We wandered through Plaza Alley last evening, my first chance to see the artists and their work at night.
The first artist I spotted was stretched out flat on several pieces of cardboard in order to do the lettering at the bottom of the Desert Senita mural.
At the other end of the alley I found an artist working almost in the dark, the only light was from a street light. (The photo actually makes it look much brighter than it was.)
Neoglyphix’s Dwayno and Jamie, who’d just started their work that morning, had already finished it by the time I arrived. What an amazing “landscape” of color and imagery.
Clicking an image will give you a larger view.
Getting “down” to work
Dark sky (see below for next phase)
Dwayno & Jamie’s finished piece
I headed back to the alley this afternoon. It was like an oven but despite the heat, I found at least half a dozen artists at work.
I met several new artists and had a chance to chat briefly with them about their work.
Jesse Ismael Reyna, originally from Phoenix and now living in Ajo, is working with colored markers to create his mural. He was using just three colors and yet by careful blending, it looked like more.
Jesse Ismael Reyna
Jesse Ismael Reyna
Tiffany Farrar, with AmericCorps, is working with ISDA for 6 weeks. She chose one of the most interesting (and to my mind, more difficult) parts of the Alley — a mesh grate. I watched her briefly last night, painting each little piece. Today she was cutting out pop cans to add to her design.
Tiffany Farrar
Tiffany Farrar
Tiffany Farrar
A little further down the alley I found Porter McDonald, an artist and photographer from Tucson who often focuses his work on migration and border issues.
Outline
Porter McDonald
On the wall next to Porter I met Tanner Lee, an AmeriCorps volunteer from Connecticut. He took a lot of sculpting classes in high school and that, he says, is where he’s most comfortable. “I’m pushing myself out of my comfort zone. I like painting but it always turns out really abstract compared to what I want it to be.”
He described his plans for this mural so I’m eager to see how it turns out.

Also seen on my trip today …
Val Uschuk gets a hand with the ladder
Check above for how this looked last night
Alice Glasser
Three nationalities
Saguaro
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