My Favorite Roadway Art!

Do much driving around Tucson and you will soon spot some art or something that LOOKS like it might be art! They seem to sprout from road expansion projects, and thus the funding source is found - the Federal Transportation Administration requires that 1% of transportation projects using federal funds be spent on art or enhancements. I think it is a good idea to get away from the raw concrete and steel and soften the edges a bit. It is tough to find a single source that shows the variety of work and artists, but there is a small gallery in this newspaper article...

But I do have a favorite! I go out of my way just to pass by it - fortunately it is almost on my way home if I'm going north on I-10. It is on one of the underpasses on the Miracle Mile exchange, installed when the interchange was re-aligned 20 years ago. Local artist Gary Mackender did all 6 of the huge (35 feet wide, 9 to 20 feet high) mosaics after hand-painting the 18,000 tiles. My favorite is the first one you see as you go north on the right (east) side. Shown at left (slightly fuzzed as to not reveal the surprise!), it appears to be a lizard (Gila Monster) in the desert overlooking a beach and body of water with perhaps a rock or small island offshore. It reminds me of the desert down near the Sea of Cortez, where the desert runs right to the shore. When you drive past it at 70+ miles per hour, that is about all the detail you see.

But slowing down to the speed limit or lower (65mph at that spot) you pick up more details, as shown at right. What was thought to be a body of water is a flood of urban sprawl extending outwards into the desert, with the lizard looking aghast at what is happening. I think it is a great statement the artist makes in preserving what is left of the desert before it is gone. Don't worry - I didn't take it while driving like some people on Long Island I know! Melinda drove the last leg back from our Christmas trip to Rocky Point, and I shot out the windshield as she drove the speed limit. The last shot of the 3 I took cleared the ocotillo plant that shows in the upper shot. I love the colors and the theme, so spreading the word here is what else I can do...