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Cellpic Sunday – Arizona’s Tallest Mural is a New Record

Desert Colossus.

March 2025

Tucson, Arizona.

Joe Pagac’s “Desert Colossus” has earned its place as Arizona’s tallest mural. It is an awe-inspiring 153-foot-tall (46.6 m) depiction of a majestic saguaro cactus on the north side of the Transamerica Building in downtown Tucson. The mural was scheduled to be completed on March 21, so the artists were hard at work finishing the artwork on the day of our visit (March 8).

Mural painters at work.
Artists at work.

The “Desert Colossus” mural was primarily funded by Rio Nuevo (a civic partnership with the city and downtown businesses), additional private funding from El Presidio neighborhood businesses and neighbors. Tucson philanthropist Jeanne McDonald also contributed significantly to the $95,000 project.

Arizona's Tallest Mural
A neighborhood addition.

Its immense size ensures visibility from several locations, including the busy I-10 freeway, making it a prominent landmark. Views of the mural and Arizona’s largest mural are featured in 2K HD on my Flickr site here.

I encourage fellow bloggers to create their own Cellpic Sunday posts. I never have a specific topic for this feature, and the only rules are that the photo must be captured with a cell phone, iPad, or another mobile device… If you have an image from a drone or even a dashcam, that’s also acceptable. The second rule is to link your challenge response to this post or leave a comment here with a link to your post in the comment. Oh, you don’t have to post it on a Sunday.

John Steiner

46 comments

    • I know a few bloggers who almost always use phone photos. The phone cameras are so good now. Even when I take my nice mirrorless, I often take a few photos with my cell phone. I seldom take my backup “point and shoot” anymore.

      Reply

  14. Now I need to go to Tucson! What an amazing find and great shot, John. While we visited Scottsdale in May, I noticed that all the saguaros sported that new growth depicted in the mural. Like little toupees, LOL! When we drove up to Payson from Fountain Hills, we could see EVERY saguaro were in bloom. Truly an amazing time to visit (thanks Dad). Desert Colossus is the perfect name. I also have some great outdoors views of Arizona and southern Utah this week, in pink!

    https://secondwindleisure.com/2025/06/08/sunday-stills-monthly-color-challenge-shades-of-pink-in-the-great-outdoors/

    Reply

  17. Beautiful mural John and certain to draw lots of attention. We have a Johnny Cash mural in downtown Sacramento that’s 15 stories tall (approximately 150-180 feet). It was put there to promote prison reform.

    Reply

      • Did they do it the same way- sort of a paint by number thing? I watched a friend of ours who painted a mural in Visalia years ago. She did the whole thing. I also enjoyed watching artists with spray cans of paint painting murals for a convention of spray painters. That was amazing. I admire all artists, but not only do I not have the talent, I don’t have the stamina or even the desire to have the stamina it takes to paint something that large.

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