you need to be on Montezuma Avenue — or drive along 2nd Street, east of Alvernon, until you reach Montezuma. Here's a Google Map satellite view of the intersection of 2nd & Montezuma. If you follow the direction of Montezuma, from south to north, as it crosses 2nd, you'll see the wash extending north toward 1st. That's the block with this fun series of murals.

On the left of the first photo (above), a drainage pipe enters the wash. Or is it the entrance to a mine or a cave?

A bit farther north is a fish with a tongue that circles Earth:

And here's the view from the north end — at 1st Avenue — looking south:

By the door at J. B. Wright

This mural is painted by the southwest entrance (off Columbus Blvd.) at John B Wright Elementary, 4341 Linden Street.

I took the photo on July 6th.

J.B. Wright flag for Veterans Day

Though I'm not sure that the students' flag mural was painted specifically for veterans, I jumped ahead in the archives (to May 29) so I could post it today. This is on the south side of John B Wright Elementary, along Linden, west of Catalina (here's a map).

Mural garden at the Volunteer Center

Here's a look into the Volunteer Center's entrance at 924 N. Alvernon (just north of 3rd Street) and the YVC Community Garden:

A close-up of some of the tile flowers in the garden:

I took the photos on February 20th.

Likely a mural :)

After the previous four "maybe a mural" posts, here's a fifth that probably counts as a mural... a unique garage front at 3143 E. Terra Alta.

Maybe a mural, part 24

Just a bit south of the photo in part 23 of this series is the home at 422 N. Forgeus. This is a close-up (from the street, with a zoom lens) of one of the works on the wall of this home. The lower right corner is signed "Guini".

By the way, we only show scenes that are visible from public streets or in other locations open to the public. If the wall around the home had been a couple of feet higher, I wouldn't have seen the side of the home (and you wouldn't be seeing this photo). There were construction tools on the outer wall by the sidewalk, so it might be higher by this point; if it is, I'll remove this photo after the next time I roll by to check on the mural. (And, by the way, this is far too small to see from a car. If you'd like to see the neighborhood for yourself, you might check the Google Map I linked to above, park somewhere nearby and take a stroll! Rincon Market and the wonderful Seven Cups Teahouse, among other stores, are just a block away at 6th & Tucson...)

Maybe a mural, part 23

I almost never plan the exact route of my bicycle rides; I just know generally where I'm going, and I take whatever side streets I can to stay off the major routes. For some reason, my February 20 route took me past several "maybe" murals in sequence. These are the third in that series:

A number of Tucson homes are similar, but this one was a nice example. This is on the wall of 450 N. Forgeus (on the southeast corner with 6th Street).

Maybe a mural, part 22

Five blocks farther east from the part 21 post in this series is another similar scene: art on the wall around the home as well as on the home itself. This time, though, the art is painted on the walls.

As with photos before and after, this is from my long bike ride on February 20. The home was at 2548 E. 7th Street.

(In cases like these, by the way: Whether the scene fits everyone's definition of a mural or not, I say "it's art on a wall and a lot of people will probably enjoy seeing it." That's when I stop trying to figure out whether it's a mural and just post it!)

Maybe a mural, part 21

From time to time, I post a photo of something that might or might not be defined as a mural — depending on who's doing the defining! (The previous post in the series, part 20, was on October 1.)

A row of tiles probably isn't a mural, but that's what's on the low wall around the home at 2010 E. 7th St. It's the horse on the side of the home that caught my eye (and put this into the "maybe" mural category). As always, you can click on the photo for a larger view; use your browser's "Back" button to come back here.

A (Wild)cat walks into a bar...

...and if you were expecting a joke here, you've been spared!

This is the weather-beaten mural on UA Liquors, February 20th. It's at the southeast corner of Park & 6th, and it's signed: (c)1980 Jay Geem (or Geer), 888-6596.

What the scholars see

I couldn't get close enough to snap a photo of this mural from nearby, so I took this with a zoom lens from across the campus. It's the west side of the mural along 2nd Avenue, at the corner of 6th Street, along the east edge of the campus of Roskruge Bilingual Middle Magnet & Elementary School, on February 20th. (Click for a larger view.)

You can see the other side of the wall (facing away from the campus) on the January 12, 2009 post Scholars on Second Avenue.

Faded murals across Arizona Ave. #2

Yesterday's post and this one show two faded murals that face each other across Arizona Avenue, just south of Broadway in downtown Tucson. (Here's a map showing the corner.)

This mural is on the east side of the Avenue, near the top of the wall of the former Hotel Lewis (with a parking lot between). I processed the image a bit (with my favorite free image editor, GIMP) to help you see the mural. I took the photos on February 20.

Faded murals across Arizona Ave. #1

This post and the next one show two faded murals that face each other across Arizona Avenue, just south of Broadway in downtown Tucson. (Here's a map showing the corner.)

This mural is on the west side of the Avenue (actually, an alley). I processed the image a bit (with my favorite free image editor, GIMP) to help you see the mural. I took the photos on February 20.

Santa Theresa Tile Works

What would you expect from a business that makes tile designs? This sign/mural is on the west wall of 450 N. 6th Avenue, but the business is farther east along the south side of the building.

Their mosaic-style murals are all over Tucson. If you'd like to try your hand at tilework, they also offer workshops. There's more at SantaTheresaTileWorks.com.

I took the photo on February 20th.

Wheat Scharf Associates

These tile murals and plants were on the south wall of 440-442 North 6th Avenue on February 20.

Help wanted: finding each mural's story

It's been five years, and a few months, since former Tucson television news anchor Randy Garsee started posting mural photos on this blog. (You can click to see our first post, then use your browser's "Back" button to return.) A year later, I joined. As time went on, Randy asked me to take over much of the blog, and keep it updated.

Fast-forward to today: We have hundreds of mural photos online (and even more on the "unpublished" pages), but most of those have just the location and few other details. That's been my plan for when the weather cools this autumn: to go out and re-visit murals, ask people nearby what they know about the story, and share what I find online (on this blog and in other ways).

For more than a year now, Melodi King has been working on a second way for you to find murals and information about them: a clickable map and, especially, a database of info about each mural (name of artists, year painted, and much more).

Why was the mural painted? Who are the people in the mural? Everything we can learn will help to build the story of each of Tucson's murals (including murals that have been lost).

You can help, too. Do you or a neighbor have a mural on an outside home wall that everyone can see? Are you at a business, church, school, or any other building with a mural open to the public? Do you travel past a mural every day and have come to know either a story behind it or someone who does? If that sounds like you — or if you'd like to do some hunting in your own neighborhood — would you please let us know? For instance:

• Put the info into the comment box by the mural post here on this blog. (If you aren't sure whether we have the mural, please send me a note, tell me where the mural is and a bit of what it looks like.)
• If you'd like to send your comment privately, use the short TucsonArt.info comment form. Please fill in the Subject box with at least the word "mural".
• If typing in a long story isn't your thing, or if you'd rather just talk, please give me a call at (520)302-4402. (I'm pretty busy, so I might need to call you back a bit later. If you get my voicemail, please tell me that you're calling about murals — and mention a few good days and times to reach you.)

The info you share will help us build a database of Tucson muralists — and also help both visitors and residents see much more of Tucson's fantastic murals.

Thanks!

Just a day too late for Chuy's

We're back from the archives (for a couple of days). Tuesday, I spotted murals on the west side of the now-closed Chuy's along Country Club at Speedway. Wednesday, thinking that I should go back and grab some photos before something happened, I drove by. But...

...too late. (By the way, there are more murals on the north and east sides, but they were trashed too.)

I happened to ride by the Patrick K. Hardesty Midtown Service Center at 1100 S. Alvernon and saw a sign that they maybe should have put up at Chuy's :-(...



Update (January 28, 2024): Germaine A Pesqueria (who's been painting since the 1990s) painted murals at all Chuy's locations. I'm hoping he has photos of these murals; I'll ask.

This mural is way out

If something is still called "way out" when it's wonderful, fantastic, "cool," or whatever... well, this mural is of scenes way out of Earth. It's on top of 210 S. Plumer, the (former?) Tucson Optical Research Corp. building. I snapped it (way back) on February 17th.