Our Meet Me Wednesdays group decided we needed a change of venue. While we didn’t want to turn into mall walkers, the pull to the murals and art at the Eastside Tucson indoor mall, led us to take on a new place to count our steps.
While a seemingly odd place to feature public art, it really isn’t. If you consider the mural art elsewhere in town and murals and art in other murals around the country, it fits right in. Well over a dozen pieces by seven artists fill the space and make it much more appealing than blank walls.
Park Place Mall is a 1.1-million-square-foot indoor shopping center in East Tucson. Opened as Park Mall in 1975, it was renovated in 1998-2001 and renamed Park Place. It is anchored by a building that is a former Sears and Roebuck store that opened in 1965 (and closed in 2018).
As part of the renovation, a muralist was hired to enhance the overhead spaces, Thomas Melvin of Chicago used a combination of murals and 3-D features that “break the plane” of each of the six pieces he installed in 2000.
Tyson Krank’s landscape mural graces the outdoor corridor entrance near the former Sears store. Once inside all you have to do is look up to see Melvin’s overhead “plane breakers.”
At the far end covering the doors of the now-closed Macy’s department store is The Desert Pen’s (Pen Macias’) mural of children and dandelions. I must confess, this is a favorite of mine.
Turning around and heading towards the food court, a series of 3-D metal sculptures by Christine Rojek can be found gracing the fountain. Just beyond the food court is a mural by “JJ” surrounding the entrance to the movie theatres. Heading out that south door, J Lewars’ flower mural covers an entrance to a closed store.
Finally, rounding the corner from this south entrance, within a few steps you turn the corner of the building to see the massive “Sonoran Sunrise” mural by Jessica Gonzales. This is the largest outdoor mural in Arizona.
As we’ve said so many times, the world is out there to discover. So proud to call Tucson my hometown.
Relentless
