Way out west (or east?)

We don't have many murals from the far east side of town — partly because I almost never go that way on my bicycle. Thanks to David Aber, though, here's a mural on the side of Tucson Pool & Spa:

He wrote: “The mural is old and faded. I had to enhance the photo to bring out as many details as possible.” And there are lots of details! An army of critters, from a spider and a scorpion on up, are looking on jealously — or climbing in! — to join the cowboy in the tank (or is it a spa?):

Great catch, Dave.

Update (March 26, 2021): I found an aerial view from BG Boyd Photography, who sent me a larger version:

Thank you, BG!

Ash Alley (Tucson's Greenwich Village) close-ups

Mark Fleming just pointed out an article on page 47 of the November Zócalo magazine titled Ash Alley: Tucson's Greenwich Village by Steve Renzi.

After World War II, the article says, Tucson grew. New artists and craftspeople needed a place. The area around one-block Ash Alley came to include studios and an outdoor gallery. It even had its own newspaper, the Ash Alley Bugle. Two of the first newcomers to Ash Alley — and the last to leave, in 1977 — were Jack and Sally Petty. Outside Petty's Studio Gallery was a mural that included three smiling frogs.

On December 29, 2008, Randy posted a photo of the mural — but only a rough location. Five years later — January 21, 2014 — I posted another photo with the exact location. Along with this week's email about the Zócalo article, Mark sent along five photos of his own. The date stored along with the images says that he took them on November 9th.

First, the whole mural (what's left of it). Then, close-ups from left to right:

(I edited the second photo to lighten the shadow at top and darken the rest.) Many thanks, Mark!

More mural from CostLess

Last time, we saw Mark Fleming's photos of a great mural by the parking lot at CostLess Auto Parts. But that's not all! He spotted a mural on a wall in the alley just south of the store:

I'm guessing that Mark couldn't step back far enough to catch all of the mural at once. Here are the left and right sides:

Both sides have been tagged. :-(

Great mural at CostLess Auto Parts

A couple of months ago, Mark Fleming (thanks, Mark!) sent photos of a wall at CostLess Auto Parts. It has a new mural. (Here's the old one in 2010.) First, his overall view:

And details:

But there's more! We'll show it next time.

Lots of murals on the Tucson Daily Photo blog!

Last week I came across another blog with Tucson mural photos — lots of them. It's Tucson Daily Photo ~ (with a tilde character on the end).

Not all of the photos are murals. To see only murals, search for the Mural label (you can click there). After you've scrolled through a page of photos, you can see more by clicking “Older posts” at the bottom of that page.

Plenty of murals on Tucson Daily Photo aren't here on Tucson Murals Project — though a few of them may be eventually. Some of those murals are gone now. If you'd like to see the murals that aren't on Tucson Murals Project, here are links. When you click on a link, it should open in a new window or tab; when you close that window or tab, this list should still be here.

1. 16 September 2014: Cowgirl angel (San Xavier)
2. 18 May 2014: Maybe it's not seeing the forest for the trees (Park Place Mall)
3. 06 May 2014: Sad piece of Tucson history (Wildcat School closing)
4. 19 November 2013: Tucson's Freshest, Newest Mural (closeups are coming on Tucson Murals Project)
5. 05 July 2013: At the Corner of 4th and Food (Google Maps shows this as 600 S. 4th Avenue)
6. 17 June 2013: Tucson's own Leonardo (Compass High School)
7. 05 June 2013: The eternal question
8. 14 March 2013: 2 photos: Colorful, loving tributes (Pima Council on Aging)
9. 23 February 2013: Permanent rug (Pima County OneStop Center)
10. 12 November 2012: Garage wisdom (St. Joseph's hospital garage)
11. 11 November 2012: Colorful, cheerful, fun - yes, a hospital! (St. Joseph's hospital)
12. 11 July 2012: Sun stripes (Tucson Village Farm)
13. 07 June 2012: Feel the love (South Tucson)
14. 15 April 2012: Tucson treasure ~ locally brewed beer (Nimbus Brewing Co. on Tanque Verde)
15. 22 October 2011: Three really big black cats (Inez Ford Elementary School)
16. 19 October 2011: Deep in Brazil? Nope ~ Williams Center (Savaya Coffee Bar)
17. 04 May 2011: The wolves are coming to town (Rialto Theatre)
18. 19 January 2011: Tucson folk lore ~ the Iron Door Mine (Rialto Theatre)
19. 10 January 2011: Tucson's shy superhero (Fantasy Comics)
20. 13 October 2010: A rose by any other name (Bookmans)
21. 15 May 2010: Side door to Pair-a-Dice Barbers
22. 03 May 2010: Bookman's Fantasy Murals ~ gone forever
23. 27 February 2010: Street Art ~ or rather...Interstate Hwy Art (I-10 near 22nd St. exit)
24. 28 January 2010: Rest, contemplate, enjoy Tucson's sun (St. Philip's Plaza)
25. 28 January 2010: Walking on fruits, flowers, fish & sunshine (St. Philip's Plaza)
26. 27 January 2010: Luscious planters with luscious plantings! (St. Philip's Plaza)
27. 13 January 2010: Dr Volt's partner in crime ~ the Evil Queen (Bookmans)
28. 12 January 2010: Tucson's Own Evil Wizard lives at Grant & Campbell (Bookmans)
29. 13 October 2009: Tucson's Parthenon & Pinto Bean (Bookmans)
30. 10 October 2009: "X" Marks the Spot ~ Martini time
31. 04 September 2009: Tucson's Ancient Parthenon (Bookmans)
32. 14 August 2009: Tucson's Blood Sport ~ Mr Be-header (Bookmans)
33. 27 July 2009: Tucson's Own Dragon Slayer (Bookmans)
34. 06 July 2009: Brilliant Colors ~ Powerful Message (Mansfield Park)
35. 30 June 2009: These flowers are always in bloom ... (Dunham Elementary School)
36. 29 June 2009: Everyone loves a polka dotted dino (Dunham Elementary School)
37. 15 June 2009: Tucson's Super Girl ~ Mask, Boots, Flute (Chicago Store)

The Tucson Daily Photo blog started on 06 June 2009. Thanks to the author, Website Editor: Wordsmith!

Rolling into BICAS

Since we posted the March 26, 2013 photos of the BICAS building (Bicycle Inter-Community Art and Salvage; their website is bicas.org)
I stopped by again on September 6, 2013. Here's a new mural I found on a piece of wood next to the entrance:

To see more fun art, stop by this coming weekend — November 8-9, 2014 — when BICAS will be part of the annual fall Open Studio Tour.

The web on north 4th

I found this Halloween-like scene on Christmas Day, 2013:

It's the front of the former Johnny Ray's Tattoo & Piercing (which was for lease when I stopped by).

Steinfeld Warehouse revisited (and re-energized)

Back on June 7, 2010, we showed a mural on the west side of the Steinfeld Warehouse, with deep shadows. Here's a softer version from September 28, 2014:

On the north side, along 6th Street, some paste-ups:

Ten years later, the mural in the first photo is standing up to the strong west-facing sun that can fade murals. Here are two detail photos that I took today:

Update (September 2, 2024): Today's post Steinfeld Warehouse workers has many photos of the mural 10 years later. (It's in amazingly good shape.)

Beautifying I-19

Freeways used to be mostly a bunch of asphalt and concrete. But both I-10 and I-19 in Tucson — as well as other parts of Arizona — have started sprouting art. Here's an example from the southbound side of I-19 at the Valencia Road offramp:

There's more art on the northbound side. But stopping along a freeway, taking photos, and then running across to the other side to take more, isn't a great idea... so I have just this one shot. I grabbed it on August 8, 2013 — from a car headed for Nogales, not on my bike!

Behind Borderlands

Just over a year ago — October 18, 2013 — I took some photos around Borderlands Brewing Company, along the tracks at 7th & Toole. Last month — September, 2014 — Mark Fleming sent me an update.

I drove up Toole to see what had changed. The paste-up mural from two years ago had fallen apart; to the left of it was the newer mural Mark photographed:

Here's the close-up that Mark sent:

Update (March 10, 2015) @JoePagac just tweeted a link to an Instagram photo of him repainting part of this wall by the tracks. Just by coincidence, I caught some photos of the whole wall — but without Joe. I'll post those photos, and the completed wall, in the next few weeks.

By the way, you can see more photos of Joe and some of his work at instagram.com/joepagac/.

Update (April 1, 2015): Joe is finished with the mural. I have a copy of a tweet (from Twitter) showing him finishing up: Joe Pagac finishing Borderlands Brewing mural.

Roadrunner's back

Twice over the years, we've shown murals at the Roadrunner Hostel & Inn: July, 2008 and May, 2009. We haven't posted the mural in back, by their little parking lot:

(As always, you can click on the photo for a larger view.)

This is one of a few lost mural photos that I just found. It's from August 7, 2013.

South 6th & Michigan, 2000-2014

First, some good news: Thanks to all of the photos that David Aber and Mark Fleming have been sending me, I'm going to start posting murals twice a week.

Last week, Mark emailed a photo of a mural I recognized. It's on South 6th Avenue, on the southwest corner of a building that's now a beauty shop. We already have photos online of the mural in 2000 and 2010:

Memorial at a tattoo parlor (2000)

In Memory of Crystal (2010)

Here's Mark's photo of the mural this year:

Oury Community Center repainted

The longstanding mural on the east wall of the community center at Oury Park (one of the first murals on this blog: here's the 2006 page Ooh... Ahh... More Oury Park) was fading. In 2013, the city of Tucson made repairs (details below). Last month, Mark Fleming sent close-ups of parts of the repainted mural. What a change in the color!

The repainted mural isn't exactly like the previous version. For instance, compare the last photo above, from 2014, to this edited version of Randy's photo from 2006:

The United Farm Workers eagle is black; it used to be red. The man at right is clean-shaven; he used to have a mustache and goatee.

After Mark sent me the photos, I stopped by the mural to get a photo of one section he didn't photograph. It was a cloudy day — September 28 — so the color didn't look as brilliant as in his shots:

I haven't been able to find a photo of the whole mural. (And now that there's a roof over the basketball court in front of the mural, it'll be hard to get a photo of the whole mural.) I did find some of the building's history and a photo of the south side of the mural as it was being restored. It's about two-thirds of the way down the city of Tucson's page Preservation of Historic Buildings and Structures. (For a much bigger version of the photo, click there.)

I also found two older close-up photos by David Lee Guss at pixels.com:

• Left center, from 1987
• Center, 1977

If you have any old photos of this magnificent mural, please let me know!

Update (October 15, 2014): David Aber sent a photo that shows almost all of the repainted mural:

(As always, you can click on the photo for a bigger view.)

The rise and fall of Oury Park's murals

More than eight years ago — July 13, 2006 — one of Randy Garsee's first entries on this blog was The Amazing, Fantastical, Beautiful Oury Park Mural. David Aber sent a recent photo of a part of this amazing mural. You can see the same part by looking at the last photo in Randy's post (above). Here are David's photo and what he wrote:

"Much to my surprise, I discovered it’s not a mural. It’s a mosaic.

"Attached is a photo by way of illustration. The years have not been kind. Many of the tiles have detached and fallen to the ground.

"It’s not really important to me whether it’s a mural or a mosaic. My larger point is the amount of time and effort that had to have gone into attaching thousands of mosaic tiles to such a large work of art. Why would they do that?

"If it was important to the artists and the neighborhood, why is it allowed to fall into such disrepair?"

I did some searching and found photos of the mosaic tiles and the making of the mural at Hozhographos Studio.

Last week, I stopped by the mural. Not all of the mural is damaged yet, but some sections are. I tried to contact Hozhographos Studio, but the email bounced back and the phone number listed on the website doesn't connect. What a shame!

Some damaged spots:

I've heard that TPAC is working on the problem.

More on this story — another “rise!” — next week.

Murals Through Our Parents' Eyes

Years ago, the University of Arizona put a series of pages online called Through Our Parents' Eyes: History & Culture of Southern Arizona. Part of the site are six pages on Chicano Murals in Tucson. From there are links to six early muralists — Antonio Pazos, David Tineo, Luis Gustavo Mena with Paul Lira, Martin Moreno, and Roberto Castillo. Each page has mural photos by James S. Griffith.

It's worth a look. (And, by the way, we're always looking for historic murals and stories. This blog started in 2006, and we've only found a few older photos since. Please contact me; thanks.)

...and the south side

Last week, we saw the north side of Arizona 1 Automotive & Repair. Here's the south side overall...

...and close-up:

The photos are from Mark Fleming.

New Superheroes on South Sixth

Back on December 17, 2011, we posted a photo of three panels on the north side of Arizona 1 Automotive Repair. Fast-forward three years, to earlier this month: Mark Fleming sent a photo of the new mural on that wall...

Here are closeups:

I drove by a week ago. The right side of the mural — the last photo above — has been tagged. :-( At least you can enjoy it here, thanks to Mark.

Coming next: the opposite (south) side of the building.

Fading on Fourth

Mark Fleming sent a lot of new mural photos this past week. (Thanks so much, Mark!) This one is a street scene, pasted on a wall of 2302 South 4th. The bits of green around the edges are in front of the mural, and the wall behind it is showing. With the shape it's in — part on the wall, and part peeling off — I don't know how much longer it'll last.

Maybe a mural, part 61: gate by Dave Aber

Hardly anyone would call a gate a “mural.” But, from time to time, we include “flat” art that's not paint or tile on a wall. Here’s a photo from Dave Aber of a gate you’ll want to keep your distance from:

It’s covered with swords and etc.

Thanks to Dave for helping to keep this blog lively until I can get back to photography! And if you have a photo of a mural (or some flat art) that you haven’t spotted on this blog, please email it to me: infoATtucsonartDOTinfo (replace AT with @ and DOT with .).