Vibrations Music Festival Live Murals

Poster for Vibrations Music Festival

  From Thursday July 19 - to the wee hours of Sunday July 22 the Tucson Arts Brigade summer mural crew weathered a few storms and installed a series of six interlocked images. These designs were grotesques by request of the Slaughterhouse  in that the site is a popular local Haunted House. Painted in acrylic throughout the two days festival, these murals each represented an milestone in the careers of some of Tucson's most talented and ambitious young artists. The Artists Team included Aileen Boggs, Bryan De Los Reyas, Jacqi Garcia, Aria Pelayo, Juan Rey Rocha and team leader Michael Schwartz. This project was a collaboration with Digital Vibe Entertainment and a special Thanks to Alana Luna for setting this up!

Ari and friend in action

Aileen working on details.

The murals took three LONG days to create.

Blog Consolidation 1

We are in the process of streamlining our many blogs, eliminating ones we don't need and attempting to make this material a little more easy to navigate and enjoy.

Note this project is on hold. Follow the links to find out about how you can get involved in other Community Arts programs.

The now deleted Archer Neighborhood History Mural Blog

 The Archer Center Mural Site had only one posting on June 13, 2010 that read:

“This site will report on the Archer Neighborhood Center Mural project. This exciting after school mural project starts in September and includes;

- After school mural arts workshops for youth ages 11-17 (Mondays 3-5pm)

- Neighborhood design sessions and

- Inter-generational Workshops

Check back soon!

About Fred Archer

A flier was circulated and several youth responded to an question and answer session. After the presentation it was clear youth were excited about the project.

The Flier Read:

“ Do you like Painting and Drawing?

Join the Archer Center  Neighborhood Youth Mural Team

Who: Youth Ages 11 - 17

When: start DATE TBA

Where: Fred Archer Center 1665 S. La Cholla Blvd.

What: We will be collectively designing a mural for the lobby of the Archer Center. The mural team will go on to paint and install the mural after approval.”

"The project never did come to pass, but lessons were learned that have become invaluable as Tucson citizens weave a web of arts and culture that can stand the test of time. In reality we learned so much about the barriers and challenges to creating murals in our current economic and cultural climate."  - Excerpt from artists journal Sept. 2010

Blast from the Past TAB Spring 1999 Newsletter

You can enlarge images by clicking on them.

 

 

Community Arts and Education

The National Education Association has been working with the Howenstine High Magnet School in Tucson , AZ, as part of their Priority SchoolsCampaign. Howenstine is a unique place with a concentration on experiential, hands on learning.  So we were delighted when the NEA came to visit a few months ago to check out our work in creating the Barrio Centro mural with students, neighbors and businesses surrounding the school.  

The Arts Brigade is now in it’s second year of collaborating with the Barrio Centro Neighborhood and Howenstine.  We are already looking forward to our third year as we build new alliances with surrounding neighbors as part of our city-wide effort to Beautify and Unify Tucson.

Over the past four years TAB has developed exciting new arts programs in response to community defined needs of Jobs, Literacy, Environmental Issues and Beautification. In 2009 the Barrio Centro Neighborhood contacted TAB in their efforts to curb tagging and bring together their neighborhood for a fun interactive activity. The video produced by the NEA was a result of our first project together. There are currently plans underway for a series of murals in the area.

To find out more about the Tucson Arts Brigade, or how to request a project, visit our web site or Facebook page.

MLK Day of Art Service

On Monday, January 16 from 1-4pm in Winsett Park, 316 N. 4th Ave. we were joined by dozens of people to paint and dialogue about the importance of Dr. Martin Luther King in our daily lives and work.

This was an opportunity for Tucson to honor Dr. King’s legacy through arts service. The MLK Day of
Service empowers individuals, strengthens communities, bridges barriers, creates solutions to social problems, and moves us closer to Dr. King’s vision of a beloved community. A Walk Up Art Station was present on site where the public shared stories, ideas and commented on our Together We Thrive Mural Project design for the site. 


We are really excited because this spring we start actually painting the mural! 

Workshops continue every Tuesday from 3-5pm at Howenstine Magnet High School, 555 South Tucson Boulevard.



Here are some samples of the work created:

BEYOND photo essay

Watercolor by Amy Orr

On January 7, as part of the BEYOND festival, TAB unveiled the proposed mural design for "Together We Thrive Mural". This was also a time to reflect and share ideas revolving around the January 8 tragedy.  Over 50 people stopped by throughout the day, including drummers from One Heartbeat.

An example of one of the artworks created Jan. 7

The public had an opportunity to comment on the design, and suggest changes and additions.

Artists of all ages contributed.

2012

Next week join us for the Dr. Martin Luther King Day of Arts Service
Together We Thrive Mural Project: Community Input and Walk Up Art Station

Monday, January 16 @ 1-4pm
Winsett Park, 316 N. 4th Ave.
All ages FREE event

This is an opportunity for Tucson to honor Dr. King’s legacy through arts service. The MLK Day of
Service empowers individuals, strengthens communities, bridges barriers, creates solutions to social problems, and moves us closer to Dr. King’s vision of a beloved community. 

TAB will be hosting a Walk Up Art Station where the public can share stories, ideas, create water color reflections and comment on the proposed mural design.

BEYOND Festival January 7

Are you ready to make the world a more beautiful place? Do you have stories and feeling to share emerging from the January 8 tragedy?

Join us for a day of Community Arts Service and reflection on January 7 as part of the city wide BEYOND Festival. Review and comment on the mural design, help repair the wall, draw your ideas and write reflections.

January 7, 2012 

Location: Winsett Park, 316 N 4th Ave. 

Time: 1 - 4pm 

Contact: info@tucsonartsbrigade.org 

So what have we been up to? This fall we hosted a series of community design workshops at Howenstine High School, and gathered ideas at neighborhood meetings and events. There were 17 workshops, regular field trips and lots of discussions.

Some of the most interesting conversations revolved around what it means to bully, what it means to have power over – or control. “The goal of the bully is to get under your skin” offered one student, “then they get a reaction”. Many people spoke of the need to communicate more, get to know one another and depict images of people working together, brick by brick, to build community. We learned that place and community are critical to the story of Tucson so we have incorporated the history and folklore of the area surrounding the mural, 4th Avenue. Rose Taulton is the Community Outreach Coordinator for this project, and grew up on 4th Avenue. She describes in detail the people and places that make up life in this area.

A Detail of the fading mural to be restored.

Another hot topic has been youth voice and tagging. We had several conversations about civic responsibility and stewardship. It was pointed out that adults tag too, and we need solutions that are creative and reflect the identity of our community. We paired youth with adults, the adults listened and wrote, while the youth talked about the lack of places for free expression, being inundated by advertising, violence and apathy. The solutions they offered included working with the Tucson Arts Brigade on beautification projects.

Service Learning Students from throughout Tucson joined in a Nov. 9 Day of Service

On November 9th we hosted Americorp, Service Learning students from City High, Howenstine and Vail for a day of service to begin repairing the wall in preparation for the transformation of the Share the Bounty Mural into the Together We Thrive Mural. TAB painted the original mural in 1997. A campaign was launched to request that the Arts Brigade create a mural for the victims of January 8. The theme of the original mural matched the idea of individuals playing a vital role in building community over many generations. This spring we will begin painting the mural, with your ideas included.

On January 7, you can become a part of this mural.

If you would like to get more involved in this project weekly workshops resume on:

Tuesday Jan. 17, 2012 3:30 – 5pm

Howenstine Magnet High School 555 South Tucson Boulevard

ALL AGES Welcome Free, registration required.

Sign up on our mailing list to get updates on the next Day of Community Arts Service.