Tucson's Public Art

Title: Pueblo Hotel Sign

Location: Corner of 6th Avenue and 12th Street

Details:

She Said:

Goodness, my partner is certainly waxing lyrical about this hotel sign! As it happens, however, I agree with him. The sign is fun, and it's definitely evocative of a more innocent time in the Old Pueblo. Given the trend these days toward mediocre, repetitive highway billboards and chain-style lodging places, this sign is far more inviting, as well as more artistic. Kudos to the lawyers who now inhabit the building for preserving it!

He Said:

Sometimes, art is where you find it. And I thought this sign was worthy of inclusion in Tucson's Virtual Public Art Museum.

Long before the advent of interstate highways, the main drag through Tucson went right by this neon and metal sign glowing in the twilight of evening. People in baking cars must have looked at the tube spelling out "refrigerated" with longing. Now of course, it's in an out-of-the-way corner just south of downtown, and it has probably been years since the neon flickered. When I first took this photo, I thought, "Wouldn't it be cool if the lawyers in this building restored this to its former glory?" Now, a month or so later, I'm not so sure. Perhaps it's better as it is, a talisman or touchstone to years past.