Here's a closeup taken from the right (south) end, near 22nd:
Tuesday, December 13, 2022
Too soon for the birds and the bees?
Parents traditionally wait a while to discuss “the birds & bees” with their kids. I wonder whether Learning Tree Preschool & Daycare considered having a mural showing, say, bees and bugs?
The mural is on the west side of the building, next to the westbound lanes of 22nd Street, so this mural would be in your rear-view mirror as you drive by. Maybe that's why I didn't notice the mural until recently? It was easier to spot their mural along 22nd, shown in our December 17, 2021 post. The two murals look similar, so maybe the west wall was also painted by Wagon Burner Arts.
Here's a closeup taken from the right (south) end, near 22nd:
At the very south end of the wall are traces of the mural that used to be there. Here are photos from now and from March 6, 2011 (our post 22nd and the world and now:
I buzzed by on November 23rd.
Here's a closeup taken from the right (south) end, near 22nd:
Friday, December 09, 2022
Jessica Gonzales paints (& paints...) the Rialto
If you've driven along Congress Street into downtown from the east, you've seen two murals on the east side of the Rialto Theatre. (That was especially true years ago before there was a building blocking the view.) Joe Pagac used to paint most of them.
Now Jessica Gonzales paints here. BG Boyd Photography sent a photo from his drone of Jessica and her husband painting on November 16th:
To give you an idea of the murals that Jessica is creating, I picked a few from her Instagram page @jessicagonzalesart.
…a break due to the pandemic…
The man and monkey in the photo above came from Joe Pagac, who painted the murals before Jessica. Here's a post with examples — from July 16, 2019 — A history of Joe Pagac's little man on the Rialto.
Now Jessica Gonzales paints here. BG Boyd Photography sent a photo from his drone of Jessica and her husband painting on November 16th:
November 17, 2022
October 3, 2022
August 31, 2022
May 5, 2022
March 7, 2022
January 30, 2022
August 1, 2021
…a break due to the pandemic…
December 13, 2019
June 13, 2019
February 13, 2019
The man and monkey in the photo above came from Joe Pagac, who painted the murals before Jessica. Here's a post with examples — from July 16, 2019 — A history of Joe Pagac's little man on the Rialto.
Tuesday, December 06, 2022
Joe Pagac mural we haven't published in five years
For some reason, this mural on Roadhouse Cinemas hasn't been on the blog since Joe painted it in 2017. I mentioned a newspaper story about it, A movie crew chases outlaws chasing a train, but then forgot to go see it until September 20, 2022:
It's high on the wall, so I used the digital zoom on my phone camera. It doesn't have the quality of a real (optical) zoom, but the photos look okay shrunken for the Web:
Thanks to BG Boyd Photography for this aerial photo taken February 23, 2022:
(It's a wide panorama, so the straight line of the building front looks curved.)
Friday, December 02, 2022
"I am Tucson" mural in its first home (Murals being made, part 73)
Our November 29 post I AM a re-born TUCSON mural showed this Ben's Bells mural…
…in its new location at the Tucson Convention Center. The photo above was taken in the mural's original location, northwest of the corner of Broadway & Stone — likely on January 25, 2014. Thanks to Ben's Bells for that photo.
Below is the same view in July 2013. Although the color is washed out, you can see the mural on the sunlit side of the structure:
That structure (a ventilation tower for the parking garage underneath, I believe) had Ben's Bells murals on three sides. Below is a view from the southeast (Broadway at Stone) in May 2015:
This blog has photos of the other two Ben's Bells murals on the structure in Murals being made, part 8 (Kindness, part 3) and Ride on, Tucson.
On August 22, 2012, the mural had been outlined onto the refinished side of the structure:
On August 24, 2012, the mural was starting to take shape at 8:05 AM:
Later on August 24, at 6:58 PM, the crew had done a lot…
… but there was more to do, like the rays of sun near the top left:
Here's the finished mural again:
Before and after original mural was made
Courtesy of Google Street View, we can rewind to March 2011, from the northeast (Stone south of Congress), before the mural was started:Below is the same view in July 2013. Although the color is washed out, you can see the mural on the sunlit side of the structure:
That structure (a ventilation tower for the parking garage underneath, I believe) had Ben's Bells murals on three sides. Below is a view from the southeast (Broadway at Stone) in May 2015:
This blog has photos of the other two Ben's Bells murals on the structure in Murals being made, part 8 (Kindness, part 3) and Ride on, Tucson.
Original mural being made
Now on to 2012, when the “I am Tucson” mural was being made. Thanks much to Monique from Ben's Bells for collecting and sending the historical photos below. The dates came from data hidden in the photo (which can be wrong if the camera's clock wasn't set correctly).On August 22, 2012, the mural had been outlined onto the refinished side of the structure:
Goodbye to the original mural
I dialed Google Street View back to June 2018. It shows the plaza with the murals. Street View also showed that, in April 2019, the new building which would replace the plaza was taking shape. The photo below shows the scene sometime between those two dates. It's looking south from near Congress toward Broadway; Stone is at the left edge. I've outlined the structure, with at least one of the murals still on it:
In its new home
As we showed last week in the post I AM a re-born TUCSON mural, this is the mural in its new home at Tucson Convention Center:
Wednesday, November 30, 2022
"I am Tucson" mural celebration December 5
The re-installed “I am Tucson” mural (click to see our November 29th post) will be dedicated at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday, December 5, at 4pm:
If you're going, please RSVP: https://myemail.constantcontact.com/You-Are-Invited.html?soid=1138421104299&aid=dx-9kKXpdcI
Tuesday, November 29, 2022
I AM a re-born TUCSON mural
On September 22 and 23, 2022, Vivian Moore MacKinnon took photos of the Ben's Bells I am TUCSON mural being re-installed at its new home, TCC (the Tucson Convention Center):
The last photo above shows Chad Borseth, the Mural Coordinator for Ben's Bells.
Victoria Sasnett of the Arizona Daily Star made this video interview with Chad showing the mural being made: Watch Now: Ben's Bells recreates "I am Tucson" mural at TCC. One of the things you'll see is that the new mural isn't an exact copy of the original. For instance, volunteers have been making new pieces to use in the mural. Chad also places a small piece without checking any detailed map. (I'm guessing there isn't a detailed map… the reconstructed mural started from a chalk outline.) Also, KGUN9 TV News covered the mural reconstruction in a video: Ben's Bells brings 'I am Tucson' mosaic mural back to downtown.
I stopped by near sunrise on October 17th (so the shadows would be soft when I stood close) to photograph the whole mural:
Next, a photo of the mural taken September 7, 2012:
When you compare that original mural to the new version at TCC, you'll see that the right end of the original is missing from the new version, the mountains are higher, and the one line of writing is now two lines. (As always, you can click on a photo for a slideshow of larger views.) I'm guessing that the color of the bottom half isn't as brilliant because it's not facing the sun.
Here's an overview from Google Street View, looking west from Stone between Broadway and Congress, in April 2016:
The color in that photo is washed-out. Below is a much better photo, courtesy of Ben's Bells… probably taken January 25, 2014. As always (except for Google Street View photos, that is), you can click for a larger view:
Another post, coming soon, will have photos of the original mural being made in 2012.
Now the mural is finally in its new home!
Victoria Sasnett of the Arizona Daily Star made this video interview with Chad showing the mural being made: Watch Now: Ben's Bells recreates "I am Tucson" mural at TCC. One of the things you'll see is that the new mural isn't an exact copy of the original. For instance, volunteers have been making new pieces to use in the mural. Chad also places a small piece without checking any detailed map. (I'm guessing there isn't a detailed map… the reconstructed mural started from a chalk outline.) Also, KGUN9 TV News covered the mural reconstruction in a video: Ben's Bells brings 'I am Tucson' mosaic mural back to downtown.
I stopped by near sunrise on October 17th (so the shadows would be soft when I stood close) to photograph the whole mural:
Here's an overview from Google Street View, looking west from Stone between Broadway and Congress, in April 2016:
The color in that photo is washed-out. Below is a much better photo, courtesy of Ben's Bells… probably taken January 25, 2014. As always (except for Google Street View photos, that is), you can click for a larger view:
Now the mural is finally in its new home!
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