El Pais Motel

This is not your typical motel. The entrance is lined with pink flamingoes and a lyric from the B-52s. Inside are rooms with whimsical names, each with its own mural; vintage trailers; and even a swimming pool with a mural on the bottom. El Pais supports artists in any way they can, and artists have obviously gone all-out to paint great murals.

This mural, on a wall facing Benson Highway, was the first one painted here. The artist was Alejandra Trujillo (@atrujillo_art on Instagram):

At the entrance, from the B-52s (created by Gabrielle Ames):

Not far from the entrance on the left is the clubhouse. Here's what's outside, painted by Jessi (on Instagram @arterosas_, with an underscore at the end):

On the far side of the clubhouse is a covered seating area with a mural by Lyn Sweet (her Instagram has changed to @lynthesweet):

To go along with the vintage trailers — and the spaceship in the mural above — is one of the first electric cars. Randy L. Barton (@randy_boogie on Instagram) painted it:

Randy posted photos of the unpainted and painted car, as well as two videos of it being painted, on his Instagram. (Click there to see it. To see all, drag or use the arrows at right and left edges.)

Many of the guestrooms have their own name and a mural to go with it. From the front of the motel to the back, the first room with a name and mural is “Musician,” painted by Alejandra Trujillo:

Next, the “Comic Book room,” another by Alejandra Trujillo:

The Streamline Moderne room (after the art-deco style Streamline Moderne) has its mural by David Suggs (@suggscess on Instagram):

The “Casita de Khalo” is named for Mexican artist/icon Frida Kahlo. It's by Gabrielle Ames:

At the far end of the building with guestrooms is another mural by David Suggs:

The property was closed during August, so there was no need to keep the pool clean (from all of the dust blown in by the monsoon). The dust made it tough to photograph the mural on the bottom, painted by Gabrielle Ames… but there are (currently, at least) photos on the murals page of her website. The wall behind the pool has another of Gabrielle's murals, though… and yes, that's a mannequin in front:

The pool safety sign actually came from the previous owners, but it fit right in:

The motel's website elpaismotel.com has some fun photos, and the Arizona Daily Star article Mom-daughter team transforming Tucson trailer park into vintage gem has more info and photos.

The motel is private property with paying guests, so the owners ask that you not look around on your own. You can contact them for a tour, though. My tour was on August 2nd.

Joe Pagac paints his old neighborhood (Murals being made, part 65)

Joe Pagac grew up in the neighborhood right across the street from Himmel Park. So he was excited to paint a mural on the swimming pool there. He finished it earlier this summer. I took that photo of the finished mural on July 26th. (As always, you can click on the photo for a larger view.)

Thanks to BG Boyd Photo for these photos of the mural taking shape:

Here are the other photos I took on July 26th, from the left (north) end to the right (south):

Muralists on Murals: Alfonso Chavez

Arizona Illustrated, from AZPM (Arizona Public Media), published this video on YouTube February 7, 2021: “Muralist and community organizer Alfonso Chavez shares his three favorite murals in Tucson. They come from different eras and have different styles but all tell stories that challenge the dominant cultural narrative.”



If you can't see the video above or would like a link, here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edxte71QBWw

Benjamin Franklin

North wall of Frey Financial by David Aber. Look closely as there are many subtle details.

By Ignacio Garcia

I visited the mural on February 25th and took several photos — including these two close-ups:

Click on any photo for larger and sharper images.

Posts updated to include aerial photos

In the last month or two, there've been a number of posts with photos — mostly aerial — from BG Boyd Photo, a specialist in drone photography. I've also updated posts that already were on the blog which didn't have aerial photos. Below is a list of those updated posts. Click on the title to see that post. After you've looked at a post, you can use your "back" arrow to come back here. (And thanks to Max Pixel for the drone photo.)

• Way out west (or east?) (November 13, 2014)
• (Downtown) Murals being made, part 32: Issac Caruso (June 16, 2016)
• (Downtown) Murals being made, part 35: Ignacio Garcia (June 27, 2016)
• Roller Rink (September 7, 2018)
• Sonoran Brunch Co. (October 29, 2019)
• Tanked (October 7, 2020)
• Roses & More is no more (March 4, 2021)
• Murals being made, part 62: More animals on bicycles (May 7, 2021)
• Murals being made, part 60: "Now Hiring" (June 4, 2021)
• Murals being made, part 63: Connections (June 25, 2021)
• Goodbye, Corbett Elementary (June 29, 2021)

Thanks once more to BG for all of these great photos!

La Esquina

The mural on the north wall of Taqueria La Esquina is based on the Mexican holiday "Dia de los Muertos" (Day of the Dead).

Artistry by Wagon Burner Arts

 

 

Click on the photo for a larger and sharper image.

Public art from TABY coming to South 12th

TABY — Transportation Art by Youth — is a summer project along South 12th Avenue. Youth artists have created public art that you'll see between Irvington and Drexel Roads.

Although these aren't strictly “murals,” I thought you'd enjoy them anyway. :) (If you haven't spent much time in South Tucson: There's a lot of art — murals and more — to be seen.) Here's an introduction to each of the artists and their work: https://artsfoundtucson.org/meet-the-2021-taby-youth-artists/

Another painted intersection: 8th Avenue & 25th Street

A week ago, we showed a painted intersection in South Tucson: 8th Ave. & 36th St. There's another one 11 blocks north, at 25th Street, on the northwest corner of Ochoa Elementary. Here's the view from the south and a couple of close-ups:

Only two of the four corners are painted. This is the northeast corner:

Next, the southwest corner — with the school in the background. There's also a close-up of the footprints that lead to (I'm guessing) the school mascot:

I stopped by on July 23rd.

Update (August 18, 2021): KGUN9 TV aired a story about muralist Mel Melo Dominguez:

Here's a link to the story in its own window: South Tucson muralist paints the pride of his community.

Rock "Cyfi" Martinez in Minneapolis

Cyfi is in the Twin Cities these days. He posted this mural from uptown Minneapolis to Instagram on Thursday the 12th. It's 15 x 15 feet, a portrait of "mi amor @brandikoleart", part of the Lyn Lake Street Art Series Annual Mural Festival @lynlakestreetartseries.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by CYFI (@cyfione)

Metamorphosis

In addition to its meaning as a marked change in appearance, character, condition, or function, Metamorphosis is the name of the CBD, Vape and Smoke Shop where this mural was found.

Artist not known.

Click on the photo for a larger and sharper image.

8th Avenue & 36th Street from above

BG Boyd Photo specializes in aerial photos taken from a drone. This painted intersection by Mel Melo Dominguez, near Mission View Elementary in South Tucson, is a perfect candidate:

The fourth corner is covered by a tree. Here's a shot I took from ground level on July 23rd:

City of Gastronomy

Tucson was the first city in the US named as a World City of Gastronomy by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

This mural was found on the east wall of Zio Peppe, a restaurant serving pizza and pasta.

By Ashley White

 Click on the photo for a larger and sharper image.

Both sides of this mural magnet on Toole

The building that spans the addresses 191-197 E. Toole in downtown Tucson has had many different murals over the years… you can see a number of them by clicking the links in our page “Layers of murals: histories of a few walls.”: Northwest side of 191 East Toole and East side of 197 East Toole. BG Boyd took photos of both ends — 191 and 197 — at the end of May, 2021. Here are his photos of 191, then 197:

The second photo is a panorama, stitched together from several shots. (As always, you can click on a photo for a larger view.) We'll see more of his photos one week from today.

Typical Teenager

Found on the north wall of the former Charlie's Comic Books, this mural is in the same spot but with a new store behind: Time Warp Gifts & Novelties.

By Vic Hollins

See it while you can

BG Boyd is a Part 107 certified drone photographer based in Tucson. He's shared a number of his photos of Tucson murals (from his website BG Boyd Photo) with all of us on this blog. This post is the first of a series of his photos from land, aerial photos and videos. I'll also be updating some earlier posts on this blog with his aerial photos; after I'm done with that, I'll post a list of the ones I updated. In the meantime, check his website (link above) for a number of aerial mural videos and other photos… he's also on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

This Arizona Arts Live mural by Robb Harris is on a building that's about to be demolished. It's lost some paint since BG took this photo:

Hidden away at El Torero

Most of Danny Martin's murals are in black and white. This one is different because it has a pink background:

Here's a closeup:

The mural is on El Torero Restaurant, but it's on the east side — which you can't see from the front of the building on 26th Street. You can see it across the street from the building at 1537 S. 4th Avenue. It's on the far side of a lot behind a fence along 4th Avenue. I took the photos with a zoom lens on June 30th.

La Nalgona in Arizona

Mike Rios (@mykerios on Instagram) painted that mural across the street from American Eat Co. and Market, which is at 1439 South 4th Avenue. Here's the right edge with his signature:

I snapped the photos on June 30th.

Update (December 3, 2021): There are two new murals to the right (north) side of this one:

You can see closeups in today's post La Nalgona has neighbors.

Murals being made, part 64: Sahara Apartments

The mural is in a narrow space between buildings at the Sahara Apartments. David Aber took multiple photos on June 13, 2021, and stitched them together into the spectacular result above. It's on his Flickr account at https://www.flickr.com/photos/26438012@N08/51250402031/in/album-72157655537201051/. I've split it into the three clips below:

Joe Pagac wrote on Facebook November 15, 2020: "Katherine Joyce Lester and I just finished up this mural at Sahara Apartments on Stone just south of Speedway! A little African Peyote Oasis. Dung/Scarab beetle bringing up the rear courtesy of my nephew." I caught them painting on November 12:

On Facebook, you can find Katherine at katherine.lester.14019 and Joe at joepagac.