Bidi bidi bom bom! Tucson now has its very own Selena mural.
Local artist Jonny Ballesteros spent about two weeks spray painting this '90s-inspired image of Selena Quintanilla-Pérez on an American Eat Co. wall, just in time for the Tejano music queen's birthday.
She would have been 48 today. The pop culture icon was killed in 1995.
The mural near the back entrance of the food hall celebrates Mexican American culture, says American Eat Co. partner Jesus Bonillas, who offered up the wall for the project. Ballesteros says the mural was envisioned by Lower Arizona, an online shop and Instagram account that celebrates hip hop and Mexican culture.
"It's more playful," Ballesteros says of his mural. "Her hair is a little messy, she's got the red lips and the hoops. I figured it captured her essence."
Ballesteros re-created the piece from a picture he found online, but the elaborate golden frame was all his own idea. The frame is actually painted onto the wall, but if you step back it looks three-dimensional.
You may know Ballesteros as the artist behind the piñata mural at Rollies Mexican Patio or the graffiti art inside American Eat Co. Go see his latest mural at American Eat Co. and Market, 1439 S. Fourth Ave.
Andi Berlin contributed to this story.
