Giant Gila Monsters Irvington Road 52-foot

Two 52-foot-long mosaic Gila monster sculptures in the median of West Irvington Road (at the Santa Cruz River bridge), Tucson -- commissioned by the City of Tucson's 1% for Art Program and completed in 1993, designed by architect Bob Vint with tile contractor Wilhelm Bros. Tile and masonry contractor Rosario Palomares Masonry. Built on internal frames sprayed with gunite concrete and covered in inlaid colored tile, ceramics, porcelain, mirror, and found objects (spark plugs, horseshoes, pool balls, toy cars, cowrie shells, teacup handles). Real Gila monsters grow to only about 14-16 inches, so a 52-ft sculpture is roughly 40x scale.