Speedway Corridor Mural Project

The boulevard that was once deemed “the ugliest street in America” by LIFE magazine in 1970 now has six new murals. They're on the walls that protect pedestrians from falling onto the Speedway underpasses near the University of Arizona. They were finished by the end of March, 2024. Allison Miller of Alley Cat murals had the idea for years, but it took lots of preparation and fundraising. (For example: It turned out that the walls themselves are owned by the City of Tucson, but the “wings” extending back from the ends of the walls are owned by the UA!) Here's a map, with thanks to Melissa Goodrich at the UArizona Poetry Center. Click to enlarge:

In coordination with the UA's Poetry Center, the murals are all based on poems — one a hip-hop song. There's lots more information at the end of the post, but let's see the murals! As always, you can click on a mural for a slideshow of larger views.

Each artist's section below finishes with a personal interview from the UA Poetry Center's blog. At the end of this post are links to more information.

Allison Miller (Southeast)

Allison Miller (including photos of her previous stingray mural): We marked up walls: Interviewing the Speedway Muralists (April 8, 2024). Stingray mural info, and a closeup photo, from this blog: Stingray on Speedway (August 04, 2016).

Monique Laraway (Northeast)

Monique Laraway: Bring Art to the Masses: Interviewing the Speedway Muralists (April 1, 2024)

Alex Fass (South central)

Alex Fass: it's raw, it's real, it's what I feel: Interviewing the Speedway Muralists (May 13, 2024)

Sasha Lewis (North central)

Sasha Lewis: Bright blocks of colors and bold lines: Interviewing the Speedway Muralists (April 15, 2024)

Jodie Lewers Chertudi (Northwest)

Jodie Lewers Chertudi: A world without art is so boring: Interviewing the Speedway Muralists (April 29, 2024)

Jodie's painting partner was Miguel Flores.

Jenna Tomasello (Southwest)

The people are cold. The people are hungry.
The rich have stolen the land.
The rich have stolen freedom.
The people scream.

Jenna Tomasello: Art Without an Access Barrier: Interviewing the Speedway Muralists (May 6, 2024)

More about the project

The project has gotten lots of attention, including:

• Arizona Illustrated TV program from AZPM: Beautifying the Ugliest Street in America - Tucson’s murals on Speedway Corridor
• Map and links to the poems, from UA Poetry Center: Speedway Corridor Mural Walking/Rolling Tour and Ice Cream Social!
• Locations, poems, and the Poetry Center: Press release, January 2024
• Speedway Corridor Murals on BG Boyd's TucsonAZMurals.com
• BG Boyd's video: "Reckon" Jodie Lewers Chertudi Mural based on Logan Phillip's Poem (YouTube)

The “Location” address below is close to the North central mural by Sasha Lewis, which is where Highland Avenue crosses under Speedway. (As always, you can click there for a Google Map.) This mural is close to the UA Poetry Center, which helped coordinate the project; its address is 1508 E. Helen Street.

Dunbar Pavilion, Discovering Community in the Borderlands

The site of the former Dunbar School, for African Americans only until 1987, is now Dunbar Pavilion: An African American Art & Culture Center. I also saw it called Dunbar Pavilion Community Center. Along with two murals outside, along 2nd Street…

…you can also “Discover Community in the Borderlands through Augmented Reality Experiences throughout Tucson.” This sign points to the website dcb.arizona.edu:

When I stopped by on July 8th, 2024, it was hard to see my phone screen in the bright sunlight. (Stopping by earlier or later in the day might have helped.) See https://dcb.arizona.edu/DunbarPavilion for the story of Dunbar School.

The other side of Anita Street Market

This neighborhood market is known for tortillas and food — especially its burros. Their Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/AnitasStMarket/. (Both the phone number and website currently listed on that page don't work. They ask you to send a Facebook message to order tortillas ahead of time.) The sign on the front of the store says Anita St. Market, but Facebook has Anita’s Street Market… whatever.

They've had some financial troubles, so there's a chance you'll find it closed. This June 24, 2024 #ThisIsTucson article has that story and a lot of history: Tucson survivors: Anita's Street Market is known for their beloved burritos and decades-long history.

It's had murals on the north side since at least 2009. This is on July 8, 2024:

There are closeup photos from 2019 here: Murals being (re-)made, part 52: Anita Market.

On the south side is a shaded seating area with murals on two walls:

I zoomed in on the west wall:

It was painted in 2021:

Next, the south wall:

Julian came back to paint it in 2024:

A Google Maps Street View from January 2023 shows a different mural on the south wall:



I took all the photos on July 8, 2024.

Steinfeld Warehouse workers

Yesterday (September 1) I realized that we needed a good Labor Day post. I thought of this mural right away. We posted a poor photo in 2010, Mighty mural at 6th & Perry, and a better one in 2014, Steinfeld Warehouse revisited (and re-energized). But none were really good. So I drove over, into the construction zone, and snapped a lot. It's on the west end of the warehouse:

Closeups from left to right. First, at a table saw:

Carrying lumber:

At a drill press:

The three faces from left to right:

The artists’ names are at the bottom right:

(If you're being careful about the address, Google Maps has changed it from 101 West 6th Street to 480 North Perry Avenue. I'll bet this is because the Downtown Links road project has broken 6th Street into pieces, and 6th Street doesn't run along the north side of the the warehouse anymore. An address on Perry makes more sense now.)

CUKSON: Like TUCSON murals: designs in letters

This CUKSON mural, seen through the gate at Splinter Collective…

… is similar to TUCSON murals with faces and other designs inside the letters, like these:

• Greetings
• Murals being made, part 77: TUCSON is back

Here's the overall photo above, cropped to show people in the “CU” at the left side:

Lucky Salway messaged me on Facebook May 27, 2023 that he and Sal of Wagon Burner Arts painted it.

Murrrrrrrral

The rrrrrr in the title is the sound of a small engine at H&H Small Engine Repair 😁…

Great idea: mural in a window

Have a window people can see in that you want to keep dark? Instead of buying blackout curtains or blinds, try a mural on something like a board!

I found these on the west side of Arizona Avenue, just south of Broadway, on April 7th. I think they might be for the bar named Prohibición.

Dirty T Tamarindo on St. Marys

The Tucson Foodie article 'Dirty T Tamarindo' to open a brick-and-mortar on the west side tells about the candy — based on recipes from Hermosillo, Sonora — and how it's spread from locations around Tucson to a store on St. Marys Road. Here's the store on December 16, 2023:

That day, I was so interested in the goodies inside that I forgot to take photos of other murals surrounding the little building. So I came back on May 26, 2024 for more goodies and more photos:

(“Dirty T” is a name for Tucson.)

Google Maps didn't want to show the address 1211 W. Saint Marys Road in the box below, at the end of this post; it changes that to Menlo Plaza Shopping Center. The link in that sentence is to Bing Maps.

1702 - It was the address

On July 21, as I was photographing the six new murals along Speedway (the photos are coming soon!), I noticed a mural painted on what looked like a weathered piece of plywood on the west side of the building two blocks west of Campbell, on the south side of Speedway:

A sign along the sidewalk near the mural had the business name at top:

Google Maps Street View shows the store open in April, 2022 — and an AVAILABLE sign on the empty storefront during April, 2023. Here's the storefront last month:

Since at least 2022, the sign has said “1702 - It’s The Address”.

La protección

The owner of & Gallery, Go Off Tiger — her Instagram, @go.off.tiger, says she's also called Cynthia Irasema (Naugle) — had this art on the front of the gallery while it was still on 4th Avenue April 7, 2024:

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

The gallery has since moved to 834 South 6th Avenue.

Oralia Coffee+Kitchen: See it while you can

Oralia Coffee+Kitchen, at the northwest corner of 6th Street & 6th Avenue, had this burning bush mural on the north side of their lot when I stopped by on December 16, 2023:

The business closed. I've been watching to see if they re-open. But, as of July 2024, there's a For Lease sign. If the new owners don't keep the mural, and you'd like to see it in person, go soon!

The artist doesn't give his name on his Instagram page, @antoniotheartist_art. It looks like he travels to paint and teach; his page says “14 yrs experience in leading & utilizing creative mediums to expose people to a Living God.” His small signature is at the top right corner of the mural: