Guitarist tops the Rialto

For seven-plus years, if you were driving east out of downtown on Broadway you saw, at the top of the Rialto Theatre, Bill Walton riding a jackalope. Here's the story in photos from 2016: (Downtown) Murals being made, part 35: Ignacio Garcia.

Just over a week ago, January 29, Ignacio was putting the finishing touches on a new mural that covered (as he called it) “Jack and Bill”:

Here's a video from his Facebook account December 21, 2003 that shows the change:



The mural is called La Guitarrista: the (woman) guitarist. An Arizona Daily Star article from yesterday, February 8, tells the story — and lots of news about Ignacio's career and other plans: Tucson mural: Giant guitar player replaces jackalope-riding Bill Walton downtown.

Next, a few more photos of Ignacio working on January 29th. (I wasn't with him up there! I was in the parking lot in front of the mural, using a camera with a great zoom lens.)

Closeups of the mural:

The Star's article says the mural was inspired by 17th century Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer’s “The Guitar Player.” A Wikipedia article The Guitar Player (Vermeer) has this photo from Wikimedia Commons:

I used my photo editor to crop that photo to just the face. Was the whole image sharp? If you click on the photo below for a larger view, you can see the cracks in the paint:

The finished mural — lit by downtown lights — last night, February 8th:

Tanna's Botannas on 6th Avenue

This is a second location of a candy store owned by Tanna Cole. The first was shown in our previous post Tanna's Botannas on Prince Road.

By Camila Ibarra

The mural is on the west side of this little building.

Click for a larger image.

Tanna's Botannas on Prince Road

Fiery Mexican candies are the specialty at Tanna's Botannas. (I'm guessing that the spelling is a play on the Spanish word botanas, which means snacks.) Their retail location and factory are on Prince Road; there's another on South 6th Avenue, which we'll show in the next post. Both have murals. Their drinks and snacks are icy, spicy, and both… so you might call this mural “Fire and Ice.” This is on the west side of their building:

Their delivery truck is decorated, too. I saw it on the Instagram account of Mr. Baker the Ave writer, @trip.down.ave:

The mural on the 6th Avenue location is completely different. We'll show it in the next post.

El Rustico on Park

The murals at this restaurant probably weren't very old when I stopped by on May 14, 2023. The parking lot was dirt/mud and there was a “Coming soon” sign at the edge of the street.

Cloeups from left (south) to right (north):

When I made a quick stop a few weeks ago, the murals were the same — or almost the same. In the detail photos above, you can see at least one missing face that the artist might not have finished on May 14 of last year.

Update (September 16, 2024): I'm not sure if this place has the same owner as their other location on Oracle. Today's post El Taco Rustico on Oracle has photos. The two murals were painted by different artists.

Five faces on Ferro

The area on the north edge of downtown along 6th Street, in the couple of blocks between Stone Svenue and 6th Avenue, is getting crowded with big murals. There's Joe Pagac's mural on the south wall of Epic Rides. Across the street is Rock “Cyfi” Martinez’ mural on the wall of Benjamin Supply. Now Sean John Cannon has a mural on the east side of Ferro Avenue at the corner of 6th Street:

Thanks to Kevin Blow who sent that photo from his home in England. (He snapped photos of several murals while visiting Tucson. We'll see more of his photos later.) Much appreciated, Kevin!

He has a great camera, much better than my phone. So I used Kevin's photo instead of the one I took on December 16, 2023. I also took photos from both ends:

Sean's signature is at the top right corner of the mural:

Another artist who used repeated images was Andy Warhol. You've likely seen one of his most famous, of Marilyn Monroe. Here's a DuckDuckGo image search (DDG emphasizes privacy): Andy Warhol Marilyn Monroe.

Rosa's Resistance

".... the forge of perseverance...."

By Ignacio Garcia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click for a larger image.

191-197 Toole in 2023, post 5 of 5: South corner

This is the last of five posts showing the five-sided building wedged into one of five corners at the intersection of 6th Avenue, Alameda Street, and Toole Avenue downtown. (Here's a closeup on Google Maps.)

There've been so many murals on these walls that we made a special page for the building that shows blog posts from over the years:

    Layers of murals: histories of a few walls

The last time I showed photos of this building was the fourth in this series: 191-197 Toole in 2023, post 4 of 5: East side.

I have no idea why the people who built this weirdly-shaped building made it even weirder by making what would have been a sharp corner on the south end into a flat corner only a few feet wide. It's at the left edge of this photo — most of which shows the east side of the building:

Of course, like the rest of this mural-covered building, this little space has to have a mural:

That second photo is from February 17, 2023. I took the first photo — the overview — on December 16, 2023.

That's the last post from this mural magnet — for now.

191-197 Toole in 2023, post 4 of 5: East side

This is the fourth of five posts showing the five-sided building wedged into one of five corners at the intersection of 6th Avenue, Alameda Street, and Toole Avenue downtown. (Here's a closeup on Google Maps.)

There've been so many murals on these walls that we made a special page for the building that shows blog posts from over the years:

    Layers of murals: histories of a few walls

The last time I showed photos of this building was the third in this series: 191-197 Toole in 2023, post 3 of 5: Northeast side.

(I took all of the photos below on December 16, 2023 — except for one that I'll point out.)

This post shows the east side, along 6th Avenue between Toole and the underpass where 6th Avenue passes below the railroad tracks. There's a narrow street in front of the mural; standing there, it's hard to see the whole thing. The best view is from the parking lot across 6th. The photo below is from near the corner of Toole and 6th:

(In the next post, I'll show a closeup of the mural at the left edge.)

Next, a view from the north, on top of the 6th Avenue underpass. At the right, you can see part of the wildcat mural on the northeast side:

Earlier posts have shown most of these murals. Here are photos of four.

Fourth mural

In the photo above, count from the left end. The fourth mural is:

But wait… that isn't a University of Arizona Wildcat. Look at the middle of the forehead, for instance:

The saguaro and the long tool used to reach the fruit both extend above the top of the mural:

At the bottom, artists' names:

Fifth and sixth murals

I took the photo below, of the sixth mural — without the shadows of the utility pole and me — on April 29, 2023:

Eighth mural

At the end of the narrow road, to the right of the seventh mural, are five boards holding a gorgeous painting:

We're almost done. Next time, the fifth wall — with a single mural.

191-197 Toole in 2023, post 3 of 5: Northeast side

This is the third of five posts showing the five-sided building wedged into one of five corners at the intersection of 6th Avenue, Alameda Street, and Toole Avenue downtown. (Here's a closeup on Google Maps.)

There've been so many murals on these walls that we made a special page for the building that shows blog posts from over the years:

    Layers of murals: histories of a few walls

The last time I showed photos on this blog was the second in this series: 191-197 Toole in 2023, post 2 of 5: Northwest side.

This post shows the northeast side, along the railroad tracks. You can see it from the right spot along the new Barazza Parkway. There's also a route from the north end of 7th Avenue — behind Borderlands Brewing — but note that this may be railroad property and you could be trespassing if you walk this way.

May 29, 2023

For as long as I can remember, the northeaast wall has been covered with urban-style art. At the end of May, it still was:

Here are the left and right ends:

There's an aerial view of the mural and this side of the building on BG Boyd Photography's website tucsonazmurals.com: Are You Ready.

Mid-October 2023

During Rock the Spot, some artist(s) repainted the northeast wall. When I stood close to the mural during December, I couldn't tell what it was until I stood back and could see the whole thing. BG Boyd's tucsonazmurals.com has the aerial photo below, titled Rock The Wildcat, that shows not only the northeast wall but also the outline of the whole building:

Thanks for that photo, BG!

December 16, 2023

Here's a closeup from ground level:

191-197 Toole in 2023, post 2 of 5: Northwest side

This is the second of five posts showing the weirdly-shaped five-sided building wedged into the weirdly-shaped intersection of 6th Avenue, Alameda Street, and Toole Avenue. (Here's a closeup on Google Maps.)

There've been so many murals on these walls that we made a special page for the building that shows blog posts from over the years:

    Layers of murals: histories of a few walls

The last time I showed photos on this blog was the first in this series: 191-197 Toole in 2023, post 1 of 5: Southwest side.

This post shows the northwest side, along a parking lot.

February 17, 2023

My first visit since our January 20, 2023 post All around a mural maze was the next month, grand opening day of the new Barraza Parkway downtown. I drove a few loops as the construction crew was fixing traffic signals and taking away signs. On one loop I stopped around 191-197 E. Toole to see what had changed since my previous visit. The first shot shows the whole side from the west end:

Jessica Gonzales updates the mural at the right end of the wall above. It's a marquee for the Rialto Theatre, which is a short walk south.

I took the next two photos from the middle of the wall looking first right and then left:

That last photo shows the tragic tag on one of two Early Joe Pagac murals trashed.

December 16, 2023

Ten months since the previous photo (near the top of this page), the shows listed on the Rialto marquee mural have changed from February to December:

More chunks are missing from the Danny Martin murals of Jackie Daytona and Ted DeGrazia — probably where the backing coat applied to the bricks before painting have been knocked off by vehicles parking too close to the wall:

Next, in the third post of this series, is a side that isn't easy to reach: the northeast side, along the railroad tracks.

191-197 Toole in 2023, post 1 of 5: Southwest side

This is the first of five posts showing the strangely-shaped five-sided building at the strangely-shaped intersection of 6th Avenue, Alameda Street, and Toole Avenue. (Here's a closeup on Google Maps.)

There've been so many murals on these walls that we made a special page for the building that shows blog posts from over the years:

    Layers of murals: histories of a few walls

The last time I showed photos on this blog was a year ago: January 20, 2023, in All around a mural maze.

I stopped by the building several times during 2023 to catch the latest, but I saved the photos to post early in 2024. This post shows the southwest side, along Toole Avenue itself.

April 29, 2023

I snapped photos of two murals. The first was on the roll-up door not far from the left (northwest) end of the wall:

The second was just to the right (southwest) of the door:

Among other things, this building has artists’ studios. That sign at the right center was for an artist's open studio:

December 16, 2023

When I stopped by again eight months later, the two murals had changed (of course). The first, on the roll-up door, was completely new:

The second had new detail everywhere:

That much change is typical here!

I also noticed something I hadn't last time. Maybe it wasn't painted yet? This stood in front of the right (southwest) end of the building:

Next time, we'll walk to the left, around the corner of the building, to the northwest side.