Sublime Tattoo celebrates a decade of doing things a little differently

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — At the tattoo shop Sublime on the west side of town, you could eat a Sonoran hotdog while getting one tattooed on you.

For the shop's ten year anniversary event, they had Tucson-inspired flash tattoo specials. They also invited members of the community and small businesses to their backyard for a celebration.

When the guests began to trickle out, Sublime's owner Manda Fraizer sat down at her tattoo station, just behind the front desk.

“Sometimes," she said, "I just sit here and I look around from my background and where I came from, it’s not something I ever envisioned that I could do.”

Fraizer said she struggled for a while with substance abuse and mental health.

"I spent a lot of time, like 20 years, just… so bad,” she said, struggling to find a shortened way to describe that period of her life.

For the last decade of her life, Fraizer has been a business owner of a tattoo shop in Tucson. It was originally called Painted Saguaro Studio, but when Fraizer moved from Miracle Mile to the west side of Tucson, she renamed the shop Sublime.

On the west side, Fraizer used her position to help Sublime's new community. She participates in donation and gift drives around the holidays, looks for families to sponsor and takes food to neighbors living on the streets.

“My responsibility as a business owner is being able to use that however I can,” she said.

One of the tattoo artists at Sublime, Sophie McTear, has been tattooing at Sublime for nearly two years. They started coming to the shop as a client and has seen the shop's relationship with the community from both perspectives.

“It’s clear to the community that Manda is engaged in the community," McTear said. "And they want to give back.”

McTear says beyond their relationship with clients and the community, Sublime is a safe space for artists.

“I’m someone who is gender-queer and non-binary," they said, also mentioning they suffer from chronic illness. "I knew I needed somewhere that I would feel safe, not only with the clientele, but also as a human being.”

Fraizer says at Sublime, "it’s not just about the tattoo, it’s about the whole experience for someone.”

Clients say that's what keeps them coming back.

For Sublime's future, Fraizer wants to keep helping to open doors for other artists, including children and women who have been incarcerated.

“It doesn’t matter where you come from or how hard it's been," she said. "You, I, me, we have the ability to change our whole entire future.”