Lucky Wishbone

This is both an advertisement and a mural.  I love the two kids fighting to get their wish.

Artist not known.

Click for a larger image.

Yoeme Unidos

"The Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Area is proud to commission another heritage mural that focuses on empowering indigenous youth to take the expressive traditions passed down from their communities and their own artistic style to paint their understanding of traditional stories, cultural figures and epic histories in a collaborative mural."

Two professional muralists worked with seven Pascua Yaqui youth to paint this mural.  The names of the seven are: Jennay, Erik, Juliette, Raul, Santi, Johnny and Elijah.

The professional muralists are Ignacio Garcia and Anitra "Yukue" Molina

Click for a larger image.

The mural is on the west wall of the Sonoran Stitch Factory located on W. Rillito St.  The mural is seen from N. 15th Ave.  A previous mural appeared on this wall on 10/19/2015 as Near Richey Elementary.

To further explain; the Yoeme are originally from Sonora Mexico around the Yaqui River.  They are more commonly known in the U.S. as the Pascua Yaqui. The Yoeme are the only Native American tribe that has never officially surrendered to either the Spanish colonial forces, the Mexican government, or the United States. 

Several updates from Jerry Peek: I made a note about a post and video I saw on Facebook July 1st showing the mural in progress and finished. (The unveiling was June 26th.)

Here's a clickable link to open the Facebook video page in a separate window: https://www.facebook.com/100010592835349/videos/791951158630194/

The original video is by BG Boyd Photography. You don't need Facebook to see it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUdP5uApIAc

There's more information about the mural and the two professional muralists on this page, Santa Cruz Valley National Heritage Murals: https://santacruzheritage.org/yoeme-unidos/

Parade of murals on 910 West Congress

A paste-up mural is usually a piece of paper glued to a building with something like wheat paste. It's not designed to last a long time. We posted a paste-up mural on December 15, 2014, in Spotted at Grande & Congress.

Much later, I looked at the building with Google Maps Street View to see what else was on the wall starting October 2013. Surprise: The mural lasted for years, even on the west side of a building — which is blasted by Tucson's strong afternoon sun, so murals tend to fade. Here are the Street View photos:

October 2013

April 2015

July 2016

May 2017

June 2018

May 2019

February 2021

April 2022

Later Street Views show the same April 2022 mural still there.

Update (May 13, 2024): Today's post Congress mural parade 1 of 3: 910 W. Congress has much better photos of the April 2022 mural.

Talented Toad

Found on the north wall of the Folk Shop.  The shop carries new, used and vintage folk and ethnic musical instruments.

By Ameira Al-Rudham, Katie Leyva, and Bryce J. Rogers

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Tucson's Desert Scenery

Found on a residential wall in the Palo Verde Park Neighborhood.

The artist's name is in the lower left corner, but I can't make it out.

 

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Mural disappears, comes back even better

The block west of Stone Avenue between Congress and Broadway used to have a square structure with murals on three sides. We posted photos in 2012 and 2014. (I've reposted one of those photos farther below.) As part of downtown rebuilding, the murals were taken down. But one has come back, in magnificent style. I knew it was coming, but I didn't know it was done until BG Boyd Photography sent two great photos. The first is an ultra-wide panorama (so edges appear curved):

See how the colors in the new building work with the colors in the original mural? (As always, you can click for a slideshow of larger views.) Next, a closeup of the mural:

The building is called RendezVous Urban Flats. BG Boyd took the photos early on August 17th, 2022.

On May 17, 2012, I posted a photo of the mural under construction in Murals being made, part 8 (Kindness, part 3) along with more info; you can click there to see it all. Here's that photo, complete with buckets of materials and a NO ACCESS sign:

Poppies not yoga

That was the scene June 20th, one block south of Broadway on 4th Avenue. It's the mural painted recently for the new business Arizona Poppy. We have photos of earlier murals on these walls, from Tucson Yoga, taken between 2009 and 2012:

• Country in the city (May 28, 2009)
• Country in the city, part 2 (October 18, 2010)
• Tucson Yoga (mural) reborn (October 14, 2012)

Bodega Solai

The Downtown Tucson Partnership (which promotes activities and businesses around downtown) wrote that Bodega Solai is a place to get "a quick bite to eat, snacks, drinks, CBD, workout supplements, smoke & vape products, and more! And don't forget their sock wall! All socks just $2!"

It seems that the inside is just as eclectic as the outside. Click on the photo for a larger view and look at the sign at the lower left.

I was there June 20th.

Mural conspiracy...

to make you want to buy food… is on the front windows of the Food Conspiracy Co-op on 4th Avenue:

Close-ups from left (the north end) to right (the south):

I snapped the photos (and tried not to buy any food) on June 20th.

Pet Portrait

 Found at 2926 E. Seneca St. on the east wall facing N. Bentley Ave.

By Sasha Aliza

Click for a larger image.

Flower Stop ten years later

It was November 23, 2011 when I posted a photo of Flower Stop on South 12th Avenue that looked a bit like a construction zone. When I came back on April 3, 2022, I saw:

Arte Bella's beautiful art

In Italian, Arte Bella means beautiful art. The muralist Chilli Mangos (on Instagram, @chillimangos) painted the entire front of Arte Bella. Here's the front from the left (north) side and the right (south) side:

Next, some closeups. The muralist also painted the underside of the roof… I'll show as much of that as I could fit into my camera:

I took the photos on June 20, 2022.

Update (November 15, 2022): There's More arte bella behind Arte Bella.

Paint for Pets

On 1st Avenue just south of Glenn is Pet Doctor:

That mural is on the north-facing wall. Here's a photo of just the mural, followed by close-ups of the left and right ends:

There's a mural on the wall's other (south) side too:

I drove by on June 22nd.

Desert Sage School

Desert Sage School is a Waldorf-inspired, tuition-free public charter high school guided by the Core Principles of Public Waldorf Education.  The first day of class is Aug. 8, 2022.  Accepting students for Grades 9 and 10.  Grades 11 and 12 will be added later.

Artist(s) Unknown

Click for a larger image.

Update (June 9, 2023) from Jerry Peek: I found finished versions of this mural in BG Boyd's Tucson Murals database, tucsonazmurals.com. He gave me permission to edit the first photo below so it shows the same area as David's. The overall photo at the end is directly from BG's site.

Angels

East wall of Noodies Restaurant (replaces Bentley's House of Coffee and Tea).

By Jenna Tomasello

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Update: Back on May 2, 2022, artist Jenna Tomasello (@jennatomasello) wrote on her Instagram post about the mural “The Birth of Venus painted for @noodiestucson. Thanks to @arterosas_ @ginger__love @alycatmiller @juju_bug__ for all the help on this big project.”

Transit Tea

Some chain businesses have the same mass-produced mural on many or all of their stores. Although I've only been to the Transit Tea location on Speedway in Tucson, I'm guessing that the outside of this building is like others:

I floated by on June 12th.

The Teal Saguaro

The Teal Saguaro is a resale boutique that benefits Tucson Medical Center. Angela Pittenger painted this mural on its west wall:

She wrote:

It is fully operated by volunteers. … We wanted to create something to represent Tucson to serve as a landmark for people looking for the shop. You'll notice a heart shaped cactus pad on the prickly pear on the left. That is to represent community since it is a volunteer operation benefitting a community hospital.

Here's the scene:

I was there on June 7th.

Aliens Attack!

West wall of EverChange (video games and more).  Next door to Cathy's Sewing and Vacuum.

By Katherine Joyce

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Living Mural still alive in June

There are two "living" murals on opposite sides of 4th Avenue. One, at 331 East 7th, looked like this on August 10, 2021: "Living" TUCSON AZ mural. I haven't gone back in the past year, but I'll aim to. The other is at 442 East 7th. Photos of it on May 3, 2021 are here: The "living" mural. I make a quick stop there on June 20, 2022:

I only had a few minutes, so I grabbed quick photos of sections instead of each little mural. From left (the north end) to right (the south):

(As always, you can click on an image for a slideshow of larger views.)

Across this little parking lot is another mural wall on the side of 426 East 7th. Here are photos from left (south) to right (north). Two of the photos were from the left and right of the vehicle parked along the wall:

Mosaics at the Pima Council On Aging

There are probably 12 or more mosaics at the front entrance.  I only had time for two.  I'll have to make a return trip for the others.

The artist is not known.

Click on the photo for a larger image.