#tucsonmuralartsprogram

"I’m your basic American girl. This is what it looks like. Cowgirl boots and dreadlocks," To-Ree-Nee Wolf told dar-news.com. The Philadelphia-trained, Tucson-based artist / musician / actor says she is an American of African, Irish, Sephardic, Jewish, and Cherokee descent and knows firsthand what it's like to be viewed as "other." In 2016 To-Ree-Nee was given the opportunity to paint this E. Broadway mural in downtown Tucson for Tucson Mural Arts, a program partially funded by a grant from the Tohono O’odham Nation. Painted at the height of the protest over the Dakota Access Pipeline To-Ree-Nee's colorful wall is rich with the story of America's original "others."  

In its now more than two decades of providing Tucson with arts education and cultural development, the Tucson Arts Brigade has sponsored more than 100 public art projects, and in 2016 its Tucson Mural Arts Program (TMAP) started a new spring mural initiative organizing 8 new pieces in the heart of the city. Of the 16 finalists Jessica Gonzales was selected by Wig-O-Rama, the business where this wall is located on Scott Ave at Congress St. While Gonzales is an accomplished artist the finished wall is all the more remarkable for being her first public mural project. Gonzales lives and works in Tucson and says it was important that this piece honor the community. “It’s about the connectedness of creative locals and the support system we have” she told the Arizona Daily Star.  @JessicaGonzalesArt