The more than 400-foot-long, 21-foot-high mural running along the freeway frontage road in Barrio Anita was intended as a tribute to barrio life and the residents there.
Dedicated in December 2004, the mural in David Herrera/Ramon Quiroz Park (formerly Oury Park) contains more than a million intricately tinted mosaic tiles placed in a "photo-realistic" pattern on the wall to depict barrio residents and their culture.
Now, less than three years later, the community-inspiring mural on the sound wall separating Barrio Anita and the park from Interstate 10 is falling to pieces.
Large sections of the mural have fallen off the wall, leaving gouges in the tiled mural that make sections look like a corncob with random bites out of it.
The tiny colored-glass tiles, less than 1 inch square, were made in Italy and Mexico and assembled into foot-square sections by more than 100 youths and adults hired under a job-training grant. Now some can be found at the base of the sound wall, having fallen off.
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What's worse, many of the tiles that have fallen off the wall are now gone, washed away by rains or picked up by passers-by.
All told, this mural and two others in the park cost $340,000 in state transportation grant money.
A local resident became concerned about the deterioration and wondered why it hasn't been fixed.
City officials and Tucson Pima Arts Council members say they are aware of the problem and are trying to get it fixed. But officials say they don't know how long the tiles have been a problem, why they're falling off or what the timeline to fix the mural may be.
Peg Weber, a parks and recreation administrator, said the city and the arts council are working with the artist to address the issue.
Weber said the problem could be that the grout holding the tiles to the wall isn't strong enough to hold up the tiles in that location. "It's possible roadside vibration is allowing the tiles to fall off."
Richard Symchak, a parks and recreation spokesman, said the city will fix the tiles if it can. If the city can't fix it without damaging the integrity of the mural, Symchak said, the city will contract with the arts council to hire an artist to make the repairs. He said the city hopes to fix it "soon."
The money will likely come from the the Public Arts Maintenance Budget in the city's Transportation Department, said spokesman Michael Graham.
— Rob O'Dell
Who's responsible
Call the Tucson Parks and Recreation Department at 791-4225, or Tucson-Pima Arts Council, 624-0595
Do you have a problem, but you're getting nowhere getting government to respond and fix it? E-mail taxpayer@ azstarnet.com with the problem, your name and a phone number where you can be reached. Or call 573-4142.
