DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun Historic District

Pima County, United States

Freely accessible

Public space — no opening hours to check.

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Opening hours: Mo-Su 10:00-16:00
Phone: +1-520-299-9191

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In Tucson, near the intersection of Swan Road and Skyline, the DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun Historic District stands as a sprawling artistic landscape conceived and built by Ettore DeGrazia beginning in 1951. The ten-acre property comprises a series of Pueblo Revival adobe structures scattered through desert terrain, anchored by the open-air Mission in the Sun—dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe and Padre Eusebio Kino—whose walls DeGrazia hand-painted with murals. A formal gallery followed in 1965, featuring cactus flooring, exposed wood beams, and distinctive artistic finishes. The site attracted notable artists including Thomas Hart Benton and Olaf Wieghorst and functioned as both creative workspace and spiritual gathering place, hosting countless weddings. A severe fire in May 2017 destroyed 80 percent of the Mission's original murals, though conservators—including one personally mentored by DeGrazia—undertook restoration, intentionally preserving some fire damage alongside recovered elements. The chapel reopened in fall 2019. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006 and operates today as a public museum.

Movement

Pueblo Revival Style architecture

Type: historic district
Heritage: National Register of Historic Places listed place
Place: Pima County, United States

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Location

32.32198, -110.89166