Murals for children of all ages...

…including you? 😁 The Children's Museum downtown has lots of murals outdoors. Some are inside the fence that's locked much of the time the museum is closed. There's also a longggggg mural on the concrete support underneath the fence; it might be open at night, but it's near the bushes and police may not think you're just there to have fun… 😉

Inside the fence

As you face the museum, these photos generally show murals from the left (south) to the right (north):

I Am Somebody

On the outside of the fence, the mural farthest to the left has a story. It's on the south-facing part of the fence, just off the left end of the other fence murals:

The four murals spell I AM SOME BODY. It's a slogan of I Am You 360, a nonprofit working to create a tiny home community for vulnerable youth. The details are in our September 27, 2024 post I Am You 360.
The last panel in that mural is signed MOCA Minor Mutiny:

(MOCA is the Museum of Contemporary Art.) From the MOCA Minor Mutiny Facebook page: “MOCA Tucson offers a safe space for high school students to hang out, snack, talk, create, get help with homework, and more. We welcome Tucson area GSAs.” The “more” includes art. An old post on their page says “Head over to MOCA at 3:30 to make stuff with us! I think slime is in order!”

Overview of murals along the fence

Here's a long view of the fence to the left (south) and right (north) sides of the gate to the museum. Next we'll see each mural in detail.

Ana Santos Ancinas painted both long murals. Her Instagram (newer than the one listed in the photos below) is @ana_santos_acinas; her murals webpage is anasantosacinas.com/murals.

Tip for seeing mural sections below

If you can't use a computer or tablet, the easiest way to see the photos below is first to turn your mobile phone on its side. Then tap on the first photo. You should get a screen like the one below with a row of small “thumbnail” photos at the bottom. Tap on each thumbnail for a big view of that photo:

That tip works well on a desktop or laptop computer, too… though you won't need to turn your screen.

Mural left of the gate, section by section

We'll finish with closeups of the long mural under both fences from the left (south) to the right (north). First, the murals to the left.

(I usually edit photos carefully, but I took so many along the fence that I'll have to do only light editing.)

(That Instagram @ginger__love is old. The new one is @ana_santos_acinas.)

Mural right of the gate, section by section

The previous section showed murals to the left (south) of the gate to the museum. Next, the murals to the right.

(I usually edit photos carefully, but I took so many along the fence that I'll only did light editing.)

See them in person

Even if the museum is closed, you and/or the kiddos can have fun walking along the fence!

Long-lost Indian Village Trading Post mural revealed?

Yesterday I spotted construction at the former Indian Village Trading Post at the corner of Congress and Scott. Next to the entrance was this:

When I looked closer, I saw that it had been covered with stucco or something else. I'm guessing the construction workers uncovered it. Here's a closeup:

This Arizona Daily Star article has a photo from 1986 showing all the murals that used to be there: Indian Village Trading Post.

I searched Duck Duck Go (a search engine much more private than Google) for photos. Here's a link to run the search: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Indian+Village+Trading+Post+tucson&atb=v411-1&ia=web

I especially like to have photos of murals before 2006, when this blog started. (This blog shows Tucson mural history, but only a few murals are from 2005 or befeore.) If you have any to share, please use the "Contact Us" form at the right side of this blog page. Thanks!