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El Pueblo 50 Exhibition ​​​​
El Pueblo 50: Celebrating the Living Heart of the Southside is a public exhibition that commemorates fifty years of El Pueblo Neighborhood Center: a place where stories are shared, cultures celebrated, and community thrives.
The El Pueblo 50 exhibition features archival photos, oral histories and art installations that honor the neighborhood center’s history and reimagine its role in shaping a resilient future for Tucson’s Southside.
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Exhibition Hours
While the exhibition has officially closed, the El Pueblo 50 panels will continue to be on view on the patio through May 4, 2026:
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Monday–Friday: 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM
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Saturday: 8:30 AM – 1:00 PM
El Pueblo 50 Closing Peña
On Saturday, Feb 7, 2026, we said goodbye to our historic exhibition with an evening full of music, theater, and stories, reminding us why El Pueblo remains a space of community, resistance, and creativity.
You can check the full program of activities by clicking the button below.
El Pueblo 50 Exhibition Launch
On Saturday, November 8, 2025, we celebrated the launch of the El Pueblo 50 Exhibition!
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The day was filled with memorable activities, including a Tree Dedication Ceremony, an Open House, and the Launch Day Party.
You can check the full program of activities by clicking the button below:
Cassandra Becerra, KaryAnn, Selina Barajas, Youth Tree Leader program volunteer by the El Pueblo 50 tree. (Courtesy Selina Barajas)
El Pueblo 50 Tree & Living Memorial
In 1980, a pair of olive trees were planted for peace at El Pueblo’s patio and outside the center by Ted Warmbrand and his environmental justice group, Nuclear Free State, to commemorate a visit from the Japanese group, No Nukes.
In 2025, Tucson Clean and Beautiful and Grow Tucson partnered with the El Pueblo 50 team to plant the newest tree at El Pueblo. A keystone species of the Sonoran Desert and one of our hardiest native plants, desert ironwood (Olneya tesota), was chosen, along with native species, a velvet mesquite (Prosopis velutina), a desert willow (Chilopsis linearis), and a whitethorn acacia (Acacia constricta), to become a living memorial for Southside loved ones, especially for those who lost their lives too soon to the impact of groundwater contamination in the Southside.
We dedicate these plantings in their honor, and others who have passed, to remember the story of their struggle for justice, and to carry on their legacy to care for our air, water and land.
At its dedication ceremony on November 8, Southside community members and visitors were invited to honor loved ones by tying ribbons of remembrance to the branches of its older sibling, the El Pueblo Olive Peace Tree. Also, the community got a first first look at upcoming landscaping and stormwater improvements by Tucson Parks & Recreation, Tucson Clean and Beautiful and Storm to Shade.
Read more about the commemorative planting and El Pueblo’s capital investments and green future in our program booklet.
El Pueblo 50 Partnership
The El Pueblo 50 Exhibition is the result of an innovative, multi-year, interdisciplinary partnership between the Sunnyside Foundation and the University of Arizona, involving multiple colleges and units, especially the College of Humanities (COH)—Department of Public & Applied Humanities (PAH); the College of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture; the College of Fine Arts (CFA); and the Arizona Institute of Resilience (AIR).
Scroll down to explore all the projects connected to this collaboration.
Stories South of 22nd (SS22.ST)
Stories South of 22nd (SS22.ST) is a digital hub that showcases what community-led reinvestment looks like in practice, bringing Tucson’s Southside cultural, historical, and speculative imaginaries into the public eye.
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The website was developed through an ongoing partnership between the Sunnyside Unified School District Foundation and the University of Arizona.
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This collaboration has brought together community stakeholders to create a public portfolio of exchanges documented by SS22.ST, from site-specific courses to storytelling and arts & culture activations.
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The site went live during the launch of El Pueblo 50!
El Pueblo 50 Map
El Pueblo 50 Map highlights landmarks that connect El Pueblo to Southside life over the years. The map initially features key locations collected through community co-curation across a base map from 22nd Street to Valencia Road, and Campbell Avenue to the Santa Cruz River.
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Now, the community is invited to help expand the map! Parks, schools, businesses, places of worship and gathering are some of the iconic locations that reveal the networks of work, family, and community that build a collective sense of place.
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What other places connect you to the Southside? What memories and stories do places hold that are important to share?
Radio Rebelde: A Retrospective Tribute to KXEW-FM
and El Pueblo
Join Tucson’s Raúl Aguirre (REA Media) for a vibrant mix of music, stories, and conversations with special guests uplifting the entwined histories of activism and community empowerment in two forces of cultural resistance: Spanish bilingual radio and the El Pueblo Neighborhood Center. Sponsored by REA Media and Bustos Media, the show first aired November 8, 2025 on The Groove 106.3 FM and again November 9 on Urbana 104.3 FM.
You can check out information about the play, Borderlands Theater cast and the history of Teatro Libertad in the Closing Peña program above.
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¡Viva El Pueblo! Project (2023)
The ¡Viva El Pueblo! Project is a nine image print series by Jessica Wolff with accompanying audio.
Each image in this project was developed from oral and written histories of El Pueblo combined with visual inspiration from the artworks and murals of David Tineo.
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The photographs were on display as part of El Pueblo 50 courtesy of the artist and Sunnyside Foundation - UA partnership.
The Drawings and Doodles of ¡GRIJALVA¡
Curated by Shannon Smith, the exhibition features over 175 doodles immortalizing the creativity of this beloved US Congressman and activist Raúl Grijalva, and were on display at El Pueblo 50 courtesy of the Grijlava family.
View the film, “The Drawings and Doodles of ¡GRIJALVA!” (2025, digital video, 12:00) produced by Netza Aguirre. The film weaves interviews with staff and family offering their take on the extraordinary body of enigmatic drawings that spanned Grijalva’s career, including actual footage of Raúl doodling.
Ground/Water II: Advocacy on the Santa Cruz – The Zine (2025)
The Ground/Water II zine is a creative publication that documents the work of Water Advocacy on the Santa Cruz River. It collects images, reflections, and prototypes that tell the story of caring for one of the nation’s most endangered rivers and its watershed.
The zine highlights key water justice efforts in Tucson’s Southside, exploring everything from remediation and recharge to the connections between groundwater, the river, and the surrounding community.
​Access the digital edition using the button below.
El Pueblo 50 Collaborators
El Pueblo 50 is made possible through support from:
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Technology and Research Initiative Fund/Water, Environmental, and Energy Solutions Initiative (TRIF/WEESI) administered by the University of Arizona Office of Research and Partnerships (ORP)
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Arizona Institute for Resilience (AIR)
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City of Tucson Parks and Recreation
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City of Tucson Mayor Regina Romero
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Vice Mayor Lane Santa Cruz Ward 1
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Councilmember Rocque Perez Ward 5
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Pima County District 5 Supervisor Andres Cano
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REA Media
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Bustos Media