Hotel McCoy in progress: 9/12/18

I stopped by the hotel on September 12, 2018, as the murals were in progress. For months before then, I'd heard from artists that the murals would be happening. I stopped by to take photos and then, for months, I tried to sort out which of my photos David Aber had captured when he was there. An unfortunate glitch (the memory card fell out of my cell phone!) meant that I had to rely on Google's reduced-quality “cloud” backups instead of the much better photos on that card. So, about a week ago (mid-February 2019), I decided to just post what I had without my usual careful editing. David has posted a number of these — and with much better quality. So please be sure not to miss his blog posts from the past few months. But I hope this blur of photos — basically, first to last as I walked through, with editing just to remove empty space — to get a feel for what was happening on this amazing place almost six months ago.

Some of these are just outlines of murals to come. (I've changed the outlines to monochrome format from color to help bring out detail. The outlines were drawn on walls.) Those murals may have been more finished by the time that Dave got there.

These are from first to last as I wandered through. If I'd tried to coordinate my notes about each photo with the shots themselves, and with which ones Dave posted in ten separate entries, I'll never get these online! So, without the notes, here goes:

(We say anything that's “flat art on a wall” may be a mural. That's actually a door mat standing upside down against a wall — probably draining after being washed. Whatever. :)

Hotel McCoy X - Odds and Ends

Remaining mural photos taken on various dates.

First sight as you come thru the main entrance.

Welcome Sign by Clint Tzu

 "Day of the Dead" on a utility structure.

"Día de los Muertos" by Jessica Contreras

Last sight as you exit thru the main entrance.

Moon Phase Mural by Daniel Martin Diaz

Not a mural but I couldn't resist

Vintage (1966?) T-Bird in front of the hotel

 Click on any photo for a slideshow of larger and sharper images.

It's likely there will be more installments as murals were still being painted when I last left the Hotel McCoy.

Update (February 18, 2019): Today's Cactus Catz blog entry has a few more photos and info: Monday Murals: Hotel McCoy, Tucson, Arizona

2008 Arizona Daily Star article about this blog

I ran across this article from May 1, 2008:

Former anchor’s site documents city murals

Hotel McCoy IX

More portraits by Jessica Gonzales from Oct. 15, 2018.

Portrait of Quiahuitl Villegas
Quiahuitl is an Aztec word meaning rain

Tarantula

 Portrait of Kari Beth

Palo Verde Beetle

 Portrait of Randy

Praying Mantis

 Portrait of Jewell Finder

Caterpillar

Click on any photo for a slideshow of larger and sharper images.

Arizona Daily Star: Las Artes students focus on GED through art

The article says that the murals program is one of the most successful:

https://tucson.com/news/local/las-artes-students-focus-on-ged-through-art/article_65125d48-103d-11e9-8aa5-5fa730002e82.html

Hotel McCoy VIII

More portraits by Jessica Gonzales from Oct. 15, 2018.

Portrait of Dakin Martin

Centipede

 Portrait of Denise Bermudez

Grasshopper

 Portrait of Dante Celeiro

Sphinx Moth

 Portrait of Monet Simone

Butterfly

Click on any photo for a slideshow of larger and sharper images.

Hotel McCoy VII

A series of portraits by Jessica Gonzales.  Each portrait contains an insect paired with a person based on that person's affinity for a specific insect or one that fits his or her personality.  Photos from Oct. 15, 2018.

Portrait in Progress

Finished portrait of Kendra Maria Olivas Sudano and daughter Ofelia.

The Dragonfly also represents Jessica's own mother.

Dragonfly

 Portrait of Lauren Zampier-Enwright

Scorpion

 Portrait of Lydian Osman Ali

Bee

Click on any photo for a slideshow of larger and sharper images.

Hotel McCoy VI - Why We Live Where We Do

In addition to all of the traditional mural art, there is a poem whose stanzas are between Joe Pagac's murals.

Click on any photo for a slideshow of larger and sharper images.

The many murals of Benson

They're all by the same local artist, Doug Quarles. They're all in a photorealistic style. And they're all over the place! Sara Brown of the Arizona Daily Star just tweeted this Star article from December 15th:

A look at the amazing murals in Benson

Want a glittering Ben's Bells mural?

On Thursday the 10th, Gloria Knott wrote in the Arizona Daily Star that several murals near the now-demolished La Placita complex have been removed for storage:

Due to construction in downtown Tucson, Ben's Bells murals need new homes

Here are links to the photos we have of the murals. I think we might be missing one of them:

• Murals being made, part 8 (Kindness, part 3)
• I am Tucson (Kindness, part 4)
• Ride on, Tucson

(I not only loved the glittering murals. I also loved the multicolored complex of buildings that used to be La Placita. Here's a page from my personal photography site, JerryPeek.com: Lamps of La Placita - Tucson, Arizona. The short "tour" ends with a favorite photo that shows La Placita from the Garces Footbridge crossing Broadway. I'm aiming to update the site to work well on mobile phones, too; I want to keep my "tour" pages like these intact.)

#18in2018 (in 2019)

During mid-2018, two special murals appeared — one in Phoenix and the other in Tucson. These “augmented reality” murals were designed to encourage people who were turning 18 before the November 2018 election to register and vote. By using a smartphone app, visitors could make a video and a photo showing themselves with angel wings. (The wings would be added electronically.) We introduced the mural in our May 21, 2018 blog entry New "augmented-reality" mural on 191 E. Toole but didn't have photos yet. The mural is long gone, but now we do have photos. I took them on July 27, 2018:

The mural and its
“sidebar” with instructions

Close-up of instructions

How does it work? The YouTube video #18in2018 Augmented Reality Mural in Downtown Phoenix shows how:



In case that video has been deleted by the time you see this blog entry, below is a screen shot I took as the video played. (To see the wings flap, you'll need to watch the video.)

Cell phone screen showing
visitor with angel wings

The details, and some examples, are currently on the Citizens Clean Elections Commission website at azcleanelections.gov/en/18in2018. (You can also search for the hashtag #18in2018.) In case that website doesn't survive, here are the instructions that people had:

How it works:

1. Open the Shazam app (download on Apple Store | download on Play Store)
2. Press the camera icon immediately below the Shazam button in the app.
3. Scan the QR code next to the mural on the wall.
4. Have a friend stand between the wings to see the augmented reality animation and snap a photo of them to share.
5. iPhone users are able to video screen capture to record the wings in flight! Click here to learn more. Android users are also able to video screen capture but you will have to download an app for that purpose.

I didn't have a chance to fly try the mural before it was gone.

What these walls don't show (now)

How long will a mural last before it's painted over, faded by sun (especially in the western or southern sky), vandalized, or remodeled out of existence (because the wall is torn down, replaced, etc.)?

191 E. Toole on May 25, 2009

191 E. Toole on May 21, 2015

191 E. Toole on June 02, 2016

You can click on a date, above, to see the original blog entry from that date… with other photos, description, and so on. If you'd like to see all of the photos on that wall, go to the 191 East Toole section of the following page…

I've finished the first part of a new page, Layers of murals: histories of a few walls. It documents walls that have changed over time. It's one of several blog Pages (undated blog entries) that are listed in the section titled “Pages”. You'll find it at the top of the right-side column on every Tucson Murals Project blog screen. (To see it now, just scroll up to the top of the screen now and look near the top-right corner.)

So far, the page only shows the muralific building at 191-197 East Toole Avenue. Next I'll add the east wall of the Rialto Theatre. (On my wishlist is the now-gone Bookman’s location at Grant & Speedway. If you have any photos of the murals that were there over the years, please let me know!)

Murals being made (but not finished!), part 48: Rialto Theatre on Toole?

As I drove by 191 East Toole on May 5, 2018, I spotted a new mural on the right side of the wall that faces the parking lot. It was only partly finished:

The 318 is actually the street address of the Rialto Theatre — which is a few blocks away on Congress, near the corner of Toole, at 318 East Congress.

I went back last week (the end of December, 2018) hoping to see the finished mural. But, as far as I could tell, it looked the same as it did in May. So I'll keep an eye on it!

Update (January 21, 2020): When I stopped by on November 24, 2019, the marquee had performers:

(There's a photo showing more of the wall in today's entry.)

Starting the new year with a flying address in CDMX

Let's start 2019 with a mural from the Roma Norte neighborhood in CDMX (the city government's new name for Mexico City… short for CiuDad de MéXico). It's next to the building entrance. Nice touch, isn't it?

By the way, our definition of “mural” is basically “flat art on a wall.” We also don't usually cover murals outside of Tucson, but I do it once in a while since I travel a lot — and a little variety can be interesting, eh?

Also by the way, this is partly a sneaky way to let you know that the Tucson Mailbox Art blog is being updated again. Today's blog entry there shows details from the fabulously over-the-top Palacio Postal (main post office) in Mexico City.

If you click on the Location below, you'll see it on a map. Happy 2019!

Miles ELC revisited (too late!)

On May 4, 2014, I drove by the west side of Miles Exploratory Learning Center, next to the parking lot along Highland Avenue — and I saw a mural of the world being painted. It was on a small freestanding concrete wall. I posted a photo on March 21, 2014 in Miles ELC: Murals being made, part 23.

Almost exactly four years later — on May 5, 2018 — I drove by again. This time, there was a completely different mural. Unlike the previous half-finished mural I saw in 2014, this one seemed to be finished:

It looks like I need to keep a better eye on this spot!

Advertising murals

¡Saludos de CDMX! (That's the city government's new name for Mexico City. It seems that most people outside the city don't know that though. FYI, anyway.) After a really challenging year, I treated myself to two weeks in one of my favorite cities. I want to thank David Aber very much for picking up the ball as I dropped it a lot this past year. Next year should be much better for me—and, so, less busy for David!!

As you ride along the freeways, and some of the city's streets, you'll notice murals that are actually advertising. Some are blatant, with companies’ names highlighted and really obvious from a distance. Others, like this example from JetBlue Airlines, are subtle. At first, it looks like the skyline of a city with the word Boston:

When you look at the lower right corner, though, you'll see:

(I hope none of you think of making murals like this in Tucson. Right now, the only commercial murals I know of are painted on the side of the building that the mural is advertising. The mural ad here in Mexico City, though, was nowhere near the airport.)

Happy 2019!