Tucson Turns 250 Years Old

Tucson is celebrating a huge milestone! 250 years since Presidio San Agustín del Tucson was founded in August 1775. We’re marking it in true Tucson fashion: with bold, beautiful, storytelling murals across downtown.

Four striking new murals recently went up, telling our story in color, and designed by some of our most celebrated local artists. These were commissioned by Rio Nuevo, who backed the project with a mural-specific budget of just over $100,000 in partnership with the city, county, and cultural institutions.

KGUN 9’s Absolutely Arizona did a fantastic feature on the project, capturing how these artworks celebrate the depth of Tucson’s history, and why the city is embracing public art downtown like never before. Click The Button to watch this great piece!

Here are the artists making it happen:

• Ignacio Garcia painted S-cuk Son at Arizona Ave & Congress St., weaving centuries of Tucson life into one image. He includes Tohono O’odham figures, a Pascua Yaqui deer dancer, and even a playful wink at the future with contributions from his 15-year-old son (think UFOs and Bigfoot).
• Camila Ibarra, a Sahuaro High School grad, created her very first major mural at Pennington & Scott. Garcia says she nailed it...dramatic, powerful, with a timeless feel.
• Pen Macias crafted a mural at Church & Stone that unfolds in three vignettes, reflecting past, present, and future Tucson.
• Joe Pagac, perhaps Tucson’s most visible muralist (from the Rialto murals to desert critters on Stone), delivered a massive, 240-foot work along La Placita Garage that arrests your attention instantly.

KGUN 9 showed how these murals are more than public art, they’re a vibrant love letter to Tucson, tying together local culture, heritage, and the imagination of our youth. And at The Drive Tucson, that’s exactly what we’re all about, connecting eras, memories, and the creative soul of this community.

It’s not just history. It’s an experience.

---

Top 10 Ways to Celebrate Tucson’s 250th Downtown

1. Arizona & Congress – Start at Ignacio Garcia’s S-cuk Son mural.
2. Pennington & Scott – Check out Camila Ibarra’s powerful debut piece.
3. Church & Stone – Stand with Pen Macias’s layers of Tucson story.
4. La Placita Garage – Visit Joe Pagac’s huge, bold mural.
5. Presidio San Agustín del Tucson – Walk where city history began in 1775.
6. Mission San Xavier del Bac – Admire the “White Dove of the Desert” standing for centuries.
7. Miracle Mile neon signs – Feel the glow of Tucson’s 1950s drive-in era.
8. El Con Mall memories – Remember the 1960s landmark that brought Tucson together.
9. Tucson Community Center concerts – Recall the decades of music magic in the ’70s and ’80s.
10. All Souls Procession today – Feel the creativity and remembrance alive in today’s traditions.

Each stop bridges generations, from Presidio bricks to neon lights to mural paint. These new murals are the latest chapter in our city’s story, one you can touch, read, and photograph.

And maybe the best way to sum it all up is this:

“Tucson - where the ghosts of the Old West pound their chest as we recall them.”
~Matt Gentry

Because Tucson’s ghosts aren’t silent. They live in the adobe walls, in the glow of neon, in the desert winds that move through the saguaros. When we remember them, they rise up proudly, beating their chests so their stories are not forgotten. That’s the soul of Tucson: a city where history is never buried, but alive...walking beside us, guiding us, and reminding us that the Old Pueblo has always been, and always will be a place where the past and the future share the same heartbeat.

To see more community events/stories, click HERE