For Executive Vice President Lindsay Knott, Mosaic Quarter was intended to be a space where art, sports and entertainment are intertwined since the inception of the venue. The company brought together six local artists to help realize that dream — in the form of 11 original murals.
“It’s the right team, the right people, the right placement, and they’ve all stayed on board since that very beginning,” Knott said. “It’s a testament to what Mosaic Quarter represents, which is a bunch of pieces falling into place — a mosaic.”
Mosaic Quarter (MQ) has officially announced its partnership with muralists Ignacio Garcia, Jessica Gonzales, Pen Macias, Danny Martin, Rock Martinez and Joe Pagac in a privately funded project to bring art installations to the venue’s newest spaces — the Iceplex and Field House. Their work, Knott explained, will be realized as the first large-scale, simultaneous mural collaboration of its kind in the region. Each of the pieces will be revealed on the muralists’ terms, paired with the unveiling of the Iceplex next spring and Field House next summer.
The murals that each of the artists is being paid by MQ to create will be representative of their own artistic convictions and talents. Knott said they were each allowed to choose the location they wanted their art to go of the 11 available spaces.
“We said, ‘We want you to start to plan your design and we’ll work through that — we’re not giving you any parameters, it doesn’t have to be sports-themed and it doesn’t have to fit the building,’” she said. “It can be whatever you think that resonates with your creative mojo.”
For Knott, one of the major hopes for the pieces is that they become an integral part of a perfect, freeze-framed moment where a guest experiences something memorable — perhaps their first slap shot scored on the ice rink — enhanced by the sounds, feelings and sights together. Additionally, she said she feels the pieces will add to the culture of Tucson and draw in members of the community who may not have been able to see themselves visiting MQ before.
In line with its goal to be a venue which draws individuals across various interests and hobbies, the MQ team reached out to the artists long before the recent announcement of the art commission, Knott said. She said that she knew Garcia and Pagac from living and generally being involved in the community for 14 years. Each of the six muralists, she said, are involved in their communities through various public art projects beyond their opportunity with MQ. Knott’s connection and friendship with Garcia and Pagac allowed her to become acquainted with the other four — ultimately bringing together Knott’s dream team of artists to help bring the entertainment venue to life.
Featuring two interior and five exterior murals, the Iceplex will house three NHL-regulation ice rinks for recreational uses, local sports teams and premier tournaments as well. According to the executive vice president, MQ guests will have the opportunity to learn how to skate, rent space for birthday parties, play broom ball, ice cornhole and other activities underneath the roof of the Iceplex. Conversely, the Field House consists of two floors which are 25% larger than a stadium football field — creating space for various athletics activities, such as basketball, pickleball and judo.
According to the executive vice president, every aspect of the venue’s design — from the spaces and activities offered to, now, the incorporation of public art installations — was a careful consideration in facilitating a space that would draw in individuals across an array of interests and hobbies — desiring for the “community to be able to find themselves in the development.”
Whether a guest is an active participant or an enthusiastic spectator, she explained, MQ has something for them to enjoy.
With the mural projects and construction underway, Knott said that MQ patrons can look forward to more arts and culture elements and events to come to the venue in the future. At its core, she said, Mosaic Quarter is a place where art lives alongside sport.
“There’s a little bit of art in sports always — the art of timing, of rhythm and the art of how you do beautiful things when it comes to sports,” Knott said. “I want people to know that it’s accessible for everyone — whether it’s, ‘I’m coming to take my child to play in the splash pad and on the playground, or I’m a senior and I’m coming to enjoy the ambiance of looking at beautiful public art.’
“I want the sentiment to continue to be that this place keeps getting better and better — and that’s our commitment.”