My Totally Upscale Neighborhood

What a delightful surprise to see Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth driving through my neighborhood! As always, she is perfectly coordinated  - matching sunny yellow hat & coat - and she is exuding warmth, dignity, and good manners (all of which seem to be in rather short supply with America's elected leaders these days...). FUN! 
 

Thriving Pod ~

Local Tucson artist Joe Pagac painted this striking whale family at the corner of Campbell and Grant (site of the old Bookmans that was torn down). He was trying to convey a sense of thriving under difficult circumstances -- pretty important now, wouldn't you agree?
#tucsonmurals    #joepagac

Inspiring Imagery ~

Local Tucson artist Lalo Cota painted this powerful and vibrant mural to celebrate life (breath!). You can view it on Oracle Road near Prince Road. This mural and a few others were sponsored by Banner Health. Read a little more about Lalo here. 

And a little to the left ~

No comments about the last photo so here is another view....a little to the left. 

Tucson Trivia ~ the Tucson Portrait Project

Chances are good that someone you know is one of the thousands of portraits on display in the Fourth Avenue Underpass. 10 years ago the "Tucson Portrait Project" was launched to capture photos of people in Tucson - all kinds of people...young, old, big, little... and some animals, too! A truly great piece of public art! 

New Art ~

Would anyone like to take a guess where this striking mural by Jaque Fragua was recently installed? 

Tucson's Most Loved Muralist ~

There is just no calculating how much joy and goodwill Joe Pagac has created all over Tucson with his amazing, fun, imaginative murals! This one is outside the Roadhouse Cinema and with its depiction of old black and white Westerns it connects the viewer to the fact that Tucson was once a serious movie making location. Old Tucson Studios served as the set for many many famous movies and TV series.  

Greetings from Tucson!

This wonderful "Tucson Postcard" mural is in Swan Way Park (4800 E 1st Street). This project had local artists Allison Miller leading a community paint day in collaboration with Big Brothers Big Sisters. The mural was completed in August, 2012.
Photo courtesy of Dave Aber.

 

More Trompe L'Oeil! Fun!

One of the many things I love about Tucson is the amount of public art that adds a note of fun to the landscape. Here is a wonderful mural that decorates Dale's Doors on S Kino Parkway. The figure in the doorway is NOT a ghost - it's Shana, the daughter of the store's owner, Leslie Bray. The artwork was done by "Murals by Jos." 

Greetings from Tucson - part of national tour

This retro-inspired "Greetings from Tucson" postcard is part of a national tour of traveling artist Victor Ving and photographer Lisa Beggs. Read more about this fabulous traveling art project and see progression shots of this mural being created. FUN! 

The building has also vanished! Throwback Thursday....

03 MAY 2010

Bookman's Fantasy Murals ~ gone forever

THEN:

Believe me, I never dreamed that this website would ever serve as any kind of historical record about Tucson but at least in this one case, it really will. Sadly the Bookman's store at Grant & Campbell has painted over all of their splendid fantasy murals to use the wallspace for..... advertising. Bob, Bob ~ what were you thinking???

So, here from my photo stash is the last of the medieval series that once enchanted store shoppers and Grant Road drivers alike. As you know from my previous postings, the staffers had named all of the mural characters. Depicted here is sweet Pip (Pretty in Pink) trapped in the tower as Evil Queen Wendy and Dr. Volt each scheme how to harm her. Assuring her of his love below is... who else but... Romeo.

These murals were a wonderful, quirky addition to the Tucson cultural landscape. I am very sorry that they have been eliminated. To see the whole series, click on the "Bookmans" label on the bottom of this post.
http://www.bookmans.com/

NOW:

Not only are these murals long gone but now the building is gone as well! The old Bookmans store at Campbell and Grant has fallen to the wrecking ball. I have no idea what will next occupy that corner. 

So long, farewell! Come to the Goodbye party!

It's not often that I can post a photo of something in Tucson that is scheduled for demolition. Most often I touch on that when I do my "Throwback Thursday" feature and display a photo of a mural, building, or sculpture that has disappeared. I was alerted to this mural's upcoming demise by a site follower.

Here is a striking mural in the courtyard of the Clifton Hotel on South Stone. This mural will be lost when the hotel begins an expansion plan. For more info about it, click here for the newspaper article. 

The Downtown Clifton, at 485 S. Stone Ave., will celebrate Danny Martin's mural this Saturday, April 21, at 5 p.m. The Torch Bearers and DJ Ramshur Rx will provide the music and Geronimo's Revenge food truck will be selling food. More info here. 

Pretty Impressive Want Ad!

I've never seen a "want ad" quite as BIG and COLORFUL as this one. Looks like Toolspot on Golf Links Road needs to increase their staff and they want everyone driving by to know about it! 

Tueson Trivia - Downtown Characters

Everyone has their favorite character among the many black and white photo tile murals that decorate the Broadway Underpass. This massive public art project ("Windows to the Past; Gateway to the Future") is a great Tucson valentine. Steve Farley invented a process to convert archival photos into tiles and turned a display of Tucson's history into a display of Tucson's "Best Wall Ever!" Here are a few stories to give you more information about this wonderful and amazing art work. Click here and here and here to read more and to see more images! Enjoy! 

It's Contest Time Again!

OK, you sharp-eyed Tucsonans! It's time again for the "Where is this?" contest. The first person to identify where this lovely pin up girl is wins a "fabulous" TDP t-shirt. Good luck! For those of you who are regular winners (you know who you are!), please sit on your hands for a day and let some other lucky person go for the gold. (:

Halloween Jaws of Death!

Go through this doorway IF YOU DARE! Here is a front and back view of the skull portal that leads from Toole Avenue to the Hotel Congress patio.......creepy! Fun! Happy Halloween!!

Tucson's Back-Flipping Violinist

12 OCTOBER 2009

Tucson's Back-Flipping Violinist

THEN: This mural is quite faded and I enhanced the color as much as I could for this photo image. This nice piece of building wall art depicts a swimmer (?) doing a back flip into the ocean(?). He holds his violin high as he flips. If you know anything about this mural (artist, vintage, title), please post a comment. I'd love to know more about this image at Broadway & Arizona.

NOW: So many murals that I have posted over the years have been painted over or the building itself has been torn down. I do not know if this mural is still visible. If you know anything, please post it! Thanks. 

Happy Margarita Monday!

These happy pups really know how to kick off their week! For a great margarita recipe, click here. P.S. ....not really an official contest but does anyone want to guess where I spotted this mural? 

Start Your Week with COLOR ~

This brilliantly colored mural is one of the dozens of pieces of art that you will find on a stroll around downtown Tucson. This is on the old Scrappy's building at 213 E Broadway. So much is going on here I can't even begin to guess what is happening. Artist To-Ree-Nee Wolf Keiser says it is, "the creation story, chaos theory, and quantum memory." Thanks - that really clears it up for me! You? Scroll down for a photo of this mural in progress.

Throwback Thursday ~ Dragon was Slain!

27 JULY 2009

Tucson's Own Dragon Slayer ~

7/27/2017

Sadly, this mural is long gone...  What was once a fabulous land of fairytale imagery was painted over years ago. And now, in fact, Bookmans no longer occupies that retail space. They consolidated their east side locations to just the one on Speedway. 

This knight in shining armor is defending the corner of Grant and Campbell against a dragon attack. The east facing walls of Bookmans (one of Tucson's best used book stores) are decorated with a series of fantasy murals. According to the staff, all mural characters have been given nicknames. The knight is "Hugh" and the dragon is "Harold."

I'll post more images from this wonderful fairytale art in the weeks ahead. Come back for "Damsel in Distress," "Evil Queen," "Mr. Be-header," "Venus de Milo's Sister," and "Pirate Ship."

Bookmans
http://www.bookmans.com/
Grant & Campbell