From the moment Camila Ibarra painted a mural in her high school cafeteria, she knew she wanted to be an artist.
The Sahuaro High School alum didn鈥檛 think it was possible to make a career of it. It just wasn鈥檛 realistic, she said. Ibarra attended ASU to earn a degree in engineering, something she thought was more steady, and did art on the side.
鈥淚 started to actually do (murals), more career focused, about five years ago,鈥 she said.
One of Ibarra鈥檚 first public murals downtown was the Black Lives Matter mural that went on the side of Hotel Congress in 2020. Since then, she said her artistic work has gotten more consistent.
鈥淚n 2024, I was just overworking myself because I was doing engineering full time, and then on weekends I was doing murals,鈥 Ibarra said.
She decided it was time to take a shot at being an artist full-time and quit her job as an engineer in January of this year.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just been really nice,鈥 Ibarra said.
Now, after 10 years of developing her artistic skills, Ibarra is crafting her first city-sponsored mural, downtown in celebration of Tucson鈥檚 official 250th birthday.
Camila Ibarra paints a portion of her new mural in honor of Tucson鈥檚 250th birthday.
The Rio Nuevo District is collaborating with the Mayor鈥檚 Office, Visit Tucson, Downtown 大象APPPartnership and the Presidio Museum to commission four new murals throughout the downtown area.
The public art project celebrates Tucson鈥檚 upcoming 250th birthday in August and honors over two millennia of cultural history. Every mural displays each of the four artists鈥 interpretations of the city鈥檚 history, from the early Hohokam people before the year 1000 to modern-day Tucson.
鈥淭he Spanish built the Presidio in 1775,鈥 said Rio Nuevo Board Member Jannie Cox. 鈥淎s part of Rio Nuevo, we have a fund that we use to have murals created to beautify our district. These four murals will do exactly that.鈥
Cox said the artists were given almost complete creative freedom to paint whatever 250 years means to them. The only requirements were that they incorporate the mayor鈥檚 250 logo and the linguistic history of the city鈥檚 name: S-cukSon, Tucs贸n and Tucson.
鈥淭hose four items will bring the murals all together,鈥 Cox said.
The project is guided by the 隆Somos Uno! Cultural Heritage Strategy for Tucson, which was earlier this year by the mayor and City Council.
鈥淭hese murals are a beautiful way for people to understand the history of Tucson, but they are also drivers of our creative economy,鈥 wrote 大象APPMayor Regina Romero in an emailed statement. 鈥淪ince I was a Council Member in Ward 1, I knew how important our art, history and culture were, and that we needed a way to document it. That is why as Mayor, I pushed for the creation of our 隆Somos Uno! Cultural Heritage Strategy for Tucson.
鈥淥ne of the things that Tucsonans told us through 隆Somos Uno! is how important it is to support local artists and our creative ecosystem,鈥 she said.
Rio Nuevo is paying for artists Pen Macias, Ignacio Garcia, Joe Pagac and Ibarra to create the murals. The project cost a total of $108,000.
Pen Macias works on a new downtown mural, 鈥淭ucson250+,鈥 at the northeast corner of West Congress Street and North Church Avenue.
Macias鈥檚 piece features three vignettes that focus on three different periods of Tucson鈥檚 history. The first focuses on the Hohokam settlement before 大象APPwas developed, the second on the Spanish creation of the Presidio, and the third on Tucson鈥檚 more modern downtown development over the last century.
鈥淭he foreground kind of represents the beginning of 大象APPas a metropolitan city, and then as the car drives into the distance, in the background you see modern 大象APPwith Joe (Pagac鈥檚) saguaro mural in the distance,鈥 she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 sort of driving into what 大象APPis now.鈥
Pen Macias鈥 mural is one of four planned to help celebrate Tucson鈥檚 250th birthday. The murals will be officially unveiled in July.
Garcia鈥檚 mural focuses more on Tucson鈥檚 Indigenous people, featuring members of the Tohono O鈥檕dham and Pascua Yaqui tribes.
鈥淚t kind of shows the root of downtown, where it all started,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 my first time getting permission to paint a deer dancer or anything with the Pascua Yaqui. Also getting permission to paint the 鈥榦no Native American is something that I鈥檝e been wanting to do for a long time. To have a piece of work like that downtown is one of the coolest things that I鈥檓 honored to do.鈥
Three Tohono O始odham people are depicted in a new mural by local artist, Ignacio Garcia, along Arizona Ave. near Congress Street in downtown Tucson. The mural is one of four that were commissioned by Rio Nuevo to celebrate Tucson鈥檚 250th birthday, according to Jannie Cox, of Rio Nuevo.
Pagac鈥檚 piece covers the 10-foot-high south-facing wall of La Placita Garage spanning 240 feet wide. The piece illustrates a Gila monster with a birthday hat and a candle in a cupcake along with historical symbols of Native American pots, a Mexican blanket, a spur with a cowboy hat and the mountain ranges that surround the city.
鈥淎s a Tucsonan who has lived here his whole life and spends all his time doing art, it鈥檚 a huge honor to be among the four amazing muralists selected by the mayor and Rio Nuevo to represent the city for its quarter millennium birthday celebration,鈥 Pagac said.
A mockup of Joe Pagac's mural聽covers the 10-foot-high south-facing wall of La Placita Garage spanning 240 feet wide. The piece illustrates a Gila monster with a birthday hat and a candle in a cupcake along with historical symbols of Native American pots, a Mexican blanket, a spur with a cowboy hat and the mountain ranges that surround the city.
Ibarra stuck with a theme of honoring the past while moving into a more modern Tucson, featuring a Tohono O鈥檕dham woman weaving a basket, the San Xavier Mission, the Presidio, Father Kino on horseback, and the arrival of the railroad.
鈥淚 went through a really long process to get my design together, and I just wanted to make sure that I was capturing everything correctly and as beautifully as I can,鈥 Ibarra said. 鈥淚 think the community aspect of this has been my favorite part, and just getting to include different people.鈥
All four murals are set to be complete by June 30.
An unveiling celebration will be held at HighWire, 30 W. Arizona Alley, on July 25 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Some event highlights include meet and greets with the muralists, walking and trolley tours, and refreshments. The event is free with .