Tucson's Public Art

Title: Tile Murals, Stephen Farley (1999)

Location: Broadway Boulevard & Barazza-Aviation Parkway

Details: Based on a photo of a bus passing through the Broadway underpass in 1969.

She Said:

These tile murals are really quite wonderful. They are all based on photos taken at various places in Tucson over the years, and offer a sometimes personal glimpse of the city's past that isn't immediately apparent in other ways. I like this one of the bus, both for its window into the city's past and for its decoration of what would be an otherwise drab roadway wall.

He Said:

This shows that utilitarian roadways can strive to be more than concrete and steel. Instead, they can offer up color, history, a small diversion from the monotonous hum of tires on the road, or just something that says, "Yes, we have to have the highways, but they don't have to be UGLY."

This (and the other murals near this intersection) does just that, and offers a respite from an otherwise ordinary intersection.