Rock Martinez, left, consults a photo of his girlfriend Brandi Watkins with assistant Cristina Perez as they work on the “Goddess of Agave” mural on May 31.
To-Ree-Nee Wolf continues to work on her mural called "Creation Story, Chaos Theory and Quantum Memory," on Wednesday June 08, 2016. Her mural is located at 213 E. Broadway Blvd. The eight new murals in downtown Tucson are part of the City of Tucson Mural Program, in conjunction with Tucson Arts Brigade.
Rock Martinez works on his mural located on the Benjamin Supply building at 440 N. 7th Ave. on May 31, 2016. He says he used about 50 cans of spray paint for the mural.
Bill Walton riding a jackalope is the new mural by Ignacio Garcia that is on one of the walls of the Rialto Theatre in downtown Tucson. The eight new murals are part of the City of Tucson Mural Program, in conjunction with Tucson Arts Brigade.
The mural by Niki Glen is located at the west corner of North Fifth Avenue and East Toole Avenue. Glen says she’s painted over 100 murals, but this is her first one in Tucson. The eight new murals, in downtown Tucson, by different artists are part of the City of Tucson Mural Program in conjunction with Tucson Arts Brigade. Friday June 10, 2016 Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Rock Martinez, left, consults a photo of his girlfriend Brandi Watkins with assistant Cristina Perez as they work on the “Goddess of Agave” mural on May 31.
Photos by Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
To-Ree-Nee Wolf continues to work on her mural called "Creation Story, Chaos Theory and Quantum Memory," on Wednesday June 08, 2016. Her mural is located at 213 E. Broadway Blvd. The eight new murals in downtown Tucson are part of the City of Tucson Mural Program, in conjunction with Tucson Arts Brigade.
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
The mural by Niki Glen is located at the west corner of North Fifth Avenue and East Toole Avenue. Glen says she’s painted over 100 murals, but this is her first one in Tucson. The eight new murals, in downtown Tucson, by different artists are part of the City of Tucson Mural Program in conjunction with Tucson Arts Brigade. Friday June 10, 2016 Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
A city bursting with smarts, innovation, unique thinkers and, especially, creativity.
Sometimes it’s hard to get that.
But it’s hard to ignore now with the murals that have popped up all around downtown.
The city of Tucson’s Mural Arts Program has made the area an outdoor art gallery, with murals that scream Tucson in gorgeous colors, graceful birds, big hearts and blooming cacti. The murals speak to the Southwest and to the soul of the community.
The new murals that have gone up in the last month are visual celebrations of the Old Pueblo’s colorful personality. One, the jaguar, is courtesy of the Center for Biological Diversity. The remaining eight (including one that is not yet done) are a result of the city’s mural program.
“I got the idea for the program from one in Richmond, Virginia,” says Camila Bekat, an economic development specialist with the city’s economic initiatives office.
Bill Walton riding a jackalope is the new mural by Ignacio Garcia that is on one of the walls of the Rialto Theatre in downtown Tucson. The eight new murals are part of the City of Tucson Mural Program, in conjunction with Tucson Arts Brigade.
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
“They’ve used murals as a way to revitalize areas and a way to create visual interest and deter taggers. We thought a similar program would help us achieve those goals, too.”
The first step in the mural program was securing the funding, and the Tohono O’odham Nation came in with a $50,000 grant. Visit Tucson threw in a couple grand.
Then Bekat and the city went to a group who knows how to do what they wanted done: the Tucson Arts Brigade.
The 20-year-old nonprofit has long matched up muralists with owners of walls that called out for visual pizazz. It has also brought art to schools, neighborhoods and community centers and has an extensive arts education program. The idea is a community that embraces and cares about art and artists thrives culturally and economically.
The Art Brigade’s recent Trash Container Mural project, an effort to reduce graffiti while brightening up neighborhoods, sent Bekat to the organization with the idea it could manage the downtown mural program.
“She said, ‘We need this in Tucson,’” recalls Michael Schwartz, a co-founder of the Arts Brigade.
“I’ve been waiting 20 years for that call.”
Planning began in late January. In the little more than four months since, the city and the Arts Brigade called for proposals from artists, looked for partners in building owners who wanted murals on walls, winnowed down 58 artists’ proposals to 16, and saw seven of the eight murals completed. The last will be done by Monday, June 20.
“I thought it would be a real asset,” says developer John Wesley Miller, on his wall at 9 N. Scott Ave. Miller, like all those offering up walls, was able to select the mural he wanted from the final 16.
“Isn’t it pretty?” he asks about the Isaac Caruso mural. The towering piece looks over an alleyway and drips with juicy oranges and orange blossoms on a cool blue background.
Benjamin Plumbing Supply’s historic building at 440 N. Seventh Ave. has a 55-foot-high wall facing west. Blank, it was a magnet for taggers. “Tagging and graffiti have never been our friend,” says Tina Roesler, director of marketing at the 56-year-old Tucson company.
“We’ve spent thousands of dollars trying to keep up with taggers.”
Today, Rock Martinez’s riveting Agave Lady peers over the buildings toward the Stone Avenue underpass, serving as a can’t-miss-it greeting to downtown travelers and a beckoning to the arts district.
Tagging is an uncomfortable reality in Tucson. Schwartz hopes the graffiti artists respect the murals, but he is realistic. All the works have a protective coating that will make removal of graffiti a quick and fairly easy job.
Most of the artists began the work in May and finished early this month.
The response has been electric. While a few have groused about “wasting taxpayer dollars” — which were not used for this project — most of the reaction has been positive, says Jessica Harris, who is tracking responses for the Arts Brigade.
Rock Martinez works on his mural located on the Benjamin Supply building at 440 N. 7th Ave. on May 31, 2016. He says he used about 50 cans of spray paint for the mural.
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
The city’s Bekat says her office is receiving mostly praise from the community for the project, as well. So much so that she’s planning more.
“We just applied for another round of funding through the Tohono O’odham Nation, and hopefully we will be” successful, she says.
“If that happens, we hope to do another eight to 10 murals, and we’ll expand it a little bit.” Areas along North Stone Avenue and North Oracle Roads are likely the next sites, she says.
That is exciting to Schwartz, who is passionate about the role art plays in the community, and the ripple effect it has on economic development.
The murals “are creating an ambiance downtown that’s a reflection of the Tucson that we all love,” he says.
“There’s a feeling here that this is a special place, an old community with a lot of creative ideas and energy. To see that animated creates possibilities. … Downtown is now poised to be a place of inspiration for all of us, and to draw in a lot of new businesses who see the murals and see a community that supports the arts.”
Luis Mena’s mural covers the front, the doorway, curves around to the side, and overflows onto the overhang of the building at 142 E. Pennington St. Just 7-feet high but an impressive 83-feet long, it includes blossoms, birds, a mariachi and a deep blue background that pulls you in and cools you off. It’s a colorful celebration of the Latino culture in Tucson, and practically shimmers with energy thanks to the glitter the artist added in strategic spots. Look up to the overhang to catch his celestial and ghostly drawings.
Rock Martinez took about a month to create the Agave Lady, which covers Benjamin Supply's 65-feet long and 55-feet high wall at 440 N. Seventh Ave. The piece is one of his Cactus People series. Martinez, who is out of the country and wasn’t available for comment, used the grid laid out by the wall’s bricks as his guide, says Cristina Perez, who assisted him. He would finish one grid, climb off the scaffolding, cross the street to check the work, then climb back on and continue. “Getting the proportions right was the biggest challenge,” says Perez.
Martinez’s website: yfiart.com. He is also on Facebook.
The winged heart on the side of Cafe 54, 54 E. Pennington St., was done by a team of artists: Rachel Slick, Tim Schirack and Alexandra Gjurasic. The wall is 18-feet high and 50-feet long, but “it felt longer than that,” says Gjurasic with a laugh. The biggest challenge was the texture of the wall on the building. “It has a thick adobe texture and it chewed through brushes and it ate paint,” she said. More of the artists’ works at: rachelslicksculpture.homestead.com, alexandraGjurasic.com and timothyschirack.homestead.com
Isaac Caruso’s mural is on a 50- by 50-feet wall at 9 N. Scott Ave. Bright oranges float in front of a striking blue background, bringing a touch of coolness to the hot city. A quail pops up between the fruit. “I wanted to do something that represents Tucson and I automatically thought of quail and orange trees,” says Caruso. He lives in Phoenix, and took a week off his art director job to stay in Tucson and bang out the mural. And this is how dedicated he is: He spent one night high in the air on the lift so he could work as late as possible, and get as much sleep as possible. “It was elevated about 20 feet and I was wrapped up in my sleeping bag,” he says. He wasn’t worried about falling. “Paint cans were my borders,” he explains. More of his art: isaacncaruso.com.
Jessica Gonzales’ mural on the west wall of Wig-O-Rama, 98 E. Congress St., is 27- feet tall and 32-feet wide. The festive piece has faces peering out toward the center of Downtown and is festooned with iconic Tucson images, from monsoon clouds to a lasso. She projected her image onto the wall as her guide, though she incorporated the grid system, as well. “I felt it was important to honor the Downtown community,” says Gonzales about her design. “I live here, I work here, I went to Tucson High School. It’s about the connectedness of creative locals and the support system we have.” You can see more of her work on her Facebook page.
To-Ree-Nee Wolf Keiser got a late start on her 12-feet-high and 40-feet-long mural at the old Scrappy’s, 213 E. Broadway. She’s battling oppressive heat but she’ll be done by June 20, she says. Her inspiration is “The creation story, chaos theory and quantum memory,” says Wolf. Incorporating bright colors — which are her signature — and images of rainbows and a butterfly will be key. Her biggest challenge? “The heat,” she says quickly. To avoid it, she has to get up early to start work on the mural. That presents another challenge: “I’m a night owl,” she says. “If I see dawn, it’s because I’m going to bed, not rising.” toreenee.com.
Ignacio Garcia’s mural on the east wall of the Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St., was inspired by myths and symbols often identified with the Southwest. He submitted his proposal in February, so the rodeo was on his mind, and the mythical jackalope seemed to go right along with that. “I wanted it to be fun and have a childish feel,” he says. “We all have this inner child; seeing something like this can give us a happy feeling.” Originally, the rider on the jackalope had the face of a child, but the Rialto’s Curtis McCrary suggested it have basketball announcer Bill Walton’s face instead. The image of Walton, who Tucsonans either love or hate for his goofy personality, ups the “fun” of the mural, which is 45-feet long about about 70-feet high. “People are going bananas and being emotional about (the murals),” says Garcia. “I didn’t realize how much people wanted this movement; I didn’t realize how much people needed this.” More of Garcia’s work at artebyignacio.com.
Niki Glen’s mural on the corner of North Fifth and East Toole avenues is a celebration of nature in our part of the country, with Monarch butterflies, hummingbirds and an abundance of color. “The theme is pollinators,” she says. The mural is 50-feet long and just 4-feet high. “I wanted to do something that was timeless and contemporary that I thought people would enjoy looking at now and in 20 years,” she says. Find more of her work on her web page, glenstudios.com.
Creating one of the murals wasn’t as easy as coming up with a design and slapping on paint. The surfaces needed to be power washed — the Tucson business Graffiti Protective Coatings did that job gratis — scaffolding and lifts were necessary for most jobs, as were volunteer assistants to help the artists, who were on tight deadlines.
Luis Mena’s mural covers the front, the doorway, curves around to the side, and overflows onto the overhang of the building at 142 E. Pennington St. Just 7-feet high but an impressive 83-feet long, it includes blossoms, birds, a mariachi and a deep blue background that pulls you in and cools you off. It’s a colorful celebration of the Latino culture in Tucson, and practically shimmers with energy thanks to the glitter the artist added in strategic spots. Look up to the overhang to catch his celestial and ghostly drawings.
Rock Martinez took about a month to create the Agave Lady, which covers Benjamin Supply's 65-feet long and 55-feet high wall at 440 N. Seventh Ave. The piece is one of his Cactus People series. Martinez, who is out of the country and wasn’t available for comment, used the grid laid out by the wall’s bricks as his guide, says Cristina Perez, who assisted him. He would finish one grid, climb off the scaffolding, cross the street to check the work, then climb back on and continue. “Getting the proportions right was the biggest challenge,” says Perez.
Martinez’s website: yfiart.com. He is also on Facebook.
The winged heart on the side of Cafe 54, 54 E. Pennington St., was done by a team of artists: Rachel Slick, Tim Schirack and Alexandra Gjurasic. The wall is 18-feet high and 50-feet long, but “it felt longer than that,” says Gjurasic with a laugh. The biggest challenge was the texture of the wall on the building. “It has a thick adobe texture and it chewed through brushes and it ate paint,” she said. More of the artists’ works at: rachelslicksculpture.homestead.com, alexandraGjurasic.com and timothyschirack.homestead.com
Isaac Caruso’s mural is on a 50- by 50-feet wall at 9 N. Scott Ave. Bright oranges float in front of a striking blue background, bringing a touch of coolness to the hot city. A quail pops up between the fruit. “I wanted to do something that represents Tucson and I automatically thought of quail and orange trees,” says Caruso. He lives in Phoenix, and took a week off his art director job to stay in Tucson and bang out the mural. And this is how dedicated he is: He spent one night high in the air on the lift so he could work as late as possible, and get as much sleep as possible. “It was elevated about 20 feet and I was wrapped up in my sleeping bag,” he says. He wasn’t worried about falling. “Paint cans were my borders,” he explains. More of his art: isaacncaruso.com.
Jessica Gonzales’ mural on the west wall of Wig-O-Rama, 98 E. Congress St., is 27- feet tall and 32-feet wide. The festive piece has faces peering out toward the center of Downtown and is festooned with iconic Tucson images, from monsoon clouds to a lasso. She projected her image onto the wall as her guide, though she incorporated the grid system, as well. “I felt it was important to honor the Downtown community,” says Gonzales about her design. “I live here, I work here, I went to Tucson High School. It’s about the connectedness of creative locals and the support system we have.” You can see more of her work on her Facebook page.
To-Ree-Nee Wolf Keiser got a late start on her 12-feet-high and 40-feet-long mural at the old Scrappy’s, 213 E. Broadway. She’s battling oppressive heat but she’ll be done by June 20, she says. Her inspiration is “The creation story, chaos theory and quantum memory,” says Wolf. Incorporating bright colors — which are her signature — and images of rainbows and a butterfly will be key. Her biggest challenge? “The heat,” she says quickly. To avoid it, she has to get up early to start work on the mural. That presents another challenge: “I’m a night owl,” she says. “If I see dawn, it’s because I’m going to bed, not rising.” toreenee.com.
Ignacio Garcia’s mural on the east wall of the Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St., was inspired by myths and symbols often identified with the Southwest. He submitted his proposal in February, so the rodeo was on his mind, and the mythical jackalope seemed to go right along with that. “I wanted it to be fun and have a childish feel,” he says. “We all have this inner child; seeing something like this can give us a happy feeling.” Originally, the rider on the jackalope had the face of a child, but the Rialto’s Curtis McCrary suggested it have basketball announcer Bill Walton’s face instead. The image of Walton, who Tucsonans either love or hate for his goofy personality, ups the “fun” of the mural, which is 45-feet long about about 70-feet high. “People are going bananas and being emotional about (the murals),” says Garcia. “I didn’t realize how much people wanted this movement; I didn’t realize how much people needed this.” More of Garcia’s work at artebyignacio.com.
Niki Glen’s mural on the corner of North Fifth and East Toole avenues is a celebration of nature in our part of the country, with Monarch butterflies, hummingbirds and an abundance of color. “The theme is pollinators,” she says. The mural is 50-feet long and just 4-feet high. “I wanted to do something that was timeless and contemporary that I thought people would enjoy looking at now and in 20 years,” she says. Find more of her work on her web page, glenstudios.com.
