Sahuarita Park Murals Arts project provides insta-perfect spots BY ANNIKA TOMLIN Sahuarita and Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance are continuing their efforts to brighten the town—especially in light of the pandemic. Last year, SAACA helped the town place five murals around parks within the city. This year they decided to add another five to the mix. “Adding art gives something that people will seek out and try to find all the different murals,” says Nanette Smejkal, Sahuarita Parks and Recreation director. “That has been my favorite aspect; adding that special something that only art can really bring to public space. It adds so much.” The artists were chosen by a committee of folks from SAACA and the town, after the creatives shared what they would like to paint. The finalists included Isaac Caruso, who painted a desert horned lizard on a roll-up storage door at Quail Creek Veterans Municipal Park (1905 N. Old Nogales Highway); Alejandra Trujillo, who painted a selfie spot including butterflies, desert tortoises, pecan groves and a quail family
on the boathouse storage door at Sahuarita Lake Park (15466 S. Rancho Sahuarita Boulevard); Alonso Delgadillo, who painted migratory birds also at Sahuarita Lake Park on the amphitheater seat wall; Ignacio Garcia, who painted hummingbird and peacock flowers on a MUSCO electrical cabinet at Anza Trail Park (15490 S. Rancho Sahuarita Boulevard); and Alex Jimenez, who painted Gila monsters on a MUSCO electrical cabinet at Wrightson Ridge Park (16325 S. Rancho Sahuarita Boulevard). “I think adding vibrancy to our parks and trying to add amenities, add culture and kind of creating a vibe on public spaces, that’s kind of the place making aspect of it,” Smejkal says. Born and raised in Phoenix, Caruso has several of his murals around the Valley and in Southern Arizona. He was more than happy to share his vision with Sahuarita. His sketch is based on the natural landscape around town. “I thought of something that might relate to the town, so I went for horny toads because it’s a very Southern Arizona animal,” Caruso says. “I also threw in some
Born in Mexico, Tucson resident Alejandra Trujillo painted a mural on the boathouse storage door at Sahuarita Lake Park. (Photo courtesy Matt Rolland)
saguaro blossoms because ‘Sahuarita’ means ‘little saguaro.’ I thought it was fitting.” Caruso enjoys getting out of the house and making art accessible to everyone during this pandemic. It took him about a day and a half to complete the mural. “You can only really look at the paintings that are in your home or at your friend’s house so many times before the
Alonso Delgadillo works on his mural of migratory birds on the amphitheater seat wall at Sahuarita Lake Park. (Photo courtesy Matt Rolland)
4
|
JUNE 2020
public art plays a really important role giving people something pretty to look at without having to go into populated areas like the art museum,” Caruso says. “They can just drive by in their car, walk the dog by it and stay 6 feet away from everyone.” Born in Mexico and residing in Tucson, mom of three Trujillo was excited to lend her skills to this project. She found out about the project from the SAACA mailing list. She quickly applied when she saw the opportunity. “When I received my award letter, they sent a picture attached of what I was going to be painting,” Trujillo says. “It is a really prominent spot for people to park and dock their kayaks or boats.” Trujillo wanted to create a selfie spot. “I really wanted to make it something that kept going, because it’s beautiful down there,” Trujillo adds. “I really wanted to make it something that blends in with the space so that it wouldn’t be too distracting from the natural beauty that there is there. “I took a lot of the elements of Sahuarita, like its pecan orchard and the saguaros. The monarchs and quail I always really loved. And box turtles, of course, are very prominent here, so I wanted to include a lot of fun local beauties like the local chapters basically from the area and put them all into something that you could just take one picture with all of them.” Trujillo included the quail in her mural because her father used to raise them. She says several people thanked her as www.LovinLife.com
