Tucson mural artist David Tineo is holding a goodbye party for an 18-year-old mural.
And he wants people to come to say goodbye to "Nuestro futuro/Nuestras raíces humanas" mural Sunday at the museum located in Tucson's historic Presidio barrio.
Tineo and fellow artist Antonio Pazos created the large mural in 1992 to coincide with a Chicano art exhibition.
"Unfortunately it was never meant to last," said Tineo. "It's fulfilled its purpose."
Despite Tucson's harsh elements, the mural remained a fixture on the museum's north facing exterior wall in the patio.It will not completely disappear, however.
With Tineo's permission the museum will divide the portion he painted and auction off the sections. The money raised will benefit the the Museum School for the Visual Arts.
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"At least I know parts are going for a good cause," said Tineo, a Cholla High School graduate who grew up in Barrio Anita and whose career has been devoted to educating young painters.
This past summer the museum held a retrospective of Tineo's works, many of which are in the homes of Tucsonans.
Tineo began his art work as a young man, drawing on his concepts of Chicanismo and Mexicanidad, inspired by the Chicano community's political and social struggles. His first large mural was painted on the El Rio Neighborhood Center in 1976.
His work is in the spirit of the three great Mexican artists - José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siqueiros and Diego Rivera - who filled their work with brilliant colors depicting Mexican history, indigenous faces and political forces which created contemporary Mexico.
When the Tucson Museum of Art brought in the art exhibition, CARA: Chicano Art: Resistance and Affirmation, it asked Tineo and Pazos to paint their mural in the Plaza of the Pioneers.
They painted their mural on wood and left it largely unprotected. As the exposed wood expanded and contracted, the mural cracked and deteriorated.
"No matter what you did it was not going to last," Tineo said.
With Tineo in agreement, the museum expects to remove the mural next month.
While the artistic symbol of Tucson's Chicano-Mexicano roots will disappear, Tineo said he hopes the museum will not lose sight of the young Latino artists in Tucson and Southern Arizona who are bringing new vitality and vision to the local art scene.
"I hope the museum from this experience can keep an open mind and set the wall aside for installation art and to keep its eye on young and up and coming local artists," he said.
The public is welcomed to attend Sunday's fiesta and to bring their stories and memories of the mural. Tucson Filmmaker Angela Soto will be documenting the event and future de-installation.
