View Edit

Background

The Sonora mural, which is located in downtown Tucson near the art district, was painted by the University of Arizona alumni and artist Karlito Miller Espinosa (Espinosa is also known as “Mata Ruda for his street art), Analaura Villegas, and Brisa Tzintzun. These artists created the mural in the winter of 2018, specifically in December. Despite its complex detail and vivid colors, the mural took the three artists less than one week to paint. The artists worked on the mural from December 11th to December 16th. The Sonora mural is painted on the east side of the Historic Y building (previously the YWCA) in downtown Tucson, Arizona.

Meaning and Symbolism

The design of the Sonora mural is rooted in the Tucson and borderlands communities. The artists intentionally portrayed the subject depicted in the mural as a Latina woman with brown skin and dark hair. They made this deliberate choice in order to uplift the Latinx community in Tucson. Also, due to the original women owners of the Historic Y building, the figure was intentionally designed to be a woman, in order to represent women’s contribution to the Tucson community.

The central figure in the painting is looking up while holding a pamphlet or book, which represents the hopes of those who cross the border, along with the pursuit of knowledge. The artists emphasized realism in their rendering of this figure so that the women of Tucson would be able to see themselves in the painting. The woman in the mural is holding the pamphlet Pedagogy of the Oppressed by the Brazilian philosopher and author Paulo Freire. Pedagogy of the Oppressed was banned in the Tucson public school districts in 2012 as part of a statewideban on ethnic studies. However, due to activism, later judges found this ban to be unconstitutional and rooted in racism in 2017.

The background section of the mural is intended to represent the larger region of Tucson, particularly in relation to the border and migrants. Some of the images in the mural represent nonprofits and other organizations dedicated to improving life in the borderlands. Out of all of them, two notable organizations represented in the Sonora mural stand out. The first is the Northern Jaguar Project, which is symbolized by the jaguar. The mission of the Northern Jaguar Project (NJP) is related to preserving the jaguar and other endangered species in the northern parts of the world. The second nonprofit, as symbolized by the hummingbird, represents the Colibrí Center for Human Rights. The word “colibrí” is the Spanish word for hummingbird. The Colibrí Center is an organization dedicated to assisting migrants find missing friends and family in the United States.

As well as these nonprofits, the butterfly on the upper right side of the mural symbolizes immigrants who have gone across the border. The cacti and the sunset located throughout the mural represent Arizona.

Material, Composition, and Process

According to the artists, the Sonora mural was painted using a mixture of latex and spray paint. The artists used around twenty-five colors of paint to create the Sonora mural. To prepare the wall for painting, the artists drew grid lines to ensure that the mural would be neat. It took longer than the artists initially expected to paint the mural because of the unique and rough texture of the building. 

Photo by Analaura Villegas

 

Location

The Sonora mural by artist Karlito Miller Espinosa (aka Mata Ruda), Analaura Villegas and Brisa Tzintzun is located at 738 N. 5th Ave Tucson, Arizona 85705. It is painted on the Historic Y Building. 

Historic Y Building

The Historic Y is a historic building, built in 1930 and designed by Tucson architect Annie Graham Rockfellow as commissioned by The Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA). Annie Graham Rockfellow also designed the historic El Conquistador Hotel, which was demolished in 1968, and many other projects throughout Tucson. Her preferred styles were pueblo, Spanish colonial, and mission architecture. Rockfellow is an influential figure because she was one of the very small number of women architects in the early 1900s. The YWCA building was dedicated as a community gathering place for leisure, exercise, and education. Throughout its history, the “Y” was a leader in social justice. The Historic Y building is currently owned by Shawn Burke, and now focuses mainly on uplifting the Tucson community through the arts, education, environmental justice, and human rights. The Historic Y is associated with numerous community organizations and businesses, including The Rogue Theatre, ZUZI! Dance, The Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre, Wild Clover Books, Tucson Audubon Society, The Paulo Freire Freedom School, Northern Jaguar Project, and many more. Where the Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre is located now, in the past was where the YWCA’s pool was located.

 

About the Artists

Karlito Miller Espinosa, also known as “Mata Ruda” for his street art, is a Latinx artist whose work catalog includes murals, paintings, and public installations and objects. He spent a portion of his childhood in Venezuela before moving to the United States. Espinosa’s work primarily contains themes relating to the world around him that are inspired by the social impacts of class, institutional violence, and prejudice and how they structured and structure life today and in the past. In his art, he pays special attention to discrepancies and hypocrisies that are present in the current social world. He has an MFA from The University of Arizona and a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Espinosa appears to be an adjunct professor at the University of Arizona. Besides the Sonora mural, Espinosa has worked on others in Tucson and elsewhere. These include one on the University of Arizona School of Art’s Joseph Gross Gallery and another on the John B. Wright Elementary School.

Karlito Miller Espinosa is an award-winning artist whose work has been included or featured in renowned institutions within the United States and beyond, including the Hudson Valley MOCA in New York, the Newark Museum, and many more.

Other Contributors

Two of Espinosa’s undergraduate students from the University of Arizona’s Art Department aided him with the Sonora mural. Their names are Analaura Villegas and Brisa Tzintzun. Villegas and Tzintzun both come from the borderlands.

 

References

  1. Ginette Gonzalez. Karlito Creates New Mural on Speedway. Arizona Arts. Published November 5, 2020. Accessed October 13, 2024. https://arts.arizona.edu/karlito-creates-new-mural-on-speedway/

  2. Lara G. Local Artists Paint Symbolic Mural in Tucson. Nogales International. Published December 26, 2018. Accessed October 13, 2024. https://www.nogalesinternational.com/community/local-artists-paint-symbolic-mural-in-tucson/article_09389850-07d9-11e9-b25c-078599d247b3.html

  3. Wanberg K. Pedagogy against the State: the Ban on Ethnic Studies in Arizona. Journal of Pedagogy / Pedagogický Casopis. 2013;4(1):15-35. doi:https://doi.org/10.2478/jped-2013-0002

  4. Northern Jaguar Project | Protecting the world’s Northernmost Jaguars. Northern Jaguar Project. https://www.northernjaguarproject.org/

  5. Karlito Miller Espinosa. Karlito Miller Espinosa. Karlito Miller Espinosa. Accessed October 13, 2024. https://www.karlitomillerespinosa.com/

  6. Center C. Colibrí Center – Colibrí Center for Human Rights. colibricenter.org. https://colibricenter.org/

  7. The Historic Y. Thehistoricy.com. Published 2021. Accessed October 13, 2024. https://www.thehistoricy.com/

  8. Murals of Tucson: Cultural Legacy Through Contemporary Street Art. Tucsonaz.gov. Published 2024. Accessed October 13, 2024. https://muralmap.tucsonaz.gov/

  9. Villegas A. Photo of Sonora Mural. Townnews.com. Published 2018. Accessed October 13, 2024. https://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/nogalesinternational.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/9/c8/9c83f082-07d9-11e9-88e8-efa01f3f352e/5c2175aaa4462.image.jpg

  10. Depenbrock J. Federal Judge Finds Racism Behind Arizona Law Banning Ethnic Studies. Npr.org. Published 2019. https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/08/22/545402866/federal-judge-finds-racism-behind-arizona-law-banning-ethnic-studies

  11. Donnelly J. UA Students Paint the Town with New Mural. The Daily Wildcat. Published 2024. Accessed October 13, 2024. https://wildcat.arizona.edu/102483/arts/ua-students-paint-the-town-with-new-mural/

  12. Home - City Center for Collaborative Learning. Cityccl.org. Published October 7, 2024. Accessed October 13, 2024. http://cityccl.org/

  13. Welcome to The Newark Museum of Art. newarkmuseumart.org. https://newarkmuseumart.org/

  14. Hudson Valley MOCA. Hudson Valley MOCA. Hudson Valley MOCA. Published September 5, 2024. Accessed October 13, 2024. https://www.hudsonvalleymoca.org/

  15. The Rogue Theatre. The Rogue Theatre. The Rogue Theatre. Published 2024. Accessed October 13, 2024. http://www.theroguetheatre.org/

  16. ZUZI! Dance. ZUZI! Dance. Published 2022. Accessed October 13, 2024. http://zuzimoveit.org/

  17. Scoundrel and Scamp Theatre. Scoundrel and Scamp Theatre. Accessed October 13, 2024. https://scoundrelandscamp.org/

  18. Wild Clover Book Services. Wildcloverbooks.com. Published 2024. Accessed October 13, 2024. http://www.wildcloverbooks.com/

  19. Tucson Audubon- We Speak out for Wild Birds and Their Homes. Tucson Audubon. Accessed October 13, 2024. http://tucsonaudubon.org/

  20. Wikipedia Contributors. Annie Rockfellow. Wikipedia. Published August 1, 2023. Accessed October 13, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Rockfellow#Buildings_Attributed_to_Anne_Graham_Rockfellow

  21. Wiley R. Photos of Tucson’s Historic El Conquistador Hotel, Demolished in 1968. Arizona Daily Star. Published January 30, 2023. Accessed October 13, 2024. https://tucson.com/news/retrotucson/photos-of-tucsons-historic-el-conquistador-hotel-demolished-in-1968/collection_231211a8-ca9b-11e0-be92-001cc4c03286.html

  22. Annie Graham Rockfellow. Thehistoricy.com. Published 2021. Accessed October 13, 2024. https://www.thehistoricy.com/about-2/annie-graham-rockfellow

 

Edit tags