Mural at Barrio Anito Community Project in Tucson. Photo Credit: Sam Lowe (click to enlarge)
TUCSON — Tucson is home to more than 150 murals, which adorn storefronts, residential walls, restaurants, parking lots, schools, private homes, banks, markets and art galleries. One of the murals, however, is indeed a curiosity, a true oddity. Not so much in scale and content, but in creation and location. It’s the south half of the Barrio Anito Community Project, a colorful panorama that depicts Tucson’s history.
Each section is about 100 yards long and 20 feet tall, and they’re located on the back of a concrete retaining wall along Interstate 10 as it slices through the city. Volunteers did most of the work and carefully laid three-quarter-inch square glass and mosaic tiles into place.
One million tiles.
Each one positioned in its exact location.
It took the workers more than two years to glue and affix the tiles under the direction of William Wilson, Joshua Sarantitis and Albert Gonzales, the artists in charge. The work is in a park adjacent to Oury Recreation Center at 600 West St. Mary’s, along the east side of I-10.
I’m trying to find out what happened to my Aunt Gertrude Hendricks. She was lost to her family when she was orphaned in 1915. She was at the ST Joseph Academy in Tucson until 1918 when she entered the St Joseph Orphanage in Tucson. She remained there until June 1924. From 1924 until 1963 she lived at The Arizona State Hospital where she died. It’s a tragic story with many ?????’s.
I would love to find as much history of the Academny and Orphange as possible and any links or stories. I have exhausted my limited resources and at this time Im unable to travel from Washington State to Globe and Tucson. Any help in any way would be considered an answer to prayer. I don’t know how I ended up at this board but I’ll give it a go.
Thanks,
Mary Ellen