Around the corner at MSA Annex

Last time we saw Black Lives Matter murals on the west side of the Mercado San Agustin Annex. Here's a mural from the east end of the north side:

The artist's name is Yu Yu Shiratori. She titled the mural “Stillness.” (Her Instagram is @yuyu_shiratori. You don't need an account to click and scroll through.) For further info from the Southern Arizona Japanese Cultural Coalition, read Stillness.

I was there on July 7th.

Goodbye Tucson Arts Brigade, TAB murals restored

A year or so ago, I saw a brief message from Executive Director Michael B. Schwartz of the Tucson Arts Brigade. Apparently TAB was shutting down, though I wasn't quite sure. I tried to find news online for a while but found nothing definite. Yesterday, David Aber found this post from Michael dated August 22, 2020:

What ever hapened to Tucson Arts Brigade?

I'm sorry to see TAB go. They did a lot of good.

In January 2016, Michael demanded that I remove all of the photos of TAB murals from this blog. (He later disputed that.) Although I believe he can't control photos of public art that aren't taken for profit (see yesterday's blog entry, Photographing public art: is it allowed?, for some perspective), I did what he asked. Now I've restored the photos. If you'd like to revisit those blog entries, here they are. (After you visit each page, you can click your "back" button to return here.)

• September 14, 2006: My First E-mailed Mural Pic!!!
• May 22, 2009: Ironic, isn't it?
• June 19, 2011: Barrio Centro mural unveiling
• March 14, 2012: 29th Street overpass and mural project
• September 16, 2012: TAB grand opening, overpass update
• September 29, 2012: Murals being made, part 9: TAB on Tucson Blvd.
• February 02, 2015: A treat on Treat… and more to come
• February 16, 2015: Murals being made, part 26: Jeane Cohen at CCA
• February 19, 2015: More from Central City Assembly
• August 03, 2015: Walkway treat: Treat Walkway

While I'm at it, here are blog entries about TAB that came later. The photos were never removed from these entries:

• Bronx Wash (Although the credits panel doesn't mention TAB, Michael Schwartz was listed as lead artist… and this is a group project): March 14, 2011, December 19, 2016, December 21, 2016, December 23, 2016, March 16, 2018, April 24, 2020
• February 02, 2015: A treat on Treat… and more to come
• August 03, 2015: Walkway treat: Treat Walkway
• Summer 2016: (Downtown) Murals being made, parts… 31: Niki Glen, 32: Issac Caruso, 33: Jessica Gonzales, 34: Rock Martinez, 35: Ignacio Garcia, 36: Rachel, Tim and Alexandra, 37: Luis Mena, 38: To-Ree-Nee Wolf Keiser
• March 15, 2019: "Sugar Hill"

Photographing public art: is it allowed?

David Aber found this really useful article. I can't guarantee that it's legally exactly correct. But it gives lots of examples that make sense. By the way, it's a Microsoft Word file… your browser may or may not be able to open it:

https://indyarts.org/docman/artist-services/85-blog-post-re-public-art-copyrights/file

(If you can't open Microsoft Word files and you're using a computer, you might want to get the excellent free package called LibreOffice; download that file and open it in LibreOffice. On a phone — Android, at least — there are a number of apps… if you don't have one, try searching for "Office". Finally, if you trust Google to see your documents, check out Google Docs, which is available on a number of platforms.)

BLM murals on MSA Annex (Murals being made, part 55)

Back on June 5th, I heard that Black Lives Matter murals were going to be painted at the Mercado San Agustin Annex that weekend. I got there on Saturday the 6th and found artists working:

I went back on July 7th to snap the finished murals. My first two photos had glare from the sun, so I took them again on September 13th:

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

Here's an article from AZ Weekend with more info: Murals with a message: Artists paint downtown in support of Black Lives Matter

Update (June 23, 2023): Today's post Morphing MSA murals shows what happened in the area around these murals between 2019 and 2023. One of these murals is gone; there's also a new one.

A monster and a rose

Empire Tattoo has a mural above the store entrance:

Here's a closeup:

I was there May 10th.

Teatime for the bugs

Sarah Herr emailed this photo on Sunday, September 20. The hidden data in the photo says she took it that morning. “Finding murals has been a good antidote for COVID gym closures,” she wrote.

What a fun mural! Thank you, Sarah.

TucsonLifestyle: Making It Matter

I just found this July 25 magazine article about Joe Pagac facilitating Black Lives Matter murals and muralists:

Making It Matter

Roy Metcalfe repainted

February 7, 2014, we published a photo of a faded mural on Roy Metcalfe Automotive. Sometime since then, it was repainted. I spotted it on May 10th while I was photographing the murals on the Chicago Bar next door (which, confusingly, had the same street address):

The artist who repainted it (but didn't do the previous mural) was Gabrielle Ames. As it turns out, she also painted the Chicago Bar murals next door.

"Rhythms of Nature"

The City of Tucson requires that 1% of the budget of a Capital Improvement Project be set aside for public art.  Thus, the East Broadway Road Improvement Project between Camino Seco and Houghton Rd. has included six public art installations.  They were created by Niki Glen Studios.  Niki calls them "Concrete Sculptures".  I call them murals.  Whether you agree, or not, I think you will find them interesting.

"The Bountiful Desert"

Desert Life

Sundial

Waterfall

Desert Stream

Not a mural, but interesting nonetheless.

Photographed on July 27 and Aug. 30, 2020.

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

Video: KGUN9 interviews Joe Pagac and Ignacio Garcia

KGUN9 TV starts their story Growing mural scene earns Tucson national reputation with a interesting video interview with Tucson muralists Joe Pagac and Ignacio Garcia.

The rest of the article says some things I don't agree with. For instance, it says Tucson has “a dozen artists credited with nearly 60 murals throughout the city.” We easily have more than 100 artists, and this blog has around 1,500 murals (though not all of them still exist). It mentions the City of Tucson's mural map, which shows 25 of those murals… this blog's mural map shows many hundreds.

It's great to spread the word about Tucson murals! I wrote to KGUN9 and suggested they check this blog to find more murals and muralists.

Sahuaro H. S.

Sahuaro High School students painted this one.  I wasn't able to find their names.  Nor was I able to find a title for the mural.  Sahuaro High is located at 545 N. Camino Seco.  The mural can only be seen from E. Vicksburg St. and it was photographed on May 1, 2020.

Complete Mural

Left Half

Right Half

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

Your * Planet Next!!

David Aber spotted this amazing mural online and let me know. I'd been to Gospel Supplies, the store on Broadway… this mural turned out to be in the alley behind it. I stopped by on May 10th. What an obscure place for a great mural! Here are closeups, left to right:

Again, note that the mural isn't at the front of the address below (Gospel Supplies). It's in the alley behind:

Cuppa Coffee

Found at the "Barrista del Barrio" and photographed on April 15, 2020.

Painted by Alejandra Trujillo

Click on the photo for a larger and sharper image.

Murals being made, part 54: Monster trucks! Close up!!

On January 7th, David Aber spotted a logo and two trucks on the west wall of TCR II Suspension Brake & Alignment:

Although it wasn't obvious when he took that photo, the mural wasn't finished. I drove by on May 10th as the sun rose over the building and saw that the artist had added a dune buggy and a background:

There was glare from the sun at the top of the first photo, so I decided to go back on August 14th to get a better photo… thinking that the mural was finished when I saw it in May. Oops again. The artist had filled in the background:

Is it finally finished?? I could go inside the store to ask, but I'd rather leave you in suspense. :) Stay tuned.

Peace Through Yoga

Found in the alley behind the "Modern Mystic Yoga Academy".  The mural is by Jules Muck.  She is a well known graffiti, mural and fine artist based in Venice, California.  She is also known widely as "muckrock".

Photographed on April 15, 2020

By Jules Muck

Click on the photo for a larger and sharper image.

Maybe a mural, part 83: Desert mosaic mailbox post

Yesterday's entry in the Tucson Mailbox Art blog showed a mailbox on Sandario Road with beautiful mosaics on two sides of the mailbox post. You might or might not think of a mailbox post as a mural… we often say that flat art can count as a mural. Whatever you think, here are the mosaics:

…daytime and nighttime views, with critters to match. (The sunlit plants at the bottom of the daytime view are real.) As always, you can click on a photo for a larger view. Nice, eh?

Thanks to David Aber for finding the mailbox and sending the great photos. He took them on April 2, 2020.

Public mural you can't see (at TMC)

Until the pandemic struck, you could go inside Tucson Medical Center to admire the art that lines their hallways (the Healing Art Program… click there to see a series of web pages showing some of the art). Jeff Christensen created and donated this mosaic mural in the pediatric courtyard:

Thanks to Jeff for the photo. When I asked for details, he wrote:

it’s my first mural. I started taking classes at Santa Teresa Tile works About 2 years ago. Making tile is very therapeutic. I was inspired by some of the artists at Santa Teresa Tile Works and comics by David Fitzsimmons. I work next door from Tucson Medical Center at Encompass Health Rehabilitation Institute. I know what great work TMC does, so it was a real delight when they accepted my donation and allowed me to put it in their pediatric court yard. I also enjoy customizing garden and memorial benches with my tile. I also enjoy making holiday ornaments. I do not have a website yet, but I am starting to get together an online business called Maggie Mae Mosaics. Unfortunately I do not have this set up yet, however if someone wants information they can reach me at smokingbulldog2@gmail.com.

Rialto-style marquee on Toole goes all “Black Lives Matter”

In November, 2019, the northwest wall of 191 East Toole had a new marquee mural in the style of the Rialto Theatre marquee on Congress Street:

I've driven by it a zillion times. Like I do with any mural, I glance as I go by to see if it's changed. But, when I saw Rob Allen's new video this past weekend, I realized that I hadn't looked closely enough:

So I stopped by that morning, Saturday the 15th, to snap a photo.

Jimmy Stewart's Weather Bus

On May 29th, out mural-hunting, I had car problems. While I waited for a tow, I looked a ways across Columbus and saw…

…TV meterologist Jimmy Stewart on the side of a school bus. I walked over, as close as I could get, and saw Arizona Daily Star cartoonist David Fitzsimmons' inimitable style:

I think the bus belongs to the Angel Charity Place for Girls.

New video: Desert Delirium - The Surreal Murals of Tucson, AZ

A month ago, we published one of our most popular entries in quite a while: Murals of Tucson video by TucsonAerial.com. Here's another mostly-aerial video that I think you'll like:



You can also click here: https://youtu.be/GoL5JtJZkrM.

Rob Allen sent that link. He just released the video a week ago. (You can tell by scenes like the murals in progress on the wall of 197 East Toole.) Thanks, Rob!