Friday, February 28, 2020

Tucson heart on Oracle: Banner mural #4 of 5

Jessica Gonzales created this mural on the east wall of the No-Tel Motel. It's part of a series of five commissioned by Banner-University Medicine during 2019:

According to the This is Tucson article Tucson is getting 5 new murals this summer painted by notable Arizona artists, the heart the woman is holding in the mural conveys compassion and the feathers represent worries floating away.

There's much more of Jessica's work on her Facebook page.

I took the photo on November 24, 2019.

Tuesday, February 25, 2020

"Corazon Saguaro" (Saguaro Heart): Banner mural #3 of 5

 This is the third of a series of five murals commissioned by Banner-University Medicine during 2019.

Photographed on Aug. 27, 2019.
Painted by Phoenix muralist Lalo Cota
Click on photo for a larger and sharper image.

Update (November 5, 2024): Half of this became a political mural; the rest looks the same. There are photos in today's post Artsy mural replaced by (similar) political mural.

Monday, February 24, 2020

Block-long mural at 120 East 15th painted over

I just noticed that one of the more spectacular home murals in Tucson has been painted over. Here's a part of it:

I've updated the photos with much larger versions. You can see them all at: Block-long mural at 120 East 15th.

Friday, February 21, 2020

Sky Islands (Whale Mural): Banner mural #2 of 5

Second in a series of five murals commissioned last year by Banner-University Medicine, here's a huge mural by Joe Pagac on the north wall of the old Catalina Theatre at Campbell and Grant:

(As always, you can click on a photo for a larger view.)

Right now there's a vacant lot between the mural and Grant. Sometime in the future — maybe after the Grant Road widening project is finished — this mural will probably be hidden. So don't miss it! (If you drive by, you can't miss it.)

I took the photos on November 24, 2019.

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Tranquil Lady: Banner mural #1 of 5

Photographed on 9/15/2019
This is the first of a series of five murals commissioned by Banner-University Medicine during 2019. Read more in the This is Tucson story Tucson is getting 5 new murals this summer painted by notable Arizona artists.
Painted by Ignacio Garcia

Click on the photo for a larger and sharper image.

Friday, February 14, 2020

A desert treat along Treat Avenue

That's what you'll see along Treat at the northeast corner of 8th. It's the back yard wall of a home there. At the left (north) edge is a utility box that's part of the mural. Here are the two halves, north and south:

One of the homeowners was there when I rolled by. He told me a few stories of how he and his wife worked with the artist, Jaime Valdez from Sonora, as the mural took shape. Jaime worked from right to left. The homeowner wanted octopus tentacles, but there wasn't room on the wall… so he asked Jaime to paint on the side of the utility box at the left end (and said he'd take responsibility if someone doesn't like it):

They have a favorite desert tortoise, so Jaime added it above a drainage slot — and a gila monster on top of the cactus nearby:


Here are Jaime's signature and phone number. He's on Facebook too:

I was there on January 17th.

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Danny Martin Mural

Danny Martin has painted a mural on the north side of the Old Pueblo Parking Garage downtown on Congress St.

The first photo was taken in Nov. of 2019 as Danny was completing the mural.

Photo by David

The next two photos were taken in January of 2020 when the mural was complete.  One was taken on a week day with many cars parked in front of the mural.  The other was taken on a Sunday when there was less congestion.

Photo by Jerry

Photo by David
Click on any photo for a slideshow of larger and sharper images.

Friday, February 07, 2020

"Living"

Artist Isaac Caruso created the design for the north wall of the La Suprema community building to reflect the history of Barrio Viejo.  It was transferred to a paint-by-number mural that was completed by volunteers.
Photographed Dec. 11, 2019
Complete Mural
Left Side
Center
Right Side
Artist, Volunteers & Sponsors
Click on any photo for a slideshow of larger and sharper images.

Tuesday, February 04, 2020

6th St. construction murals: our 1500th entry

This blog has been online since July 12, 2006. In that time, we've posted 1500 entries. Most of them had photos of murals, and some had mural news. For this 1500th entry, we've got photos of the cloth murals hung along the construction fencing that starts on 4th Avenue just south of 6th Street, continues west along 6th Street down 5th Avenue, then back to 6th Street, ending a bit west of 5th Avenue.

Some of the panels are advertising for the project being built behind the fence; others promote 4th Avenue and its businesses. I haven't included all of those. Some of the artists' panels have been stolen, and some of those replaced. These photos show the murals on November 12 and December 2, 2019. One shows a blank section of fence; after that is a photo of the mural that was originally there, before it was stolen; the photo is courtesy of the artist, Marcy Ellis.