15th anniversary of The Tucson Murals Project!

Former KOLD-TV news anchor Randy Garsee founded this blog July 12, 2006. A 2008 Arizona Daily Star article quoted Randy:

“The initial idea behind the Tucson Murals Project was to complement Tucson's Downtown redevelopment. It seemed to me that the city was leaving out a great idea for Tucson tourism: a map for tourists to drive and find Tucson's beautiful wall-size pieces of art.”

He passed away in 2013. (I hope we're doing you proud, Randy.) There's lots of info about him — though with many links out of date — in the post Farewell, Randy....

In today's 15th-anniversary edition, I'll take you through the 15 most popular posts from the past 10 years. (Blogger's statistics don't cover 15 years.) If a post has more than one photo, I'll choose one; you can click on the link underneath each photo to see all of the photos in the post — actually, all of the post.

Let's start with an exact copy of the first post — July 12, 2006. Note that, in this screenshot, the links don't work.

(If you'd like to see the 10th anniversary post mentioned above, click here: Ten years of Tucson murals.)

Now, the most-viewed posts, starting with the most popular. After each photo is a link to the actual post. After you click on that link, use the "back" button or arrow on your browser or phone to come back here.

#1: Tucson Murals Project's 50th Posting!

This is the north side of the famous Hippie Gypsy store on 4th Avenue:

July 21, 2008: Tucson Murals Project's 50th Posting!

#2: Early mural by Luis Gustavo Mena

Luis Mena has been painting (and sculpting and …) for decades in Tucson. This mural of Benito Juarez is dated August 18, 1981:

November 22, 2012: Early mural by Luis Gustavo Mena

#3: 6,000 Tucsonans in the 4th Avenue underpass

The Tucson Portrait Project took the photos of 6,000 Tucsonans. The plan was to make them into a series of murals lining the underpass, but the project ran out of money:

December 13, 2009: 6,000 Tucsonans in the 4th Avenue underpass

#4: Ford Elementary

The mural is/was on a stand-alone wall on a (mostly) unused lot in the back of the school:

August 11, 2016: Ford Elementary

#5: Storage Shed at Smitty's

There are/were two murals on a storage shed at Smitty's Car Wash. Here's one:

UFT (Unidentified Flying Taco)

November 9, 2016: Storage Shed at Smitty's

#6: Little Germany Foreign Car Repair

The front of the store has/had a full-width mural:

December 3, 2011: Little Germany Foreign Car Repair

#7: Feldman's Neighborhood

Feldman's is a National Historic District:

January 02, 2017: Feldman's Neighborhood

#8: Victor's Upholstering

The mural is behind a fence, but David Aber was able to get in:

April 17, 2017: Victor's Upholstering

#9: Beep Beep

At the end of the driveway of a private home, Wile E. Coyote and the (beep beep, or maybe meep meep) Road Runner:

October 19, 2016: Beep Beep

#10: Rincon High

Of all the schools David Aber had visited by this point, Rincon High had the largest mural by far:

The original post has a series of close-ups:
February 15, 2017: Rincon High

#11: !*?%&#= TAGGERS!!

A tagger trashed Joe Pagac's name on the huge Epic Rides mural that took three months of work:

July 02, 2017: !*?%&#= TAGGERS!!

#12: Ben Maestas

Joy Maestas sent photos of murals by her son Ben Maestas in their back yard. All four murals are completely different — and very good. Here's the first section of wall:

October 14, 2016: Ben Maestas

#13: Joe Pagac's Borderlands Brewing mural

One of Tucson's biggest murals, it's filled with Western vistas and humans in animals' bodies. Click on the link for the blog post to see lots of close-ups.

April 10, 2015: Joe Pagac's Borderlands Brewing mural

#14: Electrifying art ("artifying" electricity?)

A number of electric substations around Tucson have murals. Here's one:

May 22, 2009: Electrifying art ("artifying" electricity?)

#15: Jos wraps (up) Good Ole Tom's: murals being made, part 18

This is part of a long series showing Jos Villabrile wrapping the building in murals:

April 26, 2013: Jos wraps (up) Good Ole Tom's: murals being made, part 18

There are more than a thousand other murals on the blog. If you're new here, have a look around! There's an introduction, tips for getting around, and some history too, in the page About this blog.

I'm aware that this blog isn't easy to see on mobile phones. I'm hoping to fix that in the next year or so.

Stay tuned for the next fifteen years!

Quetzalcoatl

Facing the Memorial mural for Samantha Silverman in our previous post is a mural on the south wall of Amazing Discoveries. Quetzalcoatl is the feathered serpent god of the Aztec and Toltec cultures.

By Jessica Gonzales assisted by Dakin Martin

Click on the photo for a larger and sharper image.

Memorial mural for Samantha Silverman

Danny Martin painted this mural on the north wall of Gym Two Forty Four.

He wrote on Instagram: "When I’m hired to do a tribute mural for someone who has passed away, i try to put some extra care into it…"

Another mural faces this one. There's a photo in the next post, Friday.

Look quickly! Too late; it's gone.

Sunday, June 27, I saw a post on Instagram about a paste-up mural in front of the former Wig-O-Rama on Scott at the southeast corner with Congress:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sprout (@jasmineandcreosote)

Monday, June 28, I stopped by near sunrise. “You snooze, you lose.” Here's a closeup of what was left:

(I used a photo editor to raise the contrast a lot to make it easier to see. In person, it was almost invisible.)

Tucson Murals & Music

I just came across Tucson Murals & Music on Instagram, @tucson_murals_and_music. The top of their page says:

Tucson M&M was created to highlight local art + music. We love our town & are stoked to share a piece of it with you. @brycejrogers #tucson #az youtu.be/PVCNiPtXLv0

That YouTube link is one of their videos.

Graffiti types and styles

A website started in 1998, fatcap.com, has a page with a few Tucson artists, though it's hardly worth a look for that. What's interesting is the long list of links at the right edge of the page (which may not be easy to view on phones). It lists types and styles of graffiti. There's also a section showing street art on various "supports": on tunnels, trains, rooftops…

Goodbye, Corbett Elementary

For years, Corbett Elementary School has had a mural on a long east-facing wall. You can see photos in our April 2, 2010 post Cactus and city at Corbett School. The school closed in 2014, but the mural has stayed. Not anymore. Pepper Viner Homes will be building homes there.

David Aber took the photo below on May 17, 2017. (As always, you can click on it for a larger view.)

I first found out about the closing and demolition on the BG Boyd Photo website. BG emailed the aerial photo (thanks!). Here it is:

When I stopped by yesterday, the mural was still there… but I also saw heavy equipment. I got there in time!

I won't repeat the photos that are in the 2010 blog post. But here are a few that I took yesterday. They're a bit rough because I had to either hold my camera in the air or shoot through the fence:

Mike Franks' mural photos

Instagram user @uclamikefranks posts murals he finds during his travels — and here in Tucson. He also has a searchable website with the same photos and a Google Earth map; see moremistakesfaster.com/murals. That last page also shows some of his favorite murals from around the world.

Murals being made, part 63: Connections

This mural of a young girl is on the campus of the Community Foundation of Southern Arizona. "It represents the diversity of southern arizona and the purpose of the foundation to connect people of all walks of life to learn and grow together." David Aber took the photo:

By Ignacio Garcia

This aerial YouTube video from BG Boyd Photography shows the mural in progress:

(To see the video full-screen, click the square at the lower right corner after it begins playing.) If you can't see the video above, here's a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzoJP923RaU

Remembrance

 Remembering the "Missing And Murdered Indigenous Women And Girls".

Artist Not Known

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

Flying Televisions

In 1965, Flash TV and Appliance Store had a commercial in which TVs were thrown from the roof. 

This is Ignacio Garcia's version:

By Ignacio Garcia

Click on the photo for a larger and sharper image.

Murals being made, part 60: "Now Hiring"

A similar mural at this location (The Tool Spot) was posted on June 15, 2018.  It was painted over in Aug., 2018.  Here's the link:  Now Hiring

A new mural with the same theme was begun in Feb. of 2021.  This first look was photographed on Feb. 24, 2021 and shows the new mural in progress.  It is being painted by Robin Parnell.

This second look shows further progress on Mar. 2, 2021.

Here's yet another look at the unfinished mural.  It's an aerial view from April 4th courtesy of BG Boyd Photography. And here's a link to other murals by BG Boyd:  https://bgboydphoto.com/murals 

                        Almost finished on May 9, 2021.

Finished at last and photographed on May 22, 2021.

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

Tribute to Deb Haaland

She is the first native american to hold a cabinet secretary's position. She was sworn in as Secretary of the Interior on March 16, 2021.

Ruben Urrea Moreno assisted by Danielle Love.

 

Click on the photo for a larger and sharper image.

Ode to Libraries

Found at the Kirk-Bear Canyon Library.  The mural consists of six panels on the accordian-shaped outside wall.  Here they are in no particular order:

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

Slow down on Speedway!

If you're in a car, as you're driving east on Speedway, slow down as you cross Park Avenue. On your right will be this spectacular mural:

Westbound, your view will mostly be blocked by the center island. A bicycle is a great way to see it. (You can also try crossing Speedway on foot from the Park Avenue garage, but don't say that I suggested it! Getting to the median is risky on a busy street, and the median isn't flat.)

Another way to see the mural is below! The photos are from left to right:

The muralist was Karlito Miller Espinosa. You can see a video interview with him, Cuando Estoy Contigo, on YouTube. (Click there.)

I took my life into my own hands :) by crossing to the center island on March 6th. (I hope you appreciate what I do for art. :)

Alley Wall

There is an alley that runs behind a group of buildings in the 6100 block of E. 22nd St.  The alley and its wall are on south side of the street.  The wall contains a number of murals.  It has previously appeared in this Blog on Aug. 22, 2016 at: K42 Tattoos

Only two of the old murals remain. The rest have been replaced and there have been some additions.

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