Scratched, time-worn religious sculptures stand within the shade of the Congress Street Bridge,…read moreforming a lovely, peaceful sculpture garden. Quite miraculously, they've survived decades of floods, droughts, and vandalism. They exist because during World War I, a man named Felix Lucero lay seriously injured on a battlefield in France. Wounded and in agony, he proposed a deal with God: If he survived, he'd use his natural skills as a sculptor to create religious statues. After returning home from the war, Lucero set about making good on his word. In the late 1930s, he lived in Tucson, Arizona, in a shack beneath a bridge. From there, he began creating beautiful works of art. While in Tucson, Lucero spent years crafting detailed statues of religious figures out of sand and debris from the Santa Cruz River, which he then slathered in a protective coat of plaster. He created iconic Biblical scenes, including the Last Supper, Joseph and Mary, and Jesus on the crucifix. Though Lucero died in 1951, his work is still standing--which is amazing, considering the statues weren't built from lasting materials and have faced frequent vandalism over the years. Many are damaged, but they still stand tall. Dedicated locals have worked to salvage and repair the sculptures after each vandalism incident, and in the 1980s moved them to form this sculpture garden near the very bridge Lucero once lived beneath.

Really cool place! I've never seen anything like it. Lovely to reflect on the life of Jesus here…read moreand see amazing sculpture art.

Looks like a giant donut!…read more This piece of public art is very simple, just an upright circle that lights up at night. It was was originally created for the Luminarias del Pueblo fundraising auction in April 2005. It is located in the median on West Alameda Street between El Presidio Park and the Tucson Museum of Art. I put in a location edit on Yelp back in Nov. 2022 since the location marker was incorrect. Hubby & I drove all over looking for it. Since then, it has been corrected. Be careful crossing the road to get to it! Desert O is a translucent ring that is 6 feet in diameter This object has a steel skeleton inside that can be seen both during the day and at night. It basically looks white and pretty unremarkable during the day. The ring displays a pattern of colored LED lights that circle slowly inside the sculpture. It is covered with frosted acrylic panels that make it glow brightly. This art is a solar-powered. There is one 'secret' touch-sensitive button that allows visitors to control the lighting. You have to find it from the hundreds of metal fasteners holding the sculpture together. It was nice to get out and take a look at this public art!

nothing really special here. when it was built I was in high school and we called it the glass…read moreDonut. sounds allot better than glass O . around the holidays they decorate it as a wreath, or art least I remember they used to.

We did a short walking tour and visited the pop up martini bar of the new upgraded Presidio tonight…read more- it has some beautiful upgrades with new benches, murals, and walking path areas! There's also a great view of the tallest mural in Arizona here!

We love museums and this one is great. It tells a story of Old Tucson. A really good visitor Center.read more

We had seen a documentary a year or so ago about an art theft of a de Kooning painting from this…read moremuseum ("The Thief Collector"). It was interesting so we thought that since we'd be in Tucson anyway, we'd stop by and check out the museum and the semi-recently restored artwork (the thieves died of old age and it was recovered via their estate sale, basically). The museum is located in the middle of the University of Arizona campus. There may be street parking even closer, but we parked in a multi-story public parking deck about 3 blocks away. The deck is behind a 7-11 on the corner. Fees for parking were quite reasonable (we paid less than $3 for almost an hour). Entry to the museum is free. The lady at the reception desk gave us an overview gave directions to the de Kooning when we asked (I'm guessing they get that question a lot). They weren't defensive about it. :) There were 4 main areas / displays when we visited: - the main modern galleries - the main early / medieval galleries (which were being renovated) - an exhibit of local high school art competition winners - a special exhibit of sort of grotesque charcoal nudes of late-middle aged artists We got to see the de Kooning, which is what we came for (though none of us are fans of his art, per se). It was the only work protected with a plexiglass housing (so if you come for theft, steal something else this time...). My favorite here was actually a work by Georgia O'Keefe. There was also a Calder mobile and some works by a Spanish modern artist that my daughter recognized from a class. I'm not a huge fan of medieval art, so it wasn't a huge blow to discover this area was closed. We browsed the high school stuff. Some of it was interesting. We hit the final area before leaving. They even cautioned you about 'representation of the human body', or some such, when you check in. Rather than be snarky, I'll just state that this really wasn't something I was interested in, and leave it at that. Given that this is a university-based art museum, and not some major city's premier art venue, I thought it was decent. I was glad we stopped by.

Tons of pieces behind curtains and not on display…read more What we did see was not for us at all. One Dali piece was on display and the Georgia O'Keeffe pieces I wanted to see so badly were not on display. Maybe we came at the wrong time. Meh. Waste of time.

Really enjoyed our visit to the Arizona State museum on the campus of ASU. This is an anthropology…read moremuseum focusing on Southwest indigenous cultures. Considering the nature of the displays (delicate and a lot of reading), the exhibits may not be that interesting for young children. All exhibits were on the first floor. The museum houses an extensive collection of southwestern indigenous pottery, with over 24,000 pieces spanning 2,000 years. Although most of the pottery collection is kept in a controlled vault to protect from humidity and temperature, there are still many pieces on display and lots of opportunity to learn. There's also a virtual tour option for the pieces in the vault. There's also a wonderful collection on the art of Native American basket making, and according to their website they house the "world's largest and most comprehensive collection". Two temporary exhibits were on Native American jewelry making and a photography exhibit on the Sámi indigenous people in Northern Europe. In the hallway, there was information on the 19th amendment, which although I appreciated, I felt that it was out of place. Overall, I learned a lot during the visit and appreciated that the museum respected the history of past and present indigenous cultures.

I loved it!!! I had not been in years and they had really updated it. The exhibits are well curated…read moreand all the descriptions are informative and interesting. I could not believe the amount of artifacts were on display. The flow of the museum was easy to follow and it took about 2 hours to see the whole place. You could take longer or just hit a few of the exhibits. I believe everyone who lives here should go, and it's a great thing to take visitors to. It's always good to know where you live.

What's good ol' Paul Bunyan doing in Tucson? Is he a snowbird like the rest of the Midwest and East…read moreCoast folk that settle here over the winter months? And what's he doing right in front of a hot rod shop? Maybe he came down here to get some parts for his souped up 1932 Ford Roadster. In any case, I got a kick out of seeing this quirky little bit of Tucson. It's nothing too Earth shattering but if you're in the area it's worth a quick stop.

This is a great old 60's statue that everyone glares at when they pass it. It's been around a long…read moretime. Fun stuff for you dumb road buffs. He has a big axe so watch out commies!

The membership is worth it! So many beautiful plants and flowers to see. Love the desert section…read morewith all of the cactus and saguaros. They've really done a great job with the renovation. The new Frida Kahlo exhibit is great. Currently there's a photo exhibit of penguins through June 2026 Their kitchen also has a few vegan options Wheelchairs available for use.

I love this little hidden treasure in the middle of town. Although it's on the smaller scale…read more(compared to larger city botanical gardens) it is always a fun place to visit. The cacti & curated gardens are beautiful, they currently have the Frida Kahlo exhibit with brightly colored displays it matched perfectly with the Sonoran desert landscape. I especially enjoy the butterfly enclosure, the Barrio Gardin surrounded by adobe walls and reclaimed objects as planters and the birds that call this place home. You can grab lunch or a snack and sit under the big shade tree on the patio. They host events, check their website or become a member to receive updates.

So many murals, and so little time. My girlfriend mapped out the walk-through downtown and into…read moresixth Avenue, stone, up to fourth Avenue where we could see murals. I didn't know that there are approximately 2000 in all of Tucson. But there is a high concentration down here and you can find the locations if you look at google for the "mural trail" for Tucson. it was so fun just to walk around downtown and all around the sixth Avenue to fourth Avenue area and discover murals of many to honor and respect all the cultures here in Tucson. What a wonderful way to spend the afternoon.

Grateful to Yelp for inviting us Yelpers to come for the Momentos series at TMA, a celebration of…read moreArizona's Biennial Artists. What a stunning collection of local artists and their art. In addition to the beautiful artwork we could peruse, there was snacks and mangonadas, a DJ, and drinks. One of the museum staff also walked us through an activity to discuss and share our reactions to the art. I loved that she made it feel approachable, even for folks like me who are not art experts. My husband is a big art lover and ended up buying a membership before we left. Can't wait to come back to explore the rest of the collection! Highly recommend stopping by for the Momentos series this summer.

I loved the art so I give two stars instead of one, but my rating is only so low because of the…read morestaff member who made my group feel unwelcome. It's important to note that our group was visibly made up of women of color, and we are all mostly hispanic and indigenous. For the first hour, we encountered staff members and security who just seemed like they were doing their jobs normally. No staring, no following, just observing and moving within their sections. But as we moved into the last section before the gift shop, we encountered a staff member who left a bad taste in our mouths. He was on his phone and ignoring the other (white) people in his section, but as soon as we walked in he stared really intensely at us and immediately stood up. He spent the next 45 minutes following us from room to room, making intense eye contact with us and keeping his arms crossed. If one of us moved out of his line of sight (I moved behind a pillar briefly) he moved quickly to see what we were doing. I understand he was keeping museum property safe, but we were following proper museum etiquette and nothing we were doing warranted that reaction. We kept our voices lowered, moved slowly, didn't get too close to items, etc. People of color are used to being treated with suspicion in many spaces, so I can assure you we know what it looks like when someone is keeping an eye on us. I thought it was in poor taste, though, to treat us, Mexican and indigenous women, like that, especially when we were in an art gallery viewing art by Latin American and indigenous artists. It gives the wrong impression and made us feel unwelcome when we were there to view and celebrate our own art and culture. I'm not writing this out of spite, but hopefully the museum can make sure their staff members do not continue to treat people of color differently than all people should be treated...especially when they display our art.