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Home › News & Events › News › Mural Coming to School of Art

Mural Coming to School of Art

November 5, 2020

The School of Art is getting a new mural. Recent alumnus and internationally renowned muralist Karlito Miller Espinosa, aka Mata Ruda, is creating a mural on the School of Art’s Joseph Gross Gallery during the month of November 2020.

The mural is part of the arts renaissance at the University of Arizona. The Arizona Arts master plan envisions a revitalization of the Art District as a unique gateway to the Arizona campus. This mural is one of the first steps to realize the vision. Karlito (MFA, studio art, ‘19) was scheduled to begin the project in April 2020, but the coronavirus pandemic caused a delay.

“I’m excited about painting a large mural on the campus of a public institution of higher learning such as the University of Arizona, because it falls in line with the tradition of my favorite artists such as Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and Juan O’Gorman whose work decorate the campus of the National Autonomous University of Mexico,” said Karlito.

“Their murals and mosaics not only beautified the campus, but also played a historically important role in the development of the student body’s progressive ideology, particularly in the ’60s and again more recently today. This is a great moment to take on a project that reflects the changing tides.”

Digital rendering of the mural.

For the University of Arizona, the mural is an important step in realizing the vision of an outward-facing and publicly engaged Arts District on the northwest corner of campus.

“The mural serves as a literal point of connection between campus and the broader community,” said School of Art Director Colin Blakely. “This connection is reinforced by Karlito’s thoughtful content celebrating the art’s connection to the culture and people of Southern Arizona. That the mural is designed and painted by one of our own former students who is also internationally renowned for his mural work makes the project all the more meaningful for us.”

The mural, which will primarily face Speedway, will include various images that represent the University of Arizona, the Sonoran desert, local Indigenous culture, and fine art.

“Karlito’s mural is an important component of our ongoing efforts to elevate the arts on campus,” said Arizona’s Vice President for the Arts, Andrew Schulz. “This visually compelling work announces in a very public and visible way that ‘creativity happens here.’”

“Sonora” painted on the Historic Y building.

Other Tucson Murals

This is not the first Tucson mural from Karlito. Just completed this summer on the John B. Wright Elementary School is a new mural that depicts regional agricultural themes and includes a game and an interactive feature where the school’s students can measure themselves.

His first local mural can be found on the Historic Y building in Downtown Tucson. Created in December 2018, the mural was finished in just under a week with the help of two undergraduate students, Brisa Tzintzun and Analaura Villegas.

Tzintzun and Villegas have been tapped to be Karlito’s assistants for this new mural as well.

Karlito Miller Espinosa Bio

Following his graduation from the University of Arizona, Karlito was accepted as a studio program resident for the 2019-2020 Whitney Independent Study Program. This highly competitive and internationally-renowned program provides emerging artists with a year-long New York residency and has been a launching pad for many contemporary art stars.

Karlito has received numerous awards and recognition for his artwork, including the 2018 Graduate Student Centennial Achievement Award, the School of Art’s Marcia Grand Centennial Sculpture Award, and the College of Fine Arts 2017 Creative Achievement Award.

His work has been exhibited by esteemed institutions around the world including the Newark Museum, El Museo Barrio in Harlem, the United Nations Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the Street Art Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, Twitter’s New York Headquarters, EARTH University (School of Agriculture of the Humid Tropical Region) in Costa Rica, and the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art in New York. In 2018 he was featured on the BBC’s Documentary Series, The Art of Now.

 

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Contact:
Ginette Gonzalez
School of Art
ginetteg@arizona.edu
520.621.1251

Charlie Snyder
Arizona Arts
cjsnyder@arizona.edu
520-621-5507

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University of Arizona School of Art
2 days ago
University of Arizona School of Art

Great oil painting by Galadriel Gross who is currently studying studio art and is working on her portfolio for an illustration emphasis!
•
"Self Portrait After Rain"
This was my first self portrait, and it was a real joy to paint. Knowing there is a version of myself in this painting that is always at rest, always breathing fresh air after a rain, and always in close proximity to the mud is self-affirming and grants strength to my active, living self. While I really love visual drama and tension, these quieter and calmer pieces always resonate with me for a long time.
... See MoreSee Less

Great oil painting by Galadriel Gross who is currently studying studio art and is working on her portfolio for an illustration emphasis! 
•
Self Portrait After Rain
This was my first self portrait, and it was a real joy to paint.  Knowing there is a version of myself in this painting that is always at rest, always breathing fresh air after a rain, and always in close proximity to the mud is self-affirming and grants strength to my active, living self.  While I really love visual drama and tension, these quieter and calmer pieces always resonate with me for a long time.
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University of Arizona School of Art
4 days ago
University of Arizona School of Art

Currently on display in the Lionel Rombach Gallery is After America Day by Day: A Counter-cartography by Mariel Miranda. Mariel is co-founder and director of the International Festival of Photography Tijuana (FiFT) a self-organized and feminist platform created for the undisciplined reflection on the image and its current modes of production. This great exhibition is compiled of evidence of Mariel’s counter-cartographic response to the 1947 road trip that Simone De Beauvoir took through the American Southwest. Link in bio!! ... See MoreSee Less

Currently on display in the Lionel Rombach Gallery is After America Day by Day: A Counter-cartography by Mariel Miranda. Mariel is co-founder and director of the International Festival of Photography Tijuana (FiFT) a self-organized and feminist platform created for the undisciplined reflection on the image and its current modes of production. This great exhibition is compiled of evidence of Mariel’s counter-cartographic response to the 1947 road trip that Simone De Beauvoir took through the American Southwest. Link in bio!!Image attachmentImage attachment+5Image attachment
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University of Arizona School of Art
6 days ago
University of Arizona School of Art

Here are more of our amazing student artists currently featured in the Lionel Rombach Gallery. Link in bio!!
•
The School of Art and Art Advisory Board are celebrating the works of our accomplished scholars at the 2020-2021 School of Art Scholarship Exhibition in the Lionel Rombach Gallery. Congratulations to our scholarship recipients and thank you for representing the breadth of visual art making, teaching, and scholarship here at the School of Art.
•
Artists featured are Alice Qinghui Chen with American Gothic, Perla Segovia with Transcendent Hope, and Danielle Jones with Rising Systems.
... See MoreSee Less

Here are more of our amazing student artists currently featured in the Lionel Rombach Gallery. Link in bio!!
•
The School of Art and Art Advisory Board are celebrating the works of our accomplished scholars at the 2020-2021 School of Art Scholarship Exhibition in the Lionel Rombach Gallery. Congratulations to our scholarship recipients and thank you for representing the breadth of visual art making, teaching, and scholarship here at the School of Art.
•
Artists featured are Alice Qinghui Chen with American Gothic, Perla Segovia with Transcendent Hope, and Danielle Jones with Rising Systems.Image attachmentImage attachment+2Image attachment
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University of Arizona School of Art
1 week ago
University of Arizona School of Art

Mark your calendars, the UArizona Art History Graduate Student Association is hosting their 31st Annual Symposium! Tune into this free Zoom event on March 5, 2021 from 9am-5pm to listen to an amazing group of student speakers as well as our keynote speaker, Dr. Nicole Fleetwood discuss art in the era of mass incarceration. ... See MoreSee Less

Mark your calendars, the UArizona Art History Graduate Student Association is hosting their 31st Annual Symposium! Tune into this free Zoom event on March 5, 2021 from 9am-5pm to listen to an amazing group of student speakers as well as our keynote speaker, Dr. Nicole Fleetwood discuss art in the era of mass incarceration.Image attachment
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University of Arizona School of Art
2 weeks ago
University of Arizona School of Art

This amazing sculpture is titled “Temporary Structures” by Marisa Lewon and is currently in the Alumni Exhibition in the Joseph Gross Gallery— link in bio!!
•
Temporary structures is an amalgamation of sand, skin, self-understanding and time. I use personal history to understand how the experience of where and how we are raised can alter reactions and perceptions of new landscapes as adults. In this work, my perception of, and aversion to, ideas of home are echoed through exploration of personal memory.
... See MoreSee Less

This amazing sculpture is titled “Temporary Structures” by Marisa Lewon and is currently in the Alumni Exhibition in the Joseph Gross Gallery— link in bio!! 
•
Temporary structures is an amalgamation of sand, skin, self-understanding and time. I use personal history to understand how the experience of where and how we are raised can alter reactions and perceptions of new landscapes as adults. In this work, my perception of, and aversion to, ideas of home are echoed through exploration of personal memory.Image attachmentImage attachment+2Image attachment
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University of Arizona School of Art
2 weeks ago
University of Arizona School of Art

The School of Art and Art Advisory Board are celebrating the works of our accomplished scholars at the 2020-2021 School of Art Scholarship Exhibition in the Lionel Rombach Gallery. Congratulations to our scholarship recipients and thank you for representing the breadth of visual art making, teaching, and scholarship here at the School of Art.
.
Artists featured are Tehan Ketema with Netsela, Dan Newman with iusedtothinkthatway, and Ada Smith with Twelve Breakfasts.
.
Link in bio!!
... See MoreSee Less

The School of Art and Art Advisory Board are celebrating the works of our accomplished scholars at the 2020-2021 School of Art Scholarship Exhibition in the Lionel Rombach Gallery. Congratulations to our scholarship recipients and thank you for representing the breadth of visual art making, teaching, and scholarship here at the School of Art.
.
Artists featured are Tehan Ketema with Netsela, Dan Newman with iusedtothinkthatway, and Ada Smith with Twelve Breakfasts. 
.
Link in bio!!Image attachmentImage attachment+3Image attachment
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