Park Place Chalk Art Festival

Though it was a busy weekend for me (Tucson Artists' Open Studios and a great concert by the Southern Arizona Symphony), I stopped by Park Place Mall for a quick look at the inaugural Chalk Art Festival. What a crowd — of both spectators and artists!

I've heard that the murals will be up for the next few days (along the north side of the mall, west from the Sears store). So I decided to come back and try to catch some better photos.

As I was about to leave, I saw a familiar artist's name. Cindy Guare had just contacted Randy last week to let us know that she painted the God's hands mural as well as the amazing Girl Scout mural. The scout mural took an entire year to paint, she told me yesterday.

If you'd like to see more of Cindy's work, her website is CindyGuareArt.com. And there are more photos (and a video) of the entire show in our next post, Park Place Chalk Art Festival revisited.

Quiet at the Rialto

On March 22, we were following the continually-changing murals on the east side of the Rialto Theatre downtown. The latest of the three was for a Todd Rundgren concert on April 1.

Three days ago — April 11th — there was just one new mural (Joe painted it, by the way) for a get-together at the Tucson Museum of Art on April 7:

I'll keep riding by from time to time and see what happens!

A peacock and (much) more, part 2

Tuesday's post showed a forest scene, including a peacock, on a wall wrapped around a Tucson home. Today's post is from Reid Park. Here's the peacock in front of the Zoo entrance. Titled Pavo cristatus (the scientific name — appropriate for a zoo, eh?) it's © 2003 by Nina Borgia-Aberle and Stephen Grede. I waited in line to take my photo while kids sat on the peacock and their parents snapped shots. It might not exactly be a mural (the feathers count; the head probably doesn't) but it's part of the public-art scene in this central Tucson park.

Across the way, the Edith Ball Adaptive Recreation Center has ceramic murals — and a very fun ceramic non-mural near the pool. Let's start with the shelter along the road, just east of the building entrance:

The plaque at the left side has the mural’s text in Spanish and Braille:

Inside, around a drinking fountain, is Tranquilidad en el agua / Calmness in the water, by Nina Borgia-Aberle in 2004:

As you walk into the locker rooms, you'll see The ocean’s garden / El jardin del oceano, by Nina Borgia-Aberle & Stephen Grede in 2004. (As always, you can click on that plaque for a larger view.) Here's the mural overall...

...and each panel closer-up:

This sculpture by the pool definitely isn't a mural, but I couldn't leave it out. I didn't catch its name or the artist name(s). I just found the web page What's the difference between a crocodile and an alligator? and decided that it's a dancing... crocodile. (If you know more, please send me an email or leave a comment below.)

A peacock and (much) more, part 1

Drive south on Swan from north of Grant. As you cross Grant, look to your right. Behind the businesses, you'll catch a glimpse of one of the longest murals in Tucson. It wraps around the back of the home at 4659 E. North Street:

You can really only see the north side from the dirt alley that parallels Grant:

Here are two closeups of the east side:

Update (March 24, 2015): Just across North Street is one of Tucson’s most fun mailboxes. Click there to see it on the Tucson Mailbox Art blog.

Is it real or is it mural? (Part 2)

Our December 22nd post, “Is it real or is it mural? (Part 1),” has a photo of a home with a real potted plant and a painted mural behind.

Here's another mural with the same idea: a mural in back and real plants in front. It's on the wall along the east side of the street at 1802 N. Dodge:

Two close-ups:


The word in the second close-up is BACKPACKING. I'm not sure what that's about. It looks like there might have been more words, painted on top of the original mural, that have peeled off over time? As always, I'll try to find someone there who can tell me. Or, if you know the story, please send email or write a comment below.

I took the photos on September 23, 2011.

Another OMA school: Lineweaver

Adah Lineweaver Elementary, at 461 South Bryant, is one of Tucson's OMA (Opening Minds through the Arts) schools.

This is Lineweaver's OMA Gold banner; I took the photo on September 23, 2011.

And here are two more photos from around the campus. The first is at the northwest entrance, and the other is by a ramp near an inner building on the north side of campus.

Another OMA school on the blog is Townsend Middle School.

Musical gate

I can imagine that, every time the home owner walks through this garden gate, they remember putting money in a jukebox... and some favorite song pouring out. I took the photo on September 23rd at 3719 E. 28th Street.

A wall with wallop

Why have a plain white wall if you can add murals for some extra wallop? Here's the wall in front of the home at 65 N. Sierra Vista Drive (1/2 block south of Waverly) on September 22, 2011.

Sunny mailbox on Hampton

Here's an early-morning view, last September 22nd, of the mailbox and curb at 2040 E. Hampton. It's across the street from Tahoe Park, a pleasant neighborhood for a stroll just behind Bookmans at Grant & Campbell.

Mural artists needed at Park Place April 14-15

Here's an announcement from SAACA, the Southern Arts & Cultural Alliance. (By the way, I'm hoping to stop by to grab photos for the blog.)

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Inaugural Chalk Art Festival, April 14 & 15
Park Place Mall - 5870 East Broadway Blvd. - Tucson, Arizona, 85711. Saturday 7am - 5pm, Sunday 9am-3pm (Located in the North Entrance Courtyards approximately between former Borders location to Old Navy) Local established artists, amateur artists, students, children and attendees will all participate in the festival to transform Park Place sidewalks into colorful works of art. The space will stretch from former Borders location and Sears's entryways to the front of the Old Navy store. Complete details at www.saaca.org/Chalk_Art_Festival.html. Opportunities for Artists:

· DOWNLOAD THE ARTIST & TEACHING ARTIST APPLICATION HERE. Application Deadline - MARCH 30

· PROFESSIONAL ARTIST MURALS ($300 per artist honorarium). Eight local mural artists will be selected to create original artwork pieces 8 foot wide by 6 foot high chalk murals in the area stretching the length of the sidewalk of the North Park Place entrance.

· COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION MURAL Artist Facilitator ARTIST TEAM - 2 ARTISTS ($400 per teaching artist honorarium). The public participation mural will be administered by a local teaching artist to facilitate the growth of the signature piece as well as onsite instruction for emerging and amateur artists from an established artist.

· KIDZONE - 1 Artist Facilitator will be selected ($200 per artist honorarium). The KIDZONE will be managed by an artist instructor specialized in working with children.

Kate Marquez

Executive Director

Southern Arizona Arts & Cultural Alliance

A non profit organization dedicated to the preservation, expansion and creation of Arts and Culture in Southern Arizona

Office (520) 797-3959 x 6

Cellular (520) 240-2766

www.SAACA.org

 7225 N. Oracle Rd, Suite 112

Tucson, AZ  85704

(NW Corner of Oracle & Ina)

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Update (April 16, 2012): The first photos from the festival are in today's post, Park Place Chalk Art Festival.

Taggers top topped tags

A lot of graffiti is a battle between taggers and the people who try to out-do them... or to clean up their often-artless scrawl. Of course, some is wanted and worth watching for, like the lot on North Stone where Winta Fresh has been held.

And then there's tagging that falls between those two types:

I found this scene last September 22nd, along the alley just across Spring Street from R-Galaxy. The tag at the right side looks to me as if someone painted something on the wall... which someone later covered with gray paint... which someone later topped with a head and shoulders in black. Clever, eh? Farther along the alley (two tags to the left) was another face, this time in white:

Artistic or awful — or both?

Table of murals is up to date

Today's post is the 575th on this blog. (Whew!) This seemed like a good time to re-introduce the table of murals. It's been missing the past six months of mural posts, but I just finished updating it this morning. (Whew again!)

Trying to find a mural in Tucson? You can:

• Do a broad search with the “Search This Blog” box near the top right of a page, For instance, type Luis Mena to find his murals all over town.
• Use the mural map and click on the location. (The map isn't up to date, though it helps!)
• Use the table of murals to search by street name or an exact address. The table can also help you find photos of murals that have been removed. The table of murals is at:

TucsonArt.info/murals/table.html

It has instructions to help you wade through the almost 600 murals listed, including examples of finding s mural. Here's an example:

Location	Posting Date	Last Checked	Click for More
7th @ Toole	03-06-2012	02-2012	more-from-ed-muren-iii
119 E. Toole	05-13-2010 09-01-2008	GONE GONE	• trash-replaced-by-tags • move-garbage-see-mural

Along 7th Avenue at Toole is a mural we posted March 6, 2012. The mural was last seen in February, 2012. To see the mural, click on the link in the right column. (Once the post is open, you'll also find a map link.) And, at 119 E. Toole, there've been two murals. Both of them are marked GONE, but you can see photos of them (from 2010 and 2008) by clicking on the link.

Eventually, the table of murals and the mural map will join into a big collection of ways to find Tucson's murals. Until then, we've got some good info here. I'm planning to keep the table up to date as I add new posts to the blog.

Comments welcome!

>>Pow!<< R-Galaxy!! *#@*

Along Spring Street, just northeast of Grant & Campbell, are three more of Tucson's murals painted on roll-up steel shutters. This fantastic set is along the north side of R-Galaxy at 2420 N. Campbell. (The old Color TV King business sign is on that same corner.)

I usually try to make mural photos as realistic as I can, but these murals just screamed out for neon. So I used the Saturation tool in the fabulous free GIMP photo editor to make the colors even brighter.

Here's a close-up of the artist's signature:

I took the photos six months ago — September 22, 2011.

Just Joe

Back on March 4th, we posted photos of murals on the east side of the Rialto Theatre. Other times I'd been there, all the murals were by Joe Pagac. Last time, one was by Ed Muren III. I rolled by again on March 11th and found:

All were by Joe. But maybe the end is near?

I'll try to check in again sometime after the Todd Rundgren concert on April Fool's Day.

Update (April 14, 2012): Not much new here. You can see the view as of April 11 on our April 14 entry.

Back of the Blue Willow

After snapping the photo in our March 18th post, I rode around the rest of the restaurant to see whether there were any more murals. I spotted a completely different one on the east wall, on a garage door along the alley:

I couldn't tell for sure that this garage is for the Blue Willow (maybe for the owner?) or why the mural was painted. I snapped a photo of what looks like the artist's signature, though:

This was September 22, 2011.

Blue, blue, blue (Willow)

I snapped this photo of the north side of the popular restaurant, 2616 North Campbell, on September 22nd of last year.

Students but no school

The former Julia Keen Elementary has been taken over by World Care. But the mural of students on their way into school is still at the west entrance:

Though the building address is 3538 E. Ellington Place, the west entrance is along South Palo Verde at the corner of Hemlock Stravenue. (In case you haven't heard of stravenues: They're the diagonal streets around this part of town. They run perpendicular to the railroad tracks. One of the best-known stravenues is Cherrybell, where the main post office is located. Click on that map link above to see some others. And here's a short Wikipedia article about stravenues.)

29th Street overpass and mural project

The pedestrian bridge over 29th at Columbus has been a work of art for a while now. What's been there a while are the mosaic murals like this one, on the 29th Street side of the north tower.

I'll show more of the towers — and the murals inside — in a minute. But I wanted to say that the Tucson Arts Brigade is working on the murals as a community project. They meet every Thursday afternoon. There are details (and more of their projects!) on TAB's murals page.

The photos above are from September 20, 2011. I came back again, on December 18th, to check the progress.

Update (April 29, 2012): The overpass project is done! The unveiling celebration will be on May 9th. Here's our announcement. Update (September 16, 2012): Since I took these photos, more painting has gone on. There are more photos in TAB grand opening, overpass update.

Missed this mural on 4th

I took this photo on May 10, 2010, at 228 North 4th Avenue. The mural is signed Cameo Designs, www.cameodesignsonline.com, (520)319-2125. I've walked by many times since then, but just realized that I've (probably) never posted this photo.

Chance meeting leads to talk, mural

When I met Paco Velez back on March 2nd, he mentioned that he'd be talking that night at the U of A Museum of Art: people would tell stories about living close to a border (the Mexican border and others). It was part of The Border Project: Soundscapes, Landscapes & Lifescapes. (The show's last day is this Sunday, March 11, by the way.) The stories sounded great, so I headed for the museum that evening.

I hadn't been to the museum for a while, so I was surprised by the new mural over the front door:

It was in the same style as the mural that went up on the nearby Architecture Buiilding in November. A sign just inside the gallery explained:

Taller Yonke (Guadalupe Serrano and Alberto Morackis) Paseo de Humanidad (Passage of Humanity) 2004 ... represents the parade of people who have migrated away from their homes in search of a better life. Once installed on the Mexican side of the border fence in Nogales, the gigantic aluminum artwork incorporates traditional Aztec and Mayan codices to provide cultural reference for those braving the journey into the United States. The piece also shows migrants returning home, "carrying the rewards and trophies of this perilous journey." As Guadalupe Serrano writes, Paseo de Humanidad is not meant to be political... however it tries to create dialogue between our communities on the complex issue of immigration."