Friday, June 30, 2017

Murals being made, part 46c: Tucson's biggest

This project, which has taken around three months from start to finish (with muralist Joe Pagac's wedding and honeymoon in the middle), was finished a week ago! This is the third of three blog entries showing the changes as he worked. In case you haven't seen the earlier two entries, Part 46a covers March 27 to April 9, and Part 46b shows April 12th to the 25th. (His wedding was on the 22nd, so I assume he was outta town by the 25th.)

(By the way: Media reports have claimed that this is Tucson's biggest mural. Maybe that's true when you count the height, but I wonder whether the huge mural on 9th Avenue is longer? And, if you count groups of murals as one big mural, places like Oury Park (made of mosaic tiles, which may have fallen apart by now); the block-long group of murals that run in the wash between 1st and 2nd Streets near Alvernon & Speedway; and of course the super-long murals along Stone Avenue north of Limberlost: All may be bigger by some measure. But I digress. :)



Let's start with the lonely-looking scene on May 8th. The gravel parking lot at the left edge has typically had at least a couple of cars in it as Joe worked. Joe's van would be parked a bit past the parking lot, farther from the left edge. And his “cherry picker” (hydraulic lift) would be somewhere near the mural. But, for a month or so, the scene looked a lot like this (without the clouds...):

The right half:




I think Joe's honeymoon lasted about a month. I stopped by from time to time for signs of progress. May 29th, around 3pm, the hydraulic lift was on-site again. But I couldn't see any obvious changes:




June 1st, I could tell Joe was back in town. The bicycle wheels on the right half had been painted in:

We've been following the javelina's bicycle outline coming and going. Here it is, still missing its frame and handlebars:

The tortoise's front wheel has bits of spokes, but the back wheel doesn't:




By early afternoon on June 4th, the bicycles on the left half were taking shape, and bikes on the other side had shadows. (In real life, the shadows would all be pointing in the same direction — not spread around in an arc. But this isn't real life, is it?? :)




The javelina's bike had a frame and handlebars by 4 pm on June 6th:

And both wheels of the tortoise's bike have the same ghostly spokes as other bikes do:

In this overall view, the lift in front of the left side frames the bikes that are taking shape there:

I walked over to the lift and grabbed a few shots:




The next morning, June 7th, Joe posted a sunrise photo on Facebook. He'd worked through the night of June 6th. Here it is, courtesy of Damion Alexander:




Near 1 pm on June 8th, the bikes on the left side looked almost finished. The man's road bike is missing part of its frame. The woman is missing her left hand and the pedal of what looks like an old one-speed bike.




This view of the left half, taken from the right side, shows almost everything looking finished except for (maybe) the woman's left pedal on June 10th. (Maybe it's behind the piece of wood or whatever seems to be in front of that part of her bike? I never walked up to check.)




Here's the whole mural on June 11th. This photo is a fair amount bigger than most of the ones in this blog entry, so it's especially worthwhile clicking on it for more detail:




Let's jump back to our first entry, Part 46a. Here's a replay of the first photo, which shows Jennifer Martinez on March 27th holding Joe's idea of how the mural would look a few months later. (I've straightened the mural print and removed everything around it — including Jennifer.):

When I compare this original version with the basically-finished version on June 11th, I don't find many differences. One looks like what seem to be multiple suns, one between each of the peaks of the mountain range that starts behind the animals and merges into the woman's dress; they're higher in the sky on the final version than the original. (By the way, don't you love the way that different parts of this design flow into each other — like the mountains into the woman's dress and her hair into a starry night?) The suns are a white-hot color instead of the saturated yellow in the original. And the shadows on the right side are more blue than gray.



On Facebook June 16th, I found a photo that he posted at 8am: Joe in a hazmat suit ready to spray clearcoat over the mural to preserve it. I asked his permission to show the photo here, but I haven't heard from him. You can click there to be taken to the photo on Facebook.



Now for the last part of this saga. I'd been watching a blank rectangle near the bottom right corner. Here it was on June 11th:


It stayed the same each time I checked it in the next week. But, on June 18th, names appeared:

I had thought that this might be the place Joe would sign his mural. But these must be the names of the people who made financial contributions to get the mural onto the wall! On the 18th, the bottom two-thirds had been filled with Silver Donors and Bronze Donors.

On June 19th, a photo popped up on Facebook:

Grace Celeste posted that photo with her fiance Thomas Sullivan, and she gave us permission to show it here.

Look more closely at the bottom of the panel full of names. It seems that Joe painted a wedding proposal from Grace to Thomas:

(Obviously, Thomas accepted.) What a romantic story!

I watched Facebook for news from Joe saying that he'd finished, but there wasn't any. I stopped by on the 19th and found the same panel (with no sign of Thomas and Grace …); the top part was still empty. But, around 7 AM on June 21st — almost two months to the day since he'd hoped to have it finished (April 22nd, his wedding) — the panel was finished:

(To help you see individual names, that photo is especially large. I've also sharpened it and added some contrast to make the names easier to read. The actual panel has more muted color.)

And Joe had signed his name at the bottom left:


Here it is — again, especially wide to show detail if you click on the photo:

Whatta project!! Congratulations to Joe Pagac, all of his sponsors and Epic Rides. Once the Downtown Links road goes through this area, I'll bet there'll be a phenomenal view of this mural and CyFi’s huge one a couple of blocks away.

Next time (Monday, July 3rd), I'll post some closeups.

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Two Daily Wildcat articles about Tucson muralists

The March 27 article about Joe Pagac has a photo showing him in front of the design for the huge mural he was just starting to paint on Epic Bikes. The June 7 article about Jose Ignacio Garcia is especially detailed.

Local artist Joe Pagac travels the nation and paints murals

Local artist lets his murals speak for him

Monday, June 26, 2017

Pachanga (Murals being made, part 47b)

Pachanga is Spanish slang for paarty!  And a party is what was had on Friday, June 23rd to celebrate the completion of the "Talking Mural".  There was a car show, good music, plenty of food and drink, and, of course, the mural.  Lots of photographs by amateurs and professionals alike.  Here are some samples by David Aber:
1948 Plymouth Special DeLuxe
Catering Truck
Most came in cars but some on bicycles with children.
Plenty of food and drink for everyone.
One of two pairs of videographers and techs. from Arizona Public Media (PBS & NPR).
Drone w/camera hovering over the mural and festivities.
Johanna Martinez and Alex Jimenez speaking to the crowd.  Mamta Popat from the ADS.




And last, but certainly not least, we have Jerry Peek's photos taken earlier in the day of the star of the Pachanga, the mural itself.
"The Talking Mural"
Translation: El Sur is south and La Doce is twelve.  Thus S. 12th Ave.
Raspados being made at Oasis Fruit Cones
Los Amigos Meat Market
Incident at Arizona Palms Tinting
Arizona Palms Tinting
Rafael's Tire Shop
Alejandro's Tortilla Factory
Temporary poster listing the S. 12th Ave. businesses depicted in the mural and instructions for listening to the interviews (by scanning QR codes next to business names with the reader in your smartphone).  If you aren't at the mural or don't have a QR scanner, you can also go to www.TheTalkingMural.com to see photos, stories and hear those same interviews (currently, a link straight to the list of businesses and photos is www.alexclamation.com/thetalkingmural). Older businesses with interesting signs were selected. (This photo is David's, during the Pachanga).
 As usual click on any photo for a slide show of larger and sharper images.

You can see the beginning of the mural at The Talking Mural (Murals being made, part 47a).

Friday, June 23, 2017

Bad teeth and a bug

The Flycatcher, on 4th Avenue at the corner of 6th Street, hosts live local, regional, national and international touring music acts. It used to be Plush Tucson. That mural is along the 4th Street side. (Sun flare made the streak across the mural and the rays above it).

Hmmm, what's that especially-brown tooth in the top row? It says MUCK ROCK:

Luckily, because this is summer and most students are gone, I was able to pull into a parking spot nearby — on June 21st.

Thursday, June 22, 2017

Long Tucson Weekly interview with Rock Martinez

While I was out of the country, David Aber spotted this March 9th article about muralist Rock “CyFi” Martinez in Tucson Weekly's "Salvage" section:

Old Pueblo muralist Rock ‘Cyfi’ Martinez on graffiti culture in 2017 and the dismal glint of celebrity.

It's full of details and the interviewer's impressions. It's a good read. If you like Rock's work, click on his Label below to see his murals from this blog.

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

The Talking Mural (Murals being made, part 47a)

Due to finish by this Friday, June 23rd, each of the elements in the mural represents one of the businesses along South 12th Ave. The artist, Johanna Martinez (w/assistants Alex Jimenez & Amatha (Amy) Krier) plans to have interviews with the business owners. The audio will be accessible thru your cell phone, thus the name "The Talking Mural". Johanna and her crew have been working nights from sunset well into early morning. Mamta Popat, a photojournalist from the Arizona Daily Star was there and these are her Photos.  Here are the photos I took on June 19:
North wall of Oasis Fruit Cones
The crew at work
Johanna
Johanna & Alex
Alex adding details
Amatha also adding details
As usual, click on any photo for a slide show of larger and sharper images. To see other murals by Johanna or Alex on this blog, click their name in the “Labels” list below.

A Cronkite News (ASU) story in the Arizona Daily Independent, Signs Of The Times: Tucson Artist Aims To Capture The History Of The South Side.

This mural replaces an older one that you can see in our November 27, 2011 entry.

The rest of the story is in Pachanga (Murals being made, part 47b).

Update (January 11, 2019): Today's blog entry shows another mural with a QR code — on Toole Avenue. That mural, which is gone now, used your smartphone to make you look like an angel.

Monday, June 19, 2017

Maynards Market & Kitchen

It seems like Joe Pagac is everywhere around downtown these days. Besides the huge new mural he's basically finished as of today, I was downtown May 29th and spotted some clever murals of his on the train station.

First I noticed the lettering along the windows:

Then I noticed that the windows were actually murals showing old-fashioned diners and staff “inside” the restaurant. Here they are, from right (closest) to left:

Great work as always!

Friday, June 16, 2017

New on 191 E. Toole

The art-covered building at 191-197 E. Toole (the corner with 6th Avenue) has new murals at least once or twice a year. The northwest side of 191 got a new mural recently. It faces a parking lot, so the best time to visit is not during weekday daytimes. Here's the view June 13th from the parking lot entrance. It shows part of Joe Pagac's underwater mural in the background:

The artist is Tatyana Fazlalizadeh.

You can get the same perspective — with a different mural, as well as a full view of Joe Pagac's mural — as of March, 2016 on our blog entry A few bold underwater human and alien fish (?).

There's video and more info about this new mural on the KVOA TV story Mural downtown Tucson causes pause.

Update (June 21, 2017): The Phoenix New Times published When Women Disrupt Brought Their Street Art to Phoenix, Here's What Happened. It's a story including interviews with Tatyana Fazlalizadeh.

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Santa Theresa Tileworks changing hands

Susan Gamble has spent more than 30 years at Santa Theresa Tile Works. (You can see the Santa Theresa works we've put on this blog over the years by clicking there.) The Arizona Daily Star reported June 3rd that she's gifting the business (giving it away!) to the Imago Dei Middle School, a private school for low-income families:

Private school and popular local tile company share strong sense of community

What an amazing story! I wish we could have shown it here earlier, but (thankfully) there's lots to put online these days.

Monday, June 12, 2017

Murals being made, part 46b: Tucson's biggest

We're following the painting of what will (for now, at least) be Tucson's largest mural. It's on the south side of Epic Rides, a Tucson bicycle shop. Joe had planned to finish the mural by his wedding on April 22. But as of May 22nd, it remained unfinished. (I hope he had a wonderful honeymoon!) Here's the progress through the days before his wedding. We'll wrap this up next time — in part 46c.

As of the time I wrote this blog entry, June 10th, he's back in town; he posted on Facebook that he's "so close," and the mural looks basically finished to me. (He told me in April that he'd planned to finish painting before the heat got too bad. Sorry, Joe… ;-))



Since our first entry, which appeared on the blog on April 10th, Joe has made progress. Let's start with April 12: his van, some visitors (he said he gets a lot of visitors), and (at the right edge) the part of the mural we've been following: the javelina on the bicycle at the right edge:

The right half — and part of the left — on April 12:

And the javelina's bicycle, photographed diagonally (at the same angle as the bike):




Four days later, on April 16th, I found Joe drawing the skyline near the left edge, underneath the cowboy:

I stepped back quite a way to catch the whole left half. Joe is still on the ground, on the other side of the lift, painting the left edge. This gives you an idea of the scale of the mural (!):

Now the right side on that same day, April 16. It looks like he's painted over the three bicycles; the outlines are gone:




David Aber stopped by on April 17th. Here's his photo of the whole mural from (his photo data says) just before 2 pm:




Let's wrap up Joe's April work with photos from the 25th — three days after he left for his honeymoon. First, the whole mural:

The cowboy without his "buckin' bike":

The right side:


We'll end this entry with two details from the right side: the jackalope and the javelina, both with their ghostly bikes (which will be filled in during May):

(The javelina is jumping its bike onto a part of the building that extends a few feet away from the rest of the wall. Very fun!)

Part "c" — the last part of the painting, after Joe's honeymoon — should be online in a week or so. See you then!

Update (June 30, 2017): Part 46c went online today. Watch near the bottom for a romantic surprise.

Friday, June 09, 2017

Roll in here (if you can!)

The previous photo showed the top of the store next door as well as the mural on the roll-up shutter. The sign above the entrance for Pima Street Bicycle is about as generic as you can get, though. So let's see just the mural that's hidden while the store is open:
The mural advertises “expert bicycle repair.” So if you can't ride your bike here, you can always carry it in to be fixed.

I stopped by (in my car) near sunset on May 28th, 2017.

Updates: As David Aber was doing his usual careful checking (he's caught my goofs more than a few times!), he saw on Google Street View that the shop had moved two blocks away — from 5247 to 5445 East Pima — sometime between the time I snapped this photo and the time the Street View car rolled by on June 2018. Even more interesting is that the store took the mural with them — on the same roll-up shutter! I've updated the Location at the bottom of this entry.

Monty “Ses” painted the mural with help from Rickey “Sketch” Bush.

Wednesday, June 07, 2017

Info-full Daily Wildcat murals article

The Tucson Arts Brigade tweeted (on Twitter, that is) a link to this Daily Wildcat article by Sean Orth:

Tucson Mural Arts Program struggles to awaken city's public art scene

You'll read interviews with mural artists and TAB's Michael Schwartz, info about graffiti vs. murals, and funding roadblocks.

Monday, June 05, 2017

Crusin' Tattoo Avenue

You'll only see this scene if you cruise by the store while it's closed. This is the roll-down shutter, and the scene is of two classic cars cruising somewhere.

I rolled past (and stopped around the corner) near sunset on May 28th. Friday, I'll show the business next door.

Friday, June 02, 2017

Maybe Murals, part 73

The Tucson Murals Project defines a mural as basically “art on a flat surface that we think a fair number of people will enjoy.”  I'm suggesting that the following two images meet that definition if you can get past the fact that, at night, they are lit by old style neon lighting.  Here they are from the courtyard of the Hotel Congress:

Click on either photo for larger and sharper images.