Southern Arizona has a rich culture and some very talented artists. Here are some of our favorite sculptures, murals and other artistic endeavors:

• A Lumpy Goose Sculpture in Arivaca: Main Street here runs about three blocks long with little to distinguish it from major thoroughfares in other small towns.But the community does have a goose sculpture, and it is a very lumpy goose.
• Tucson Home Surrounded by Styrofoam Desert Scenes: In a roundabout way, a burglar was Gary Morrow’s inspiration when he set out to create a work of art. After his truck was broken into in 2008, his wife said she wanted a wall around their property, so he set out to fulfill her wishes.
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  Mural at Barrio Anito Community Project in Tucson. Photo Credit: Sam Lowe (click to enlarge)

  One Million Tiles Make Up Mural of Tucson History: 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.

• Lady Statue Watches Over Tucson Street: Near the intersection of East Grant and North Country Club roads here, a faded and aging lady with protruding eyebrows and sinister eyes stands holding two bowls. She’s a sculpture, more than 15 feet tall, and she’s been standing in the same place for more than 40 years.
• The Concrete Iron Man of Bisbee: About two years ago, Bisbeeans celebrated the 75th anniversary of a statue. Not just any statue, however. It’s a city icon, standing nine feet tall and weighing in at more than 2,000 pounds.
• Poetry on the Rocks in Tucson: The poetry of Ofelia Zepeda is literally cast in stone. As part of a Tucson drainage project, several of her poems were etched into large boulders along North Mountain Avenue.
• Scraps of Imagination Adorn Tucson Home: During his lifetime, Jerry Hall was not one to throw things away. Things like car fenders, bicycle pedals, golf clubs, license plates, automobile parts and bed springs. And coffee cans and water heaters.
• The Birds of Santa Cruz County: Santa Cruz County is for the birds. That’s not a criticism. It’s a compliment. Literally and figuratively, birds are a major component of the Santa Cruz Tourism Council’s effort to draw visitors to the state’s smallest county.
• Courthouse Diversity in Tucson: The Pima County Courthouse has been a Tucson landmark for eight decades, but it took a long time for the community to accept it because of a lingering controversy over the colors and style.
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  “The Project Rio” murals in Yuma. Photo credit: Sam Lowe

  Yuma’s Water Tank Art: Most communities adorn their water towers and tanks with either the town’s name or first initial, but in Yuma they opted for something more artistic.

• A Rattler Over Tucson’s Broadway: The Diamondback Bridge in Tucson can probably lay claim to a variety of different titles — “the world’s longest rattlesnake,” “the world’s largest rattlesnake” and even “the world’s most artistic use of steel floor grating.”