Esperanza Elementary School, part 1

On September 28th, when I was on the overpass that crosses Tucson Boulevard south of Irvington, I looked into the schoolyard just west of there and spotted a part of a mural. Kids were going into the school, and the grounds hadn't been locked up for the day, so I stopped into the office to ask permission to look around. (The school's official address is 2353 E. Bantam Road. Here's a satellite map from Google that shows the campus — and the overpass, just east of the school.)

There turned out to be lots of murals. I'll show half of them today — around the north half of the campus. In the next post I'll show the spectacular David Tineo mural that I glimpsed a bit of from the overpass.

The school's mascot is an eagle. This mural is across the hallway from the school office:

On a building housing restrooms, north of the main school building:

The west and east ends of a mural on a long building north of the parking lot (which is to the west of the main school building):

Our December 18 post shows the other mural on campus.

Mountains on Stone and Speedway (almost)

Here's the alpine view from the southwest side of Tommy Tucker Enterprises, 930 N. Stone. I was there on September 29th.

Maybe a mural, part 41: Box office, PCC West

This wall surrounds the box office at Pima Community College, West Campus. I'm not sure you'd call it a "mural," but it's unique — and it makes for a fun self-portrait in the middle of a bunch of star athletes. :)

I took the photo on September 29th.

Maybe a mural, part 40: Mitla mosaics

These Mitla mosaics are by G. Schoon, dated 2003. They're outside the Rincon Building F, at Pima Community College west campus, off Anklam Road. I took the photo on September 29th.

Pizza Hut on St. Marys

I took this photo, of the east wall of the Pizza Hut at 1502 W. St. Marys, on September 29th.

Maybe a mural, part 39: 630 North Alvernon

It's not paint on a wall, and it's not made of mosaic or tile, but it is on a wall. Is it a mural? (You can decide for yourself!)

From time to time, I post a photo puzzle like this. The last time was November 27th.

This is toward the south end of the west side of 630 North Alvernon Medical Center (located, surprisingly enough, at 630 N. Alvernon Way). I took the photo on September 26th.

Arizona Senior Academy

The Arizona Senior Academy, at 13701 E. Langtry Lane, has talks and concerts you can attend. Last year, I gave a talk there on Tucson's Public Murals. While I was there for the talk, people pointed me to the murals around the building.

The light wasn't good then. So, when I came back to attend a talk on September 20th, 2012 (with the sun high above the buildings), I tried again.

This mural is at the south entrance:

Next, at the north side of the dining patio:

And along the back of the grill on the south side of the dining patio:

Mr Head's patio

We don't usually show murals that aren't in a public place (where you have to pay or know someone to get in). But you can look over the front wall of the patio on the south side of Mr Head's Gallery & Bar, 509 N. 4th Avenue, to see this mural. I was there early in the morning of September 18th.

[By the way, I'm going to switch back to posting murals every other day. I'm getting ready to re-launch TucsonArt.info, Tucson Art Information. The site has listings of artists and photos of public art (not including murals, which will keep appearing here on the blog... there are lots more!). If you'd like to keep up with what's happening both here and on that site, you can check @TucsonArt — visit that link from time to time, or follow it on Twitter.]

Plaza San Judas (sort of)

This half-hidden mural is on the wall at the east end of a parking lot, just north of the building at 4115 S. 6th Avenue. I took the photo on September 16th.

Estrella's Celurar y Mas

On September 16th, I rode past this mural in a series of South Tucson murals:

The address is 4115 S. 6th Avenue. Here's a photo of the same wall in September, 2011.

Yerberia San Judas returns

Back in the spring of 2000, there was a store at 4107 South 6th Avenue named Yerberia San Judas. When I rode by during December, 2010, the store was named La Orquidea.

On September 16, 2012, I found Yerberia San Judas here again — but with a different building color and a different mural of San Judas:

Maybe a mural, part 38: Plastering Lathing Stucco

I've ridden by the corner of South 10th Avenue & West 39th Street a zillion times on my bicycle. Somehow, though, I never noticed this wall:

I titled this post "maybe a mural" (as I do from time to time) because a wall that's so obviously advertising might not be "artistic" enough to be a mural. Or it might be. Either way, thanks to Mark Fleming for noticing, taking a photo, and sending it in!

Found on a fence in the Barrio Viejo, 2004

I snapped this photo on June 19, 2004. Unfortunately, I didn't write down where I took it... maybe Meyer Street? If you know, please leave a comment below or send me email.

Say what?

I spotted this speechless mural on the front of 51 N. 6th Avenue on September 18th. (The sidewalk in front of the store says Kelly's.)

17th & Meyer in 2004

I've been looking through some of my older photos. (One was of the Luis Mena mural that we posted on Thursday.) In 2004, before I joined the Tucson Murals Project, I took several photos of this home at the southwest corner of 17th Street & Meyer Avenue:

I took this photo on June 19, 2004, from the building's southeast corner (along Meyer Street). I have a few others, too; if you'd like a copy, just ask!

McKenzie and the Chicago Store

This mural is gone — along with most (all?) of the other Chicago Store murals — thanks to construction that we showed on our September 30th post. We originally posted the mural photo, by Warren V, on November 23, 2008 — exactly four years ago. Here's more of the story.

The person in the mural was named McKenzie; I saw photos of her (including one of this mural, which I recognized right away) November 17th on a Día de los Muertos altar in Raices Taller 222 gallery. Her father was Mike Harrison; you can read about him in the Tucson Weekly article “The Mayor of Fourth Avenue.” I found an obituary of McKenzie Haggerty-Harrison on Tucson.com. As the mural says (in lettering just to the left of the Chicago Store sign), she lived from September 23, 1987 to September 7, 2004. McKenzie died tragically after an amazing life. For instance, the mural's background is a Mayan design because the lived with the Mayans in Guatemala.

(The stories that murals tell... if only they all came with a history page attached! We'll do our best to find the stories and post them here on the Tucson Murals Project.) If you have anything to share about McKenzie or this mural, please leave a comment below or send me email.

Early mural by Luis Gustavo Mena

Luis Gustavo Mena has been a Tucson muralist for decades. His best-known mural might be downtown where Broadway and Congress merge. (That post also has a link to a 2007 newspaper article about him.) A similar mural is harder to spot; it's along a parking lot for MATZ Truck Accessories on south 12th. One of his earlier works, of Mexican president Benito Juarez, is even harder to spot: on a wall between two buildings at 3477 S. 12th Avenue:

(An easy way to get there from western and central parts of Tucson is by taking the I-10 frontage road past downtown, then following the center lanes that dump you onto South 12th in South Tucson. The mural is in the block past 44th Street, on the north wall of a hair stylists' building at the corner with Jetty.)

Because the mural is on a north-facing wall, this (and the narrow space between the buildings) probably have helped shield it from sun — and preserve it for more than 30 years. (Under the artist's name at the upper right is 8,18,81 — which means August 18, 1981.) Mena was about 15 years old when he painted this mural! I had a long talk with another early Tucson muralist at Raices Taller 222 gallery, and I'm looking forward to sharing her stories with you sometime in 2013. She remembered this mural right away; it was in the time when Mena used a point-distance style, she said.

Happy Thanksgiving to you, your family, friends...! (I'm headed for one of my favorite Tucson Turkey-day traditions, the dinner at Govinda's vegetarian buffet. They usually have a live turkey or two wandering the grounds, looking for handouts! I'm not a devout vegetarian, but I do love the food and the setting.)

Update (June 28, 2015): Mark Fleming sent photos and gave the location as the El Gorrion Restaurant parking lot at 3459 South 12th Avenue.

Centro del Sur

These murals are on the northeast corner of 27th Street & 10th Avenue. I took the photos on September 16th. The first mural is in the center; the second is at the north end, and the third is at the south:

House of Neighborly Service, front gate

We've posted three murals at the House of Neighborly Service, 243 W. 33rd St. in South Tucson: on building 1, building 2, and building 5.

This mural is newer than the others, I think. I found it on the front gate on September 16th.

Sweet Disney murals on Dulceria Arco Iris

At 135 W. Ajo Way, these murals of Mickey Mouse and Snow White lurk (sligntly) behind the bushes near the entrance to Dulceria Arco Iris.

I snapped these on a long loop ride through South Tucson September 16th.