Tucson, Arizona: Roadside Glowing Cocoon

A 40-foot-long walk-thru tunnel of messy steel tubes, lit after dark in lurid Italian-horror-movie colors. It's art.

Address:: S. Houghton Rd, Tucson, AZ
Directions:: Southeast edge of the city. I-10 exit 275. Drive north on S. Houghton Rd for six miles. You'll see the sculpture on the right, about a quarter-mile past the stoplight for Bilby Rd.
Hours:: Best at night. It lights up. Local health policies may affect hours and access.
Admission:: Free

Results 1 to 3 of 3...

Visitor Tips and News About Roadside Glowing Cocoon

Reports and tips from RoadsideAmerica.com visitors and Roadside America mobile tipsters. Some tips may not be verified. Submit your own tip.

Roadside Glowing Cocoon.

Roadside Glowing Cocoon

It's better at night, although the lights are broken. The shiny metal reflects the colors of the nearby business signs and the car taillights.

Turn on E Drexel Rd and then turn into the office building, urgent care parking lot and drive to the back of the buildings, where there is parking and easy access to the sculpture and bike/pedestrian path.

[S Winston, 06/03/2021]

Roadside Glowing Cocoon

The Roadside Glowing Cocoon in Tucson isn't glowing any more. At least, as of our visit in January 2021, about an hour after sundown. The lights were off. It's a pretty cool sculpture even in the dark, but it would have been much cooler lit up.

[Robb C, 01/27/2021]

We hope you had a chance to walk through the cocoon. It might be motion-activated to save energy.

Cocoon.

Cocoon Sculpture

Meant to be experienced at night, which makes sense in the southern Arizona desert. Cocoon is a 40-foot-long tunnel of steel tubes, lit after dark in lurid Italian-horror-movie colors. Commissioned by the city of Tucson and sculpted in 2014 by Blessing Hancock, who says that the nighttime shadows cast onto its surfaces by pedestrians "express a sense of rebirth and transformation."

[Tony Andreaccio, 04/07/2017]