The drive to and from work during rush-hour traffic can be a drain, both mentally and physically. Especially at this time of the year, and if your air conditioning is on the fritz.
But for people whose commutes happen to include Irvington Road west of the Santa Cruz River, there is a bit of visual solace available in the form of two gigantic tile-covered Gila monster sculptures.
Resting on the median on Irvington just east of South Mission Road, the twin 52-foot-long beasts were designed and built in 1993 by a team led by local architect Bob Vint.
Part of a public art project commissioned by the city of Tucson in 1993 in conjunction with a bridge built to extend Irvington west over the Santa Cruz, the Gila monsters were conceived as a way to "enhance the driver's experience going over the bridge," Vint said.
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"I basically treated the whole bridge as an aesthetic environment," said Vint, whose other public art projects include play sculptures at the Tohono Tadai Transit Station on Tucson's North Side. "It's basically a kinetic sculpture — something you notice coming at you as you're driving in the opposite direction."
According to a description on the Tucson Pima Arts Council's Web site, the Gila monsters are built up on internal frames, sprayed with the concrete mixture gunite and covered with inlaid fragments of colored tiles, ceramics, porcelain, mirrors and other objects, such as spark plugs, horseshoes, pool balls, toy cars, cowrie shells and teacup handles.
The ceramic tiles were reject pieces donated by the Mexican Tile Co., Vint said. All told, the project cost about $75,000 to build and took close to six months to complete, he said.
Got oddity?
Is there something you've noticed while driving through Tucson that has piqued your curiosity, to the point you wish you could find out more about it?
Drop us a line, and we'll look into it.
Call Brian J. Pedersen at 573-4224 or send an e-mail to bjp@azstarnet.com.
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