Tuesday, April 26, 2022

Two very different murals at Hollinger K-8

Hollinger K-8 school has two murals you can see from the street. Here's one on the Sarah Barchas Library / Media Center, photographed by David Aber on February 21, 2022:
Long-time contributor Mark Fleming, who's sent a lot of mural photos over the years, photographed the same mural on February 12, 2021. He sent an overall photo like David's as well as these closeups:

Both David and Mark spotted another mural nearby that they couldn't see very well from the street. I drove by on April 4, 2022 and noticed that the parking lot next to the mural was open. So I grabbed a few photos of it:

Friday, April 22, 2022

Falling saguaro!

On March 4, trying to avoid construction on Broadway, I drove a few blocks south on Plumer Avenue and spotted this mural:
The artist was Rock “Cyfi” Martinez.

Here's the north side of the building (the right side of the photo above):
Notice the blossoms on the right-side roller door that have popped off.

He signed the mural at the top right corner of the north side:
Cyfi has painted a lot of different styles over the years. (To see them, here are posts labeled with Rock "CyFi" Martinez. That link opens in a new window or tab.) If I'm right, this style — with a white background — is new to Tucson. Another mural like this is at Goodwill Industries Headquarters.

Update: Google Maps Street View shows that the mural was there as early as January 2021. So maybe this “style” of Cyfi’s isn't that new…

Tuesday, April 19, 2022

The ocean and more

It was October 18, 2009 when we posted a few closeup photos of a long mural along the parking lot that faces Paseo Redondo downtown. (Click on the “Location:” link below for a map.) The post was titled Parking by an ocean…. In September, 2014 I took closeup photos of the whole mural but never posted them… until now. Here they are, from left to right:

The Tucson Water Department building is behind.

Update (November 25, 2022): BG Boyd Photography sent several of his aerial mural photos, taken October 22. They give you a good idea of how big this mural is. Here are two:

(As always, you can click on a photo for a larger view.) Thanks for helping us get perspective on this, BG!

Friday, April 15, 2022

Art near Tucson Museum of Art

On October 26, 2010, we showed two murals on a wall in a big parking lot just west of the Tucson Museum of Art along Main Avenue. Back then, this blog often didn't show all of a mural; we thought that people would go to see the mural in person. Thanks to Google Maps Street View, though, I found a picture of much of the wall from March 2011:



By January 2021, one of the murals was missing:



Between then and now, a new mural (dated 2022), by Rock "Cyfi" Martinez, covered all of the wall:

The building behind the mural is the Tucson Water Department, so this aquatic mural fits in!

In the first photo above, you can also see a bit of the long mural around the corner (to the right). I'll post closeups of it next time in The ocean and more.

Here's the mural from left to right. I missed the parts behind the cars:

I took those photos on March 20, 2022

Update (November 25, 2022): BG Boyd Photography sent several of his aerial mural photos, taken October 22. Here's one:
Thanks as always, BG.

Tuesday, April 12, 2022

Another painted intersection in South Tucson

There are several painted intersections in the city of South Tucson. Two are along 8th Avenue: at 25th Street and at 36th Street. Now there's another one — although it's fading quickly, so see it while you can!

Our last post, "Mask Up! Vax Up!", showed a mural at the corner of 4th Avenue and 28th Street in South Tucson. Before the mural was painted, the intersection had been painted; there was a celebration that day.

A video from KGUN9 TV on February 24th, New project in City of South Tucson combines art with street safety, introduced the intersection project. Avenidas Inc. (on Instagram, @avenidasinc) posted the video below on February 21st. Drone photographer Ernesto Somoza (his Instagram account, @easomoza, is private) made the video. If you look at the top edge of the video, you can see the mural being painted. Below the video is the caption that Avenidas Inc. added when they posted it:

Every third Sunday, we, @avenidasinc host a Community Re:Investment Day! These days are all about giving back and showing our love for South 4th Avenue; to our local causes and businesses through monetary giving, volunteering and socializing.
Yesterday, our focus was on public art and COVID-19 awareness, information and resources. We hope these murals will serve as a space for gathering, reflection, healing and an accessible way to experience local art and community. We appreciate everyone who spent time with us, painted, collaborated and sent positive energy. Keep sharing and posting with others. Thank you.
Crosswalks: Sal Sawaki, from Wagon Burner Arts / Funded by Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona

@wagon_burner_arts
@artsfoundtucson

@atrujillo_art
@droopydave
@luckysalway
@saguaro_fruit
@yiselaart

Mural (on wall): Mel Dominguez, from Galeria Mitotera / Funded by Sunnyside Foundation

@melodominguez
@galeriamitotera
@sunnyside.foundation

@roguetucsonart
@emgk77
@patoaguilarart

Footage by: @easomoza
There's lots of painted pavement around the US by now. Here's an example: the City-County building in Denver, across from Civic Center Park:
(What makes the paint last, I think, is painting streets where vehicles don't go.)

Friday, April 08, 2022

"Mask Up, Vax Up!"

North-facing wall at the SE intersection of E. 28th St. and S. 4th Ave.

Coordinated by Melo "Mel" Dominguez

Tuesday, April 05, 2022

Monday, April 04, 2022

Street Art for Mankind

I just discovered Street Art for Mankind. Founded in 2015, it's a nonprofit organization in New York that has helped 80 international artists create human rights-themed murals and display them on busy pedestrian walkways in major cities. The goal is to capture attention and trigger action — especially to combat hunger, human trafficking and child labor.

Here's an article from the U.S. Department of State's ShareAmerica introducing them: https://share.america.gov/murals-with-message/.

Friday, April 01, 2022

A new long mural along Prince (Murals being made, part 68)

For years, a long mural east of Amphi Middle School has been fading in the strong southern sun. Joe Pagac started painting a new mural in late 2021 and finished it in 2022:
The mural used to look like this (the photo is from our December 21, 2009 post, A long mural along Prince, which also has closer shots):
I found out that the mural was being repainted in Joe's Facebook post on November 9, 2021:



I stopped by on December 18, 2021, hoping to catch the mural in progress. I did:
I snapped close-up photos of the mural from left (west) to right (east). Those pictures are below, the first of each pair of photos. I came back on February 21, 2022 to snap pictures of the completed mural. Those are the second of each pair below:









(In case you haven't figured it out by now, the school's mascot is a pirate.)