Press Release: Pueblo Gardens - Block Party, Sat, Sept 30, 2023
Photo by Taylor Miller
Contact Info:
Evren Sönmez
Director of Strategic Policy and Practice
FAMILIES AND NEIGHBORS TO TRANSFORM INTERSECTION NEAR PUEBLO
GARDENS SCHOOL DURING BLOCK PAINTING PARTY THIS SATURDAY
Tucson, AZ (September 25, 2023) – This Saturday, September 30th, local nonprofit organization,
Living Streets Alliance, and Pueblo Gardens (PreK – 8) School will host a special neighborhood block
party, inviting kids, families, and neighbors to paint the street and transform an intersection adjacent to
the school. The project will include a new crosswalk and “curb extensions” also known as “bulb-outs” to
increase the safety and visibility of students walking to school, and beautify the intersection with a
splash of color.
The Pueblo Gardens Block Party (Fiesta en la Calle) will take place from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM near
Pueblo Gardens School at the intersection of S. Plumer Avenue and E. Silvosa Street. Led by local
artist Porter McDonald, neighbors will paint asphalt murals inside each of the three new curb
extensions. The inspiration for the murals came primarily from ideas shared by Pueblo Gardens
students who expressed a particular passion for animals and nature. McDonald took those ideas and
created three related designs based on three essential elements: Air, Earth, and Water. In McDonald’s
words, “As pedestrians and cyclists travel to and from school, they will see stripes of bright color
swooshing and curving, and in and around these shapes they will see flashes of wildlife on the move;
wings fluttering, a rodent scurrying, a fish splashing, and sea shells rolling in a slosh of sea foam.” In
addition to the painting activities for all ages, free food, drink, and LSA’s mobile bike repair service will
be offered to neighbors at the block party.
This location was identified as a priority for creating the improved school crossing with curb extensions
in the 2016 Pueblo Gardens Safe Routes to School Travel Plan. Curb extensions encourage slower
turning speeds for drivers, while also shortening crossing distances for people on foot, especially
children, making them more visible as they are about to cross the street. This “quick build” project is
made possible in part through grant funding from Safe Routes Partnership, a national nonprofit
organization working to advance safe walking and rolling to and from schools and in everyday life.
Living Streets Alliance coordinates the Safe Routes to School Tucson Program in partnership with the
The City of Tucson - a program that encourages more children and families to walk and bike throughout the Tucson region.
One of the goals of the program is to address the need for physical infrastructure that connects families
to schools, and for small-scale neighborhood projects like this which can begin to tackle the lack of safe
and connected routes - a major barrier to kids walking and biking to school. For more information, visit
http://www.saferoutestucson.org
The mission of Living Streets Alliance is to advocate for a thriving Tucson by creating great streets for
everyone.
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The Pueblo Gardens School Bike Club gathers in the shade (above). The Bike Club hits the streets (below).
Photo by Taylor Miller
Photo by Taylor Miller
Photo by Taylor Miller
“As pedestrians and cyclists travel to and from school, they will see stripes of bright color swooshing and curving. In and around the stripes, they will see flashes of wildlife on the move as well. Wings flutter, a rodent scurries, a fish splashes, and shells roll in the sea foam.”
The asphalt art by Porter McDonald in planning
Photo by Taylor Miller
