People beholding Twilight Sonoran, the new mural inside Tohono Chul Park’s Garden Pavilion, have literally wept with joy.
“Someone told me their knees were quaking” at first sight, said Jamie Maslyn Larson, president and CEO of the Oro Valley garden, gallery and bistro. “It is a very powerful piece when you see it in person.”
Public response to Twilight Sonoran, Ignacio Garcia’s blue, black and white, 1,200-square-foot, eye-level painting of a Sonoran Desert night, has been “beyond imagination positive,” Maslyn Larson continued.
“When do you get to be so immersed in a gigantic piece of art?” she asked. “It is a very, very rare and unusual experience. Everyone really connects with it. It’s very accessible, it’s a big wow.”
People are coming for a walk into Twilight Sonoran. Tohono Chul’s “I Heart Art” unveiling on Feb. 14 was a sell-out at 300. Its Feb. 28 public unveiling attracted 789 guests.
“The mural was a huge hit” that day, said Sylvia Verbais, Tohono Chul’s public events manager. Admiring groups “were trying their hardest to find the hidden ‘Easter Eggs,’ as Ignacio calls them.” Guests examined Garcia’s brush strokes, and sought out his stars and flowers.
The idea to create a mural in Tohono Chul’s 40th year, and to garner internal and community support for it, came together in less than a month, Maslyn Larson said.
The long pavilion wall “truly was a blank slate, an open canvas,” she said. Given Tucson’s mural culture, “it was really an easy deduction” to bring one to the Garden Pavilion.
“To do something relatively permanent was kind of a big leap from the curators’ point of view,” Maslyn Larson said. A mural had to fit with Tohono Chul. Still, “to do something this big and bold was very exciting to the arts team.”
Support from Oro Valley created “the real opportunity,” Maslyn Larson said. “We have a great relationship with the town,” which had helped pay for construction of the Garden Pavilion. The mural, then, “seemed like an evolution, an extension of that support.”
Paul Melcher, Oro Valley’s community and economic director, saw the mural’s alignment with Oro Valley’s arts and tourism vision right away. “It was written in the stars, so to speak,” Maslyn Larson said.
Karen Hayes, Tohono Chul’s associate curator and collections manager, said the project kicked off in August with a “call for proposals” from artists. In September, Tohono Chul staff reviewed 41 qualification packages submitted by 42 artists from 13 states.
Three finalists were asked to create a conceptual mural design specifically for Tohono Chul, along with a detailed budget and installation schedule. In late October, a panel of eight representing Tohono Chul, the town, and the arts community convened to review the concepts. Garcia’s Twilight Sonoran was selected.
“His concept beautifully captures how the Sonoran Desert comes alive at night,” Hayes said.
“This mural is more than decoration — it’s an invitation into the Sonoran night,” Garcia said of his vision. “A visual poem in blue, glowing with quiet desert life, meant to calm, inspire, and connect. When visitors leave Tohono Chul, they’ll carry with them the memory of twilight in the desert — a feeling that lingers like starlight.”
Curators worked with Garcia to refine the design — a patch of Peniocereus greggii here, a bat there — “until it was perfect for Tohono Chul,” Hayes said.
Maslyn Larson, who has worked with many exceptional artists during her career, called Garcia “one of the best collaborators I’ve ever worked with.
“He wanted this to reflect Tohono Chul. That kind of generosity and collaboration, it’s very rare. We picked the right artist, not only because of his immense talent, but his desire to make something special for Tohono Chul and our guests, ultimately.”
Already, the Southern Arizona Ceramic Artists have hosted their semi-annual ceramic show and sale, attracting mural-seekers who happened upon a pottery show. Two corporate events are booked. There has been a celebration of life. Weddings are in the weeks ahead.
“Potential clients are loving that this mural will be a part of their décor,” Verbais said.
While they’ve immersed in Twilight Sonoran, guests have enjoyed Don Guerra’s Barrio Bread, and desserts by the Gourmet Girls Gluten-Free Bakery and Bistro. That’s very intentional, Maslyn Larson said.
She wants Twilight Sonoran to reflect “not just the values of Tohono Chul, but … the values of Tucson, and the spirit of all the best of Tucson. It’s art, it’s the desert, it’s gathering, it’s community. It’s a community oasis for everyone — it’s good for all ages. It’s friendly, joyous, celebratory. We hope Tucsonans really feel proud about the artwork Ignacio did for us.”