El Toro

This is the logo of the Toro Loco (Crazy Bull) restaurant.  It opened Aug. 2 and replaced PaPa Locos.

Photographed inside the restaurant on Oct. 1, 2019.

By Danny Martin

Click on the photo for a larger and sharper image.

La Suprema Mural Reveal this Friday

Isaac Caruso has painted a new mural at La Suprema Works & Events in Barrio Viejo (just south of downtown). The mural unveiling is this Friday, November 15 from 3:30 to 4:30 pm. Here are a picture of the mural and a form to RSVP:

UnitedWayTucson.org/_mural_reveal

Veterans Day mural painted in 2018

I found an entry on the Cactus Catz blog, Wordless Wednesday : Veterans Day - November 15, 2018. It had four photos and a story starting with a photo caption “Monday, as I was walking, I saw a man. [H]e was painting a mural on his wall the names of the fallen. He remembers.”

Though I have permission from Cactus Catz to show her photos, I wasn't able to reach her to ask where the mural is. So I searched Google Maps' Street View. Thank you for sharing these, Mary.

Update (November 9, 2020): I have sad news — and just before Veterans Day 2020. The man who painted this wall (and repainted it over and over) — Robert M. Norwood, age 63, who (as he wrote) about military service “My family has (5) gen. in this. So far (6) lives lost in service to it.” — died after a passerby thought he was spray-painting graffiti and fought with him. Here's the story from the Arizona Daily Star: Tucson police: Man mistaken for graffiti vandal dies in Election Day clash.

Crooked Tooth Brewing Co.

The mural is on the west wall of 228 E. 6th St. as seen from N. Arizona Ave. The mural was begun in April of 2019 but remains unfinished as of Oct. 1.

Photographed on 10/01/2019.

By Danny Martin

Click on the photo for a larger and sharper image.

A mural that hides something

Yesterday Joe Pagac wrote on Twitter: “Painting a 250,000 gallon water tank out at the Tanque Verde Guest Ranch to make it disappear!” Here's a link to the before-and-after photos on Instagram:

instagram.com/p/B4i0flaAehx/

Update (August 7, 2020): There are photos of the finished mural in today's entry Tanked.

Maybe a mural, part 82: Cattletown Steakhouse & Saloon

If a mural is paint on a wall, this piece of (what looks like) leather doesn't qualify because it's lashed to a wooden frame that's fastened to the wall. But maybe not. We'll let you make up your own mind!

David Aber emailed the photo on August 30th.

Vampire Bat

Found at the rear of 300 E. 6th St., Tucson, AZ. Artist not known.

This same mural has appeared in two other posts on the Tucson Murals Project.  Surrounded by murals: our 700th post and End-to-end Plush art, 2013 and before.  In both instances, the colors have changed and, or, faded.

Photographed on May 29, 2019. We saved it for Halloween.

Click on the photo for a larger and sharper image.

Sonoran Brunch Co.

The Sonoran Brunch Co. has recently opened a Diner that replaces Poco & Mom's on S. Kolb Rd.  The mural is on a shipping container on the south side of the building.

Photographed on Oct. 17, 2019

Painted by Danny Martin

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

Update (June 27, 2021): BG Boyd Photography sent two more photos of the mural:

Update (June 7, 2022): Ken Kroeger (click there to visit his Facebook page) sent a high-resolution photo of the mural. I've cropped out parts of it to show more detail:

Thank you, Ken!

Residential Mural

Residence at 8102 E. Julia St. as seen from S. Sherwood Village Dr.

Photographed on 10/01/2019.

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DeGrazia chapel reopens

The fire-damaged chapel, which was lined with murals by Ted DeGrazia, has reopened. A Catholic Mass and a formal rededication of the mission are planned for December 8th. Here are two articles from the Arizona Daily Star with photos and the story of the restoration:

DeGrazia's chapel, a Tucson landmark for prayers and weddings, reopens after fire

Photos: DeGrazia Mission in the Sun, fire and restoration

"The Cactus Comet Rides Again"

Art Luppino, "The Cactus Comet", led the nation in rushing in 1954 and 1955. He wore jersey no. 22, now retired at the U of A.  The mural is located at the SE corner of Arizona Stadium behind Gate 6.

Photographed on Sept. 19, 2019.

Painted by Danny Martin. Photo by Miguel Arias.

Click on the photo for a larger and sharper image.

There's a video of the mural being painted in our blog entry Video: Danny Martin mural at Arizona Stadium.

Video: Danny Martin mural at Arizona Stadium

From Twitter:

Inspired by program history with a touch of Tucson 🎨

Come see it in person at Arizona Stadium!#BearDown pic.twitter.com/b8j0ZPX9Ht

— Arizona Athletics (@AZATHLETICS) September 17, 2019

Update (October 18, 2019): There's a photo of the completed mural in today's entry "The Cactus Comet Rides Again".

Weed & Seed

The  Weed and Seed Program is intended to help communities by weeding out crime and seeding sites with crime prevention programs.  This tile mural was found on S. 4th Ave. at the intersection of E. 34th St., City of South Tucson.  Photo taken on April 22, 2019.

Painted by Gonzalo Espinosa

Click on photo for a larger and sharper image.

MOCA's wall on fire

The Museum of Contemporary Art, Tucson, is housed in a former fire station downtown. (If you haven't been there, check it out. It's an interesting gallery space with tall fire door/windows.) On the two halves of their west wall are firey orange murals. Here's the left (north) side, then the right:

(The photos' colors are even more vivid than in real life because I was there near sunset and because I used my camera's HDR mode — High Dynamic Range — to try to capture more detail in both the shadows and sunlit parts.)

I was there for a hot summer event on June 20th.

Ohana

This neighborhood mural is on the east side of Sarnoff Drive, just north of the corner with Calexico Street. I rolled by (and stopped!) on June 21, 2019.

I searched the Internet for “Ohana.” The word is being used a lot these days. Wikipedia says “Ohana is the sense of family in Hawaiian culture.” But I found another web page that argues The Word 'Ohana Is A Modern Invention. Whatever.

In the middle of the mural is “Love Ya” followed by what looks like a heart with a question mark over it. Hmmm:

Train Engineer and Onlooker

I've taken two photos of this mural almost 5 years apart. The original artist was Joe Pagac who told Jerry Peek that "It was tagged and then a very talented young artist who goes by Rose Kaiotii did the updated repaint." You can find it at the SW intersection of E. Alameda St., N. 6th Ave. and E. Toole Ave.

Photographed 09/21/2014

Painted by Joe Pagac

 Photographed 05/29/2019

Updated repaint by Rose Kaiotii

The face and clothing of the onlooker have changed dramatically.  Here are the before and after photos:

Although not a self-portrait, the clothing and tattoos on the right appear to be the same as those worn by the artist.

Click on any photo for larger and sharper images.

"A" Mountain and a giant fork

I've heard that each Trader Joe's store has an artist on staff. When I look around the store — at the shelf tags, for instance — I think it might be true. That's a mural above the shopping carts outside. Next, a couple of closeups:

I snapped the photos on June 23rd.

Tortilleria Don Juan

The artist, Jilmar Alaniz, happened to be in the restaurant at the time I took this photo on May 27, 2019.  He came out and we talked for a while.  And that's how I found out the mural is a portrait of the owner's parents.

The father (Juan) and mother (Che)

Click on the photo for a larger and sharper image.

Update by Jerry (May 6, 2022): There's an unfinished mural next to the store entrance: Panaderia at a tortilleria

Update by Jerry (May 1, 2024): A second location on Prince Road was open for about two years. There's a photo in today's post Adios, Carniceria Don Juan II.

Hem & Her

Back on July 13, 2016, the Tucson Mailbox Art blog showed a giant pair of scissors underneath a mailbox. Since then, the obviously fun-loving owners of Hem & Her Bridal have painted a mural on the wall at the north side of their parking lot:

I zipped by (and stopped) on May 16, 2019.

Murals being made, part 53: Mural lovers

Back on October 5, 2016, I posted (Not) Mural Lovers, part 3. I had seen a business sign that was apparently put on top of a Ben's Bells mural: the third one in their “kindness corridor.” I was outraged, so I wrote that entry.

Soon I heard that the new business owner had simply replaced the former business sign and left the mural as it was. But I just ran across a folder on my computer (I'm going through old folders to find murals I haven't posted) with photos of the mosaic mural being installed. I'm not sure whether I got them from Ben's Bells or from the former store owner, but I'm basically 100% sure that I wouldn't have saved them if I didn't have permission to post them to this blog. So here they are:

First Thursday Art Walk, Jeanette Maré & Maggie Gedbeou

Ben's Bells Studio Manager, Colleen Corlin, applying mirror to the Kindness Tree mural design

Ben's Bells Executive Director Jeannette Maré

Ben's Bells Executive Director Jeannette Maré, CTP Student Joe Cox & KOLD News 13 Reporter Lauren Burgoyn

The photos were on a flyer saying, in part, “The mural installation was open to the public and several passers-byers had the opportunity to put mosaic pieces on the wall.” A hidden comment in the first photo's data said "Photo from Amy Collinsworth of Ben's Bells". Thanks, Amy! The captions above are from the flyer.

I don't have a date, but it must be before the photo I posted in October 2016.