蜜柚直播 is home to the state鈥檚 largest mural, 鈥榮 26,000-square-foot at Park Place.
We now will have the state鈥檚 tallest mural, too.
鈥榮 imposing saguaro cactus climbs 153 feet on the north side of the 11-story Transamerica Building at , towering over the neighboring at
鈥淒esert Colossus鈥 is three times the size of the 53-foot-tall on North Central Avenue in Phoenix, which until this week was the state鈥檚 tallest mural.
Pagac鈥檚 saguaro, which will be unveiled at a public celebration March 21 at the Presidio Museum, is so tall that eastbound Interstate 10 drivers can see it when they approach the Speedway/St. Mary鈥檚 Road exit. You don鈥檛 even have to strain to see the baby blue skyline and bright green tip of the cactus from the downtown campus of Pima Community College on West Speedway and North Stone Avenue.
We haven鈥檛 tested the theory, but it鈥檚 a safe bet flights descending into 蜜柚直播 International Airport will get a passing glance of Pagac鈥檚 hummingbirds swirling around the cluster of creamy white cactus blossoms capping several of the cactus鈥 arms.
鈥淭hat building is like a billboard from the freeway,鈥 said Jannie Cox, the longtime board member who championed the mural project as part of the downtown redevelopment agency鈥檚 Activate El Presidio neighborhood improvement initiative. 鈥淎nyone driving on the freeway who looks left cannot possibly miss that saguaro.鈥
鈥淚 love to bring some of the Sonoran Desert that surrounds the city into the heart of it,鈥 Pagac said. 鈥淚 love painting nature larger than life so people can really appreciate it, and hopefully it inspires people to get out and hike in it a bit.鈥
The sun sets behind the 蜜柚直播 Mountains as muralist Joe Pagac and his wife, Lenka Va拧铆膷kov谩, work last month on what will be the tallest mural in 蜜柚直播.
The mural, which extends the equivalent of two stories above the top floor, is an anchor for the public-private Activate El Presidio. Launched six years ago, the beautification project adds art, plants, shade, lighting and color to the historic El Presidio neighborhood. The project, bordering Church and Main avenues and Alameda and Franklin streets, is funded largely by Rio Nuevo, with additional private funding from El Presidio businesses and neighbors.
蜜柚直播 philanthropist Jeanne McDonald picked up the $95,000 tab for , the second time she has invested in his art. McDonald, an avid cyclist, worked with Pagac on his 鈥淏icycle Built for Two鈥 bronze sculpture of a javelina riding a tandem bike.
The sculpture, installed in May 2023 at the Mountain Avenue Bridge on the north bank of Rillito River Park, was taken down last October after it was vandalized.
鈥淚t was such a joy for the cyclists in town, and it was so disappointing when it was vandalized,鈥 McDonald said early this week, as Pagac and his wife, Lenka Va拧铆膷kov谩, were high up on the scaffold painting their way down to the lower floors of Transamerica鈥檚 11 stories. 鈥淚 was talking to Jannie Cox, and I was kind of like, what would be something that I could get excited about donating towards? She told me about this mural that Joe was going to be doing. I mean, the saguaro cactus has been in 蜜柚直播 for 8,000 years, and so it鈥檚 got historical significance, and also, hopefully, being on the side of a building, it can鈥檛 be vandalized.鈥
鈥淚鈥檓 excited about it,鈥 she added. 鈥淚 love art and I鈥檝e donated to different organizations. 鈥 I kind of wanted my donation to not just be put in a pot and go for staff salaries or something like that. I wanted to do something that would be a little bit more meaningful to me.鈥
Pagac had hoped to finish the mural on Thursday, but high winds put the work on hold. All that remains to be painted are prickly pear cacti at the base of the saguaro.
Joe Pagac talks with his wife, Lenka Va拧铆膷kov谩, as they paint the state's tallest mural downtown.
鈥淒esert Colossus鈥 is the latest addition to Pagac鈥檚 bulging mural portfolio that includes his iconic 鈥淓pic Rides鈥 at and 鈥淪ky Islands鈥 (the whale mural) on the side of the old Catalina Theater at that became partially obscured nearly two years ago when a Starbucks moved into the vacant corner lot at North Campbell Avenue and East Grant Road.
Other iconic works include 鈥淗arboring Beauty鈥 at the intimate 191 Toole concert venue at ; 鈥淩oadrunner Cycling鈥 at ; and 鈥淲e Wish You Heaven,鈥 the Prince memorial mural on the side of the Rialto Theater on East Congress Street.
鈥淚t鈥檚 incredible to see an artwork of mine standing among the buildings downtown in a way I wouldn鈥檛 have even dreamed possible when I started my career,鈥 Pagac said of 鈥淒esert Colossus.鈥
Pagac鈥檚 next project will take him to the Las Vegas Strip next month. He鈥檚 also anxious to see the public鈥檚 reaction to a pair of just-finished 1,000-plus-square-foot murals at Roadies Lanes + Games + Gastropub, Roadhouse Cinema鈥檚 sister entertainment complex set to open soon in the former Bed, Bath & Beyond space next to Roadhouse at .
Roadies has a bowling alley, ax throwing, laser tag, an arcade, concert venue, bar and mini movie theaters that small groups can rent.
Pagac鈥檚 murals at Roadies connect the dots between the bowling lanes and Roadhouse鈥檚 movies. One features Marilyn Monroe riding on a motorcycle with bowling ball wheels and hitting a bunch of giant pins in the desert. Another image shows the Big Lebowski on a train loaded down with giant bowling balls and a bunch of saguaro cactus-shaped bowling pins.
鈥淭hose are like two of my favorite murals I鈥檝e ever done,鈥 he said, explaining that he used regular paint mixed with blacklight paint 鈥渟o when you shine a light on it, it鈥檒l glow, which is cool.鈥
A biker rides past critters taking a ride of their own. The biking-themed mural is on the west side of the Transamerica Parking Structure and is supported by El Tour de 蜜柚直播 and 蜜柚直播 Medical Center.
鈥淒esert Colossus鈥 is Pagac鈥檚 second footprint on the Transamerica Building. He and fellow 蜜柚直播 muralists Katherine Joyce, Arielle Alelunas and Brady Fellows collaborated in 2021 on the TMC El Tour de 蜜柚直播 mural alongside the Transamerica Building Parking Structure,
The El Tour mural features a handful of desert creatures from a jackrabbit and javelina to a roadrunner, tortoise, bighorn sheep and Gila monster riding bikes.
鈥淚鈥檓 so thankful for how much 蜜柚直播 has embraced murals and the arts, and I hope to keep painting walls as long as I can hold a brush,鈥 Pagac said.
It also is Pagac's second tall mural. In 2019, he painted the 70-foot "The Wailin' Mailman: A Portrait of Buck Hill" on the side of the nine-story Elysium Fourteen apartments in Washington, D.C.'s historically Black U Street Neighborhood.
When it was built in 1962, the Transamerica Building 鈥 initially called the Phoenix Title Building 鈥 was 蜜柚直播鈥檚 tallest building, edging out the 11-story Pioneer Hotel by two feet.
Today the building, which is home to mostly law firms and lawyers, ranks as the and is just half the size of the city鈥檚 tallest building, the 330-foot, 23-story One South Church at