If you’ve taken a stroll down North Fourth Avenue in recent days, you may have seen 2-foot cutouts of mask-wearing pigeons wheat-pasted on participating store fronts.
Local artist John Carrillo and the Historic Fourth Avenue Coalition have teamed up in the fight against the coronavirus.
Courtesy Historic Fourth Avenue Coalition
The pigeons are part of a campaign with the Historic Fourth Avenue Coalition — which is made of local neighborhoods and businesses — that encourages Tucsonans to wear face masks and social distance amid the coronavirus pandemic. Plans for the campaign started before local mask mandates were put in place.
“I think it would be an awesome thing to just reinforce the idea (of wearing masks) and maybe even in an ironic and funny way with this filthy pigeon telling humans, ‘You should wear a mask,’” says John Carrillo, who created the campaign’s artwork. “Not being preachy, it’s just — if this dirty bird can wear a mask, we can all wear a mask.”
The 20 black-and-white pigeons you might spot along Fourth Avenue are all diverse — from a mom pigeon to a skateboarding pigeon to a pigeon playing music.
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“Fourth Avenue is eclectic and these pigeons are eclectic,” says Pop Cycle co-owner DeeDee Koenen. “We’re just trying to approach it in a way that’s like, ‘Why not?’ and make it fun.”
Carrillo also designed a poster and stickers for local businesses to hang up and the coalition is working on a video for the campaign.
“I think it would be an awesome thing to just reinforce the idea (of wearing masks),” says artist John Carrillo, who created the artwork for a campaign asking Tucsonans to wear masks.
Rebecca Sasnett / Arizona Daily Star
A finished campaign art piece is placed on the wall of Pop Cycle on Fourth Avenue. Artist John Carrillo wanted to reinforce that if pigeons, often referred to as being disease carriers, can wear masks, so can humans.
Rebecca Sasnett / Arizona Daily Star
Photos: Tucsonans Don Masks to help curb Coronavirus
Tucsonans wearing masks, coronavirus
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Aug 18, 2020
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Tucsonans wearing masks, coronavirus
Updated
Aug 18, 2020
Tom "Tiger" Ziegler: "I miss my work, my customers and my co-workers. I don't want my people to get this damn disease." June 30, 2020
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Tucsonans wearing masks, coronavirus
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Aug 18, 2020
Rico Otero: "It's affected me by being limited in going out so much. Learn how to stay in more. Re-learning how to sanitize." June 2, 2020.
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Tucsonans wearing masks, coronavirus
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Aug 18, 2020
Pamela Stewart: "We've been turned upside down. Everything is different. For African Americans, we wear a mask and glasses, if I go into a bank or a business I'm already judged. It's a double threat for us as I see it." June 2, 2020.
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Tucsonans wearing masks, coronavirus
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Aug 18, 2020
Gabrielle Nunn: "Mostly my daughter. She has autism. The huge change has been stressful for her. She worries about me, being at work." May 14, 2020.
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Tucsonans wearing masks, coronavirus
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Aug 18, 2020
Lori VanBuggenum: "Even though the distance hasn't changed, this has made me feel the furthest away from my family. Everyone is in Wyoming. I can't jump on a plane and go see them." May 5, 2020.
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Tucsonans wearing masks, coronavirus
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Aug 18, 2020
Benjamin Johnson: "The word uncertainty just keeps coming to mind. I feel the biggest thing for me is being fully open to uncertainty with kindness and compassion." April 29, 2020.
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Tucsonans wearing masks, coronavirus
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Aug 18, 2020
Cellisa Johnson: "It's affected me financially with my business as well as emotionally, not being able to be hands on with my clients." April 29, 2020.
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Tucsonans wearing masks, coronavirus
Updated
Aug 18, 2020
Bebe Barbosa: "I am a touching person. I like to hug. I'm missing the embracing." April 24, 2020.
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Tucsonans wearing masks, coronavirus
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Aug 18, 2020
Logan Byers: "I'm very conscious how my actions affect other people now, more than ever. Every place I go to I'm conscious of how close I am to people." April 29, 2020.
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Tucsonans wearing masks, coronavirus
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Aug 18, 2020
Elana Bloom: "It was very shocking. Everything I had planned for – my whole business was canceled over a two day period." Bloom owns Solstice, a textile business and would make most of her money in the Spring to help with the slower months of Summer. April 14, 2020
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Tucsonans wearing masks, coronavirus
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Aug 18, 2020
Kristina Michelle: My cousin passed away four days ago in New Orleans. We can't get an autopsy for a while and there will be no funeral service. April 14, 2020
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Tucsonans wearing masks, coronavirus
Updated
Aug 18, 2020
Pat Fisher: "A friend of a friend is living with me and his three cats. It was only supposed to be temporary, but now he can't find a job or pay for a place to rent. The situation probably won't change until the Fall." April 14, 2020
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Tucsonans wearing masks, coronavirus
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Aug 18, 2020
Lori Adkison: "This is reaffirming my belief in community." April 13, 2020
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Tucsonans wearing masks, coronavirus
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Aug 18, 2020
Sammy Cabrera: "A lot of people grab what they don't need at stores. I don't like the way some people are acting." April 8, 2020.
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Tucsonans wearing masks, coronavirus
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Aug 18, 2020
Jamie Galindo: "I'm getting over an ex-boyfriend and having to social distance is difficult." April 8, 2020.
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Tucsonans wearing masks, coronavirus
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Aug 18, 2020
Michelle Arreola: "My whole life is on hold." Job interviews are postponed and the medical college admission test is on hold. April 8, 2020.
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Tucsonans wearing masks, coronavirus
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Aug 18, 2020
Kent Bauman: "I've had less of an impact. I work for a solar company so we're running full steam. People are home and are thinking about self-sufficiency and thinking about the environment." April 16, 2020
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Tucsonans wearing masks, coronavirus
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Aug 18, 2020
Trevonn Clark: "I miss going to restaurants and the movies." April 8, 2020.
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Tucsonans wearing masks, coronavirus
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Aug 18, 2020
Laura Eliason: "I wonder when I'll be able to travel and see my family again." April 8, 2020.
Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star
Tucsonans wearing masks, coronavirus
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Aug 18, 2020
George Ortega, retiree: "I am retired. I wear a mask because it makes me feel good and others feel good." April 6, 2020.
Rebecca Sasnett / Arizona Daily Star
Tucsonans wearing masks, coronavirus
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Aug 18, 2020
Fox Nopri: "It has definitely affected me by how I keep up with my behavioral health. Most of the places I go have been closed down or have set dates to close." April 6, 2020.
Rebecca Sasnett / Arizona Daily Star
Tucsonans wearing masks, coronavirus
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Mar 9, 2021
Jeronimo "Mo" Madril, owner and executive chef of Geronimo's Revenge: "As an owner and driven person, I am very discouraged. It is what it is." April 6, 2020.
Rebecca Sasnett / Arizona Daily Star
Tucsonans wearing masks, coronavirus
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Aug 18, 2020
David Clarke, unemployed bartender: "I am an out of work bartender. Jobs have instantly vanished." April 6, 2020.
Rebecca Sasnett / Arizona Daily Star
Tucsonans wearing masks, coronavirus
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Aug 18, 2020
Leonel Cabrera. April 6, 2020.
Rebecca Sasnett / Arizona Daily Star
Contact reporter Gloria Knott at gknott@tucson.com or 573-4235. On Twitter: @gloriaeknott