Pasqualina Azzarello - Painter, Public Artist, Educator, and Community Advocate

In this episode, we hear from Pasqualina Azzarello, Painter, Public Artist, Educator, and Community Advocate. Pasqualina begins by sharing how the Stone Avenue Mural Project came to be and how she and her collaborators Kim Young and Christina Devine moved the project forward amid community pushback towards the approved proposal. She dives into the six-month process designed to listen and establish trust, uncovering community stories from the neighborhood and the love and appreciation for Rillito River, which would ultimately become the inspiration for the Stone Avenue Mural Project.

Pasqualina then speaks to the many outcomes of the Stone Avenue Mural, including the beginning of the Limberlost Neighborhood Association and the Stone Curves Cooperative Housing. She shares how three original members of the Limberlost Neighborhood Association initiated the restoration of the mural, reaching out to the City of Tucson and Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona. Pasqualina tells how she was called upon to lead the restoration of the mural what it has felt like to come upon the brush strokes she placed 20 years ago.

Then, she takes us back in time and shares how her artistic root began to form at a young age and how the murder of Rodney King impacted her outlook as an artist during the painting of her first mural as a teenager. Finally, Pasqualina provides an insight into her new body of work, how bodies of water have become a source and inspiration and experimentation.

To hear all this more, listen to the full-length podcast by clicking the link above! To listen to the mini, click below!

https://kxci.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/12.21-to-01.03-22-Artists-Pasqualina-Azzarello.mp3

 

To more about the Stone Avenue Mural Project and to support the project click here!

View of Stone Avenue Mural in 2001. Photo Courtesy of Pasqualina Azzarello. Members of the Stone Avenue Mural Restoration team gather for a photo. From left to right: Serena Tang, Adam- Cooper-Teran, Pasqualina Azzarello, Gavin Troy and yu yu shiratori.