Street art gone gigantic: the monster murals of Tucson

As a newcomer to Tucson, I cannot tell you how long ago these huge murals were created, but the ones I’ll show you here, all appear to be relatively new. And, I assume, protected by some kind of -blocking coating. The colors are amazingly vibrant. The relentless Arizona sunlight would destroy them without protection.

(Later: I did more research and learned that almost all the huge murals in Tucson have been created within the last 10 years under the auspices of the City of Tucson mural program. This program was launched with the donation of $50,000 from the Tohono O’odham Nation. )

Gigantic whales swim through the sunset

The first one I discovered was the whale mural. These whales swimming across the desert landscape are on the side of an old, closed movie theater building, named The Catalina. What a fitting name! Real live whales cruise by Catalina Island off the California coast every year. The mural, on the corner of Campbell and Grant, must be at least 30 feet high. Note the size of the two people looking up at the whales. I heard that this corner including the vacant lot may be heading toward development into an entertainment/food center. I hope so. It’s just a few blocks from my home. (Later: This mural is by Joe Pagac and was sponsored by Banner University Medicine.)

Having recently moved from Pasadena where the Jet Propulsion Lab (the builders of the Mars landers and other space stuff) is located I was a bit surprised to see a space travel mural in Tucson. Then I remembered that missile-builder Raytheon is a major employer in the city. Missiles and space exploration go together–right? For whatever it is worth, there are no murals honoring space travel in Pasadena.

(Later: This mural was painted by University of Arizona students under the guidance of professor Alfred Quiroz in honor of the 2010 Phoenix Mars lander.)

The most famous face in Tucson

4 stories tall and very Tucson! This Latina, facing westward on Broadway near Sixth, looks out at the world with an agave hat or maybe it is an agave growing from her head. Almost half the city’s population regards themselves as Latino or Mexican American…or Mexican. The border crossing at Nogales is only 65 miles away. (I’ll be writing about crossing the border in an upcoming post. It was a surprising experience.)

(Later: this mural by Rock Martinez depicts his girlfriend Brandi Watkins as the Goddess of the Agave.)

Love the whimsy of this mural! Two cyclists followed by a javelina, a desert tortoise and a jackalope on bikes racing across the desert out of the night into sunshine. It is about 20-25 feet tall and a half-block long and is also near 6th and Broadway. In addition to celebrating obvious things like cowboys and Latinas as well as real and fictitious desert animals, it is a reminder about the El Tour du Tucson bicycling race that circles the city in November.

(Later: This mural, by Joe Pagac, was crowdsourced through Kickstarter. And sadly, El Tour du Tucson may end up being cancelled. 2019 may be its last year. There must be problems in the cycling world because the AmgenTour de California road cycling race also has been cancelled, ending with the 2019 race across California.)

And finally…this mural, by Rachael Rios and Carlos Valenzuela, is not enormous but much more on a human scale. It’s very charming and, happily, these Mermaids float among the cactus at eye level on Pennington Street downtown just around the corner from the library. There are even trees for shade and benches to sit on. Or you can park your car and look at the mural from the street, if that suits your fancy. The banner in both Spanish and English beneath them reads: “You are my other me”.

Now…how to see these and many more in real life. Every Monday evening at 5 p.m. a self-guided tour starts outside Maynard’s Kitchen at the Amtrak station downtown. Learn more about this mural walking tour here.

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