Monday, November 01, 2021
New Joe Pagac mural at Davis-Monthan AFB
Friday, October 29, 2021
Día de Los Muertos on Grant Road
The "Day of the Dead" is an opportunity to remember and celebrate the lives of departed loved ones. It is often celebrated on Nov. 1 to remember children who are deceased and Nov. 2 to honor the adults who have passed.
The artists are Monty Ses Esposito, Retro, Sketch 71/Rickey A Bush and Sal Sawaki; all working with Wagon Burner Arts.
Found at the SW intersection of N. Martin Ave. and E. Grant Rd., Tucson, AZ |
La Calavera Catrina (the "Elegant Skull"). Also known as Mexico's Lady of the Dead. |
Mariachis (a street band in Mexico) |
La Calavera Catrinas Note the dog and cat. |
Update: KGUN9 TV interviewed muralist Monty Ses Esposito, one of four artists who painted the mural.
Update: The Sugar Skulls panel — the right side of the second photo in this post — was replaced in Jan. of 2022. The “sugar skulls” were “chuckleheads” — the four artists who painted the mural. Left to right, they were: Ses, Sketch 71, Retro and Sal. Below is what replaced the panel:
Update: To give you an idea of how big the mural is, here's an aerial view from BG Boyd Photography (thanks!): Click on any photo for a slideshow of larger images.
Tuesday, October 26, 2021
Dia de los Muertos on the UA Mall
Update (October 27, 2021): BG Boyd sent information about this style of floral mural (below). I found examples by searching online for Alfombristas Mexicanos (click there to run a search with DuckDuckGo, which is much more private than Google). The page alfombristasmexicanos.org has lots of photos. Here's what BG sent:
Alfombrismo (flower art carpet) is a collective cultural expression of ephemeral art originating in the community of Huamantla, Tlaxcala, Mexico. This art expression arises from the pre-Hispanic worldview of offering to nature and the close relationship with the Matlalcuéyetl mountain from whom the community obtains resources to survive. After the process of miscegenation, veneration and gratitude are directed to the Christian divinity that they identify with the benefits of the Matlalcuéyetl as The Virgin Mary who assumes the generosity of nature and mercy for those who need it most, for which she is named Virgin of Charity.
Alfombristas Mexicanos (Mexican Carpet Makers) is a civil and collective group based on the carpets of Huamantla. This group develops cultural projects, to develop collective spaces as possibilities of coexistence, exchange, appreciation, and imagination.
Alfombristas Mexicanos develops carpeting projects as an inclusive cultural expression in which diverse individuals can contribute and be integrated from the creative process to the artistic culmination of the work. This artistic expression is a current dynamic in a constant transformation and innovation that adapts the form and resources from a local community which is giving time, materials and contributes to a visible purpose to a transcendental expression.
Friday, October 22, 2021
Avenidas de los Muertos celebration and Spy vs. Spy
If you've read MAD Magazine, you probably recognize these characters from the middle of the mural: It's a cartoon pair of spies who are always trying to destroy each other. (I'm not sure what they have to do with a celebration in Tucson.) There's more info in the fandom.com article Spy vs. Spy. And here's a YouTube Spy vs Spy video:
I stopped by the mural yesterday morning, October 21.
Thursday, October 21, 2021
Daily Wildcat article about mural feast at Hotel McCoy
This blog has lots of photos of the hotel's murals. You can see them all by searching for posts labeled "Hotel McCoy" (click there).
Tuesday, October 19, 2021
You could drive right past this
Friday, October 15, 2021
See this mural & stop in
Tuesday, October 12, 2021
"Living" TUCSON AZ mural
Update: You can follow this mural, as well as the other one, on Instagram @TheLivingMural. The coordinator, Jason Lee Nolan, calls this “the stained glass wall.” For example, here's a call to artists on August 23, 2021.
Friday, October 08, 2021
Greetings from ARIZONA
And yes, our Tucson sky is that blue.
Mural by Monty Ses Esposito, Sketch 71/Rickey A Bush, Sal Sawaki with Wagon Burner Arts |
Update (July 4, 2022): Monty Ses Esposito also painted a mural nearby.
Tuesday, October 05, 2021
Stewart Boot Company
Friday, October 01, 2021
St. Luke's Home
In May of 2018 I took photos of two murals on an L-shaped wall at the rear of an assisted living facility named St. Luke's Home. I recently discovered that these photos never made it to The Tucson Murals Project. I drove by St. Luke's on Aug. 18, 2021 to confirm that the mural still exists. While the street address is 615 E. Adams St., the murals can only be seen from E. Lee St.
Here are the two photos (better late than never):
Tuesday, September 28, 2021
Mobile monster mural
Friday, September 24, 2021
"Red Fuji"
Tuesday, September 21, 2021
Las Puertas Community School
Friday, September 17, 2021
Nosotros Academy
Tuesday, September 14, 2021
Paste-up mural at Mr. Codd's garden
With all of the rain we've had, I'm guessing that the mural is long gone. The Instagram post didn't give the address. I tried to message the Instagram user for more info but haven't heard back yet.
Friday, September 10, 2021
Boys and Girls Clubs of Tucson
The elements of this mural resulted from conversations with the kids: "What they love most about the organization, things they enjoyed doing and what imagery represents Tucson.....".
The mural was painted by Pen Macias, also known as The Desert Pen.
Click on the photo for a larger and sharper image.
Tuesday, September 07, 2021
Animals on the roof
From BG Boyd Photo, here's a wider view, plus a closeup of the signature at the bottom left corner (which I got with a photo editor from his first photo):
Friday, September 03, 2021
El Pais Motel
This mural, on a wall facing Benson Highway, was the first one painted here. The artist was Alejandra Trujillo (@atrujillo_art on Instagram):
At the entrance, from the B-52s (created by Gabrielle Ames):
Not far from the entrance on the left is the clubhouse. Here's what's outside, painted by Jessi (on Instagram @arterosas_, with an underscore at the end):
On the far side of the clubhouse is a covered seating area with a mural by Lyn Sweet (her Instagram has changed to @lynthesweet):
To go along with the vintage trailers — and the spaceship in the mural above — is one of the first electric cars. Randy L. Barton (@randy_boogie on Instagram) painted it: Randy posted photos of the unpainted and painted car, as well as two videos of it being painted, on his Instagram. (Click there to see it. To see all, drag or use the arrows at right and left edges.)
Many of the guestrooms have their own name and a mural to go with it. From the front of the motel to the back, the first room with a name and mural is “Musician,” painted by Alejandra Trujillo:
Next, the “Comic Book room,” another by Alejandra Trujillo:
The Streamline Moderne room (after the art-deco style Streamline Moderne) has its mural by David Suggs (@suggscess on Instagram):
The “Casita de Khalo” is named for Mexican artist/icon Frida Kahlo. It's by Gabrielle Ames:
At the far end of the building with guestrooms is another mural by David Suggs:
The property was closed during August, so there was no need to keep the pool clean (from all of the dust blown in by the monsoon). The dust made it tough to photograph the mural on the bottom, painted by Gabrielle Ames… but there are (currently, at least) photos on the murals page of her website. The wall behind the pool has another of Gabrielle's murals, though… and yes, that's a mannequin in front: The pool safety sign actually came from the previous owners, but it fit right in: The motel's website elpaismotel.com has some fun photos, and the Arizona Daily Star article Mom-daughter team transforming Tucson trailer park into vintage gem has more info and photos.
The motel is private property with paying guests, so the owners ask that you not look around on your own. You can contact them for a tour, though. My tour was on August 2nd.