Business

A Townie’s Guide to Summer in Tucson

July 3, 2013 | Phoenix Michael

Nowhere Man and a Whiskey Girl

The dog days of summer in sweltering Southern Arizona separate the meek from the mighty like no other natural phenomena. Many quickly depart for cooler climes. The rest of us adopt adaptive techniques like nocturnal workouts and midday siestas. For those who stick around through triple-digit temps, the dramatic population reduction is a boon. No lines to get in anywhere on Fourth Avenue. Quiet neighborhoods with apartments on hold until fall.

Let the snowbirds and students flee to San Diego. Get going? In this town when the going gets tough, the tough stay put. Since we can stand the heat, we don’t have to get out of the kitchen. Here’s what’s cooking in Tucson this season.

At the Tucson Botanical Gardens, summer means the return of their Twilight Third Thursdays series showcasing visual art alongside complimentary live musical performance. On July 18 from 5-8 pm the work of Tucson artists David Kish and Holly Swangtu will be displayed, with the tunes provided by Bisbee indie folk duo Nowhere Man and a Whiskey Girl. August 15 sees local rockers The Cordials and painter/printmaker C.J. Shane featured in the idyllic outdoor oasis at 2150 N. Alvernon Way. Admission is $9 for adults and $5 for children; food, face painting, Isabella’s Ice Cream and a cash bar will all be available. See membership discounts and details at TucsonBotanical.org.

For the younger set, summer brings free entertainment in the form of Loft Kids Fest (the event formerly known as the Tucson International Children’s Film Festival). Kickoff festivities at Trail Dust Town on Friday, July 19 at 5:30 pm include trick roping by lariat artist Loop Rawlins, followed by a screening of his short The Adventures of Loop & Rhett. Trail Dust Town’s homage to the Old West can be found at 6541 E. Tanque Verde Rd.

Then each day at 10 am from July 20 to 28, family favorites such as Matilda and Shrek will grace nonprofit The Loft Cinema’s big screen at 3233 E. Speedway Blvd. Arrive early for groovy giveaways, super surprises and pre-show hijinks hosted by Mildred & Dildred Toy Store! LoftCinema.com has the full Loft Kids Fest film schedule. Crave more air-conditioned independent arthouse goodness? Catch the award-winning Peaceable Kingdom: The Journey Home for free at The Loft on Tuesday, July 23 at 7 pm.

For over a decade we heard the calls for revitalization and watched as downtown struggled to get started. Fast forward to today, and Congress Street is humming with activity any night of the week. At the Historic Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St., check out New Jersey third wave ska band Streetlight Manifesto on July 3, finely-aged punkers Rancid on July 23 or LA indie rock outfit Cold War Kids on August 18. Club Congress across the street welcomes 1980s alternative rock icons Camper Van Beethoven on July 23. Eateries such as Hub Restaurant and Ice Creamery, 266 E. Congress St., and Empire Pizza & Pub at 137 E. Congress St. have rightfully become popular enough that reservations may be advisable even during the slow summer months. Both of these establishments’ excellent reputations are well-earned.

From August 14 to 18, the Tucson Audubon Society invites any and all birders to investigate our sky islands and riparian zones for ornithological rarities. The third annual Tucson Bird & Wildlife Festival is an opportunity for nature lovers nationwide to participate in workshops, programs and field trips all celebrating the Sonoran Desert region’s astonishing biodiversity. Festival headquarters will be at the Arizona Riverpark Inn, 350 S. Freeway. Register online at TucsonAudubon.org.

Indulging oneself for a good cause is always a win-win; thus the 2013 Salsa & Tequila Challenge. A $40/person ticket price benefits the Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance as well as the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona. The question is, are you up for it? There’ll be as many as fifty tequila-based mixed drink and menu pairings presented by area chefs with bragging rights at stake, plus creative salsa concoctions galore, so you may want to begin training. The competition takes place at La Encantada shopping center, 2905 E. Skyline Dr., on Saturday, August 24 at 5:30 pm with winning tequilas and salsa announced the same evening. Purchase tickets online at SAACA.org or by telephone at (520) 797-3959 ext. 1.

At Main Gate Square near the University of Arizona, the annual summer exodus leaves behind only the most determinedly heat-resistant portion of the student body. This sturdiest of breeds knows that Irish pub and restaurant The Auld Dubliner, 800 E. University Blvd., continues their happy hour drink specials even during the hottest months. Entertainment at Geronimo Plaza next door comes courtesy of the Friday Night Live! concert series, which on July 5 features the jazzy Butch Diggs & Friends and on July 19 cabaret crooner Heather O’Day. MainGateSquare.com lists current merchant specials.

Longtime residents are familiar with Mt. Lemmon’s charms; day trips to the Catalinas have cooled many a hyperthermic Tucsonan over years past. During recent summers a pleasant scene emerged, with smiling and dancing folk flocking to a big white tent each weekend to simultaneously appreciate local bands and the Coronado National Forest. Music on the Mountain, as it was called, brought thousands of visitors following 2003’s destructive Aspen Fire. Following a year off, the tradition now continues with Top Dead Center on July 27 and Stefan George on August 17 among others. Bring a chair and enjoy the fresh air free of charge! Find the fun each Saturday afternoon from 12:30-4:30 pm at 12901 N. Sabino Canyon Parkway up in Summerhaven (so named for good reason).

De Anza Drive-In may be history, but Tucson’s love affair with watching movies outdoors continues. Cinema La Placita’s longest-running classic-movies-under-the-stars series screens an older Hollywood gem for $3 admission each Thursday evening at 7:30 pm through August. That price includes popcorn, and the courtyard setting at 110 S. Church Ave. is ideal for canoodling. Cinema La Placita will also show a film at 7:30 pm on Saturday, July 13 as part of the month’s Second Saturdays Downtown celebration. Visit CinemaLaPlacita.com for more information.

That’s not all that’s afoot in Tucson this summer. Science Sundays at the Children’s Museum Tucson, 200 S. 6th Ave., are a chance for the little ones to explore hands-on educational exhibits at a discount. Admission is only $2 every Sunday through August; plan your visit at ChildrensMuseumTucson.org. For a flashback, try Flandrau Planetarium’s “Dark Side of the Moon” laser light show on Friday and Saturday nights at 8 pm. The on-campus facility at 1601 E. University Blvd. also offers educational programs like “Exploring Saturn’s Mysteries” and “Tucson Sky Tonight.” Flandrau.org has details.

Above ground kiddie pool: $11.99. Ten-pound bag of ice: $1.79. Summer in Tucson: priceless.

Quench your thirst at Tap + Bottle

July 2, 2013 | Teya Vitu

Tap + Bottle soft opening. In its first week of business, T&B went through 46 kegs of beer. Photo by Andrew Brown.

You’d swear there is a brewery or vineyard out back at Tap + Bottle, 403 N. 6^th Avenue.

Though they don’t brew beer or tend to grapes, owners Rebecca and Scott Safford are playing right into the turn of the century ambiance firmly in place at their newly opened beer and wine tasting room and bottle shop.

You’ll find exposed brick walls and original wood flooring dating back to when Tucson had maybe 10,000 inhabitants. And now, a spacious bar, beer glasses and growlers on metal shelves, a giant chalkboard menu, and a 10-foot long community table grace the restored building. The Tap + Bottle logo is on the brick wall, appearing as if it’s been there for 100 years. The top half of the logo, created by Dennis Fesenmyer at Fezlab, looks like a keg and the bottom half like a bottle cap.

“This is our beer baby,” says Rebecca, the Safford who you’ll most likely find working at Tap + Bottle. “We got the idea of doing this while traveling up and down the West Coast and in Colorado. We discovered a lot of bottle shops where you can purchase craft beer bottles for take out or stay and drink them on the spot.”

Having opened in late June, Tap + Bottle is a bar but not really a bar. No hard liquor, just beer and wine – on tap and also available by the bottle (or can) to take home. With nearly 400 varieties of bottled beer and 20 tap beers, the concept is clear. Provide an impressive inventory of harder to find beers from around the country and world, add a local feel in an historic setting, and Tap + Bottle becomes a one-of-a-kind destination in Tucson.

The 20 craft beers on tap continually rotate out, some on a daily basis. Two kegs are always “on deck” ready to be tapped once a line opens up. One cask condition beer is also available. The beer goes into the cask flat and the beer’s yeast creates the carbonation. Other elements can be added to the cask such as orange peel or blueberry. In the future, they hope to convince local Tucson breweries to brew one-off varieties just for Tap + Bottle.

While they do an excellent job of celebrating beer, they also feature six wines on tap – three red and three white. Their bottled wine section includes over 70 choices.

Don’t expect to find Tap + Bottle within the 4^th Avenue or Congress Street bar scene. It’s just north of the 6^th Avenue underpass, which is not exactly a spot screaming location, location, location.

“We’re totally one block off,” Rebecca says. “We want to be something different. We’ve watched Borderlands Brewing and EXO Roasting closely. Nearby, they’ve created their own culture and scene without being in the middle of it all.”

Tap + Bottle shares a building with EXO and Old Market Inn Tile Shop. Old Market tile decorates the restroom and denotes the street addresses for all three businesses.

Tap and Bottle_Rebecca_and_Scott_Safford

Rebecca and Scott Safford. Photo by Andrew Brown

It makes sense how Rebecca and Scott got into the beer and wine business. They met at the Tap Room at Hotel Congress and live at the Ice House Lofts near Barrio Brewing.

“We grew into it together with our love of beer and love of learning about beer and wine,” she says. “We both did Cicerone wine certification training. We studied together. We talked about it a lot. It really did happen together. It was not one person saying I love beer and now you have to love beer, too.”

As expected, this is a true joint venture in beer proficiency right down to their chalkboard menus detailing not just the beer, brewery and price but also specifying IBU and ABV values (International Bitterness Units and Alcohol by Volume – the percent alcohol). Flip their branded coasters over and you’ll find beer tasting note sheets to mark down sweetness, bitterness, hoppiness, and on the wine coaster, intensity, body, flavors and hue.

Rebecca and Scott are nose-to-nose about having nine different glasses for beer and a stemless tumbler for the wine. Depending on which glass best suits a given beer, you will get your brew in English pub, Belgian or “Munique” glasses in sizes ranging from 10.5 to 23 ounces. Get the right curves in the glass for the right beer and drinking becomes all about aromatics and smell along with the taste.

“It starts with what not to serve it in,” Scott says. “We say, be good to the beer.”

For those less concerned with stemware and more oriented toward take out or volume, you can buy 4-pint and 2-pint Tap + Bottle growler bottles to take along and for later refills.

Like at EXO Roasting, where they offer coffee tastings by flights, you can sample a flight of four 5-ounce beers at Tap + Bottle. Well-briefed employees happily detail any of the nuances.

Not just anybody works at Tap + Bottle. The Safford application process resembles a college essay exam. They’re less concerned with where you’ve worked, your references or your record. Where potential employees score their points is with answering application questions such as “What is your favorite style of beer and why?” and “What do you believe is the most overrated beer and why?”

“We want to hear how they explain it,” says Rebecca.

With a plethora of beer and wine tasting options at Tap + Bottle, some friendly guidance from the staff sounds just about right.

Tap + Bottle is open from 11 am to 11 pm Monday to Thursday, 11 am to midnight Friday and Saturday, and noon to 6 pm Sunday. Find them online at www.thetapandbottle.com

Fashion Inspired Art

July 2, 2013 | Zocalo Staff

Eleonor Leon and son, Emmanuel Spiro

by Allie Knapp

The merchandise ranges from vintage clothing to graphic design artwork and from 8-tracks to fashion art pieces made from computer keys. The room is splashed with light pink and green and features a large vintage chandelier hanging in the center. This new 6th Ave storefront is sure to be like no other around and it joins the downtown shopping scene July 13.

“Psychedelia mod Willy Wonka – except you can’t lick the wallpaper.” That is how Eleonor Leon, an award-winning artist and the owner of La Fashionista, would describe the feel of her store. You may find yourself wondering if you have stepped into an alternate world when you leave the busy streets of modern downtown and enter La Fashionista. Feel free to get your groove on while browsing. We can dig it.

The long-time dream of opening a store became a reality for Leon in January when she and her father began the process of creating La Fashionista.

“I think people kind of think you’re crazy when you just go out on a limb. I just decided that I was going to do it regardless,” Leon said on starting this new venture at 43 years old.

Leon received a bachelor’s degree in visual communication from The University of Arizona and also studied fashion design at The Academy of Art University and FIDM. Many of the items for sale at La Fashionista are handmade by Leon, who enjoys all things design and is also a designer for Tucson Fashion Week.

Costume designer and graphic artist, Leon says that she is “a fusion of her parents.” Her love for costumes began at a very early age. “My mother loved to dress up in costumes so she would bring us downtown to find clothes at vintage thrift shops,” Leon said. “My mother was the fashionista. She would dress up and she was spectacular.”

Inspired also by her father, a sheet metal mechanic, Leon enjoys drilling and creating things out of metal and other materials. A few of her unique items on display at La Fashionista include jewelry crafted from guitar picks and computer keys.

While Leon’s artwork is shown throughout the store, an art gallery featuring the award-winning artist Domingo Toledo will also be on display at the entrance of La Fashionista. Toledo received an Addy award while under the instruction of Leon, who has been an instructor at The Art Institute of Tucson, Tucson Design College and Pima Community College.

Leon moved to Tucson as an infant and lived downtown during the early years of her life. She finds great value in historical pieces of Tucson and is happy that she has been able to “save part of Tucson history” by collecting many treasures from old downtown locations to showcase in her store. The original cash register and bar stools from the old hotspot Grill can be found in La Fashionista.

The grand opening of La Fashionista – what Leon dubs a “retro eclectica” shop – will be held on Saturday, July 13 at 45 S. 6^th Ave from 6-10 p.m. Fashion art designed by Leon will be modeled at the event.

Vote with Your Dollar

June 23, 2013 | Jamie Manser

Fed by Threads co-founder Alok Appadurai, standing outside of the clothing shop and next to the Local First Arizona sticker.
photo: Deanna Chevas

The only thing standing between a sweeping landscape of homogeneous corporate box stores versus original, fun, colorful, funky (or quite normal) local businesses (run by people, not boards of directors) are you and your daily, individual shopping choices.

There are countless stories across the nation of mom and pop shops crushed by Big Mart or Pasta Garden. What once was viewed as a great thing for a community’s job offerings has been discovered to be a horrible reality for local economies. There might be some jobs gained, but the majority of the money shoppers spend at Big Mart does not stay locally.

The fiscal implications of purchasing from local businesses are astounding. According to the Local First Arizona website (localfirstaz.com/studies/index.php), for every $100 spent at local business, $73 stays in the community versus the $43 that remains locally when spent at chain stores.

While Tucsonans are pretty great about supporting their community businesses, it doesn’t hurt to remind our citizenry about the importance of conscientious shopping. To that end, Local First Arizona (LFA) is celebrating Independents Week from June 30 to July 7.

Deanna Chevas, the non-profit’s Tucson Membership Coordinator, says that the organization is doing its version of the American Independent Business Alliance’s 11^th annual national campaign by offering a “Golden Coupon” and hosting a couple of events.

On July 2, LFA partners with The Loft Cinema to screen “Growth Busters” and on July 7 a local food and beer dinner will be hosted by the Food Conspiracy Co-op and Dragoon Brewery. Chevas says the dinner is an “eat local challenge” and ties in directly with LFA goals. “It is sustainable economic development to eat food from local growers and producers.”

While those events bookend the week, consumers can enjoy 20% off from retailers accepting the “Golden Coupon,” which is available at LocalFirstAZ.com to print or to use as a digital coupon on smartphones.

The complete list of participating retailers is available here (includes all business statewide, scroll down for Tucson locales).

As a business owner, joining Local First Arizona and participating in Independents Week is a no-brainer for Fed by Threads clothing store co-founder Alok Appadurai.

“It is important for us to join Local First because of our belief in the power of the consumer to improve local economies by supporting locally owned businesses. Our society has distanced itself from ideas about the values of locally-owned businesses and community: it is our belief that Local First represents a shift back to a time when such things mattered!

“We are thrilled to be part of Independents week! It’s a great way for folks in Tucson to learn more about locally-owned businesses and give us a shot to earn their business,” Appadurai enthuses.

Fed by Threads embraces community, country, and sustainable development by running a “clothing boutique where every piece is made in America, every piece uses sustainable fabrics, and every piece helps feed 12 emergency meals to hungry Americans via food banks. There is literally nothing else like Fed By Threads in the country. Our little shop on 9th Street at 3rd Ave. represents hope for the American Manufacturing Economy, hope for protecting the environment, and hope for the 50 million Americans who are facing food insecurity.”

For Tucson businesses facing summertime income insecurity, Chevas reiterates that people need to “remember to support your indie shops, especially since it is summer and half of the population has gone to California or the Midwest.

“It is more important than ever to vote with your dollar.”

Details on Independents Week is at LocalFirstAZ.com.

Sidebar

As stated on localfirstaz.com, “Local First Arizona (LFA) is a non-profit organization working to strengthen communities and local economies through supporting, maintaining, and celebrating locally owned businesses throughout the state of Arizona.” The organization has grown significantly since its early inception in 2003 as Arizona Chain Reaction. Last year alone, it added 900 new members. Tucson’s membership base increased by 100 new businesses, said Tucson Membership Coordinator Deanna Chevas.

Cool and Communal Artistic Haunts

June 11, 2013 | Monica Surfaro Spigelman

Many Hands Courtyard

Courtyards inspire collaboration inside the lines of special spaces.

One thing is abundantly clear in the weeks ahead – the sun will shock Tucson into a baked city, reprising a predictable May urge to scatter for cool cover. Lucky for us, history’s unbroken practice of gathering in shaded courtyards still thrives in Tucson.

What sets courtyards apart, let’s say, from malls or parks, is the way they enclose you, encouraging you to think carefully about connections to the larger environment of time and place. Roofless and eclectic, courtyards are all around us for both artistic and social ends, extending our living space as semi-private “zócalos.” These odd desert zones also make you feel like you are further away from civilization than you actually are.

So It Begins

By their architectural framework, courtyards offer ventilated environments for commerce, art or well-being. By their history, courtyards have intensified mood and community conversation for more than a century.

One of Tucson’s first was La Plaza de la Mesilla, erected by Mexican residents along the old El Camino Real at the site of the original San Agustín cathedral (nearby what is now the Broadway/Congress intersection). La Placita Village, opened in 1974, symbolically represents Tucson’s first communal gathering point, and the Placita courtyard today remains another gathering point for Tucsonans, via a Thursday evening outdoor film series during summers.

Where there is community conversation there are artists, and in Tucson’s first and most colorful arts enclave, Ash Alley, there were many studios with back courtyards that set the scene for shows and artist gathering. The Contreras family silversmithing business, one of the original Ash Alley studios, identifies the Ash Alley heyday from the 1950s through the 1970s, when parties were hosted with live entertainment on these patios to entice prospective customers. A 1965 Arizona Daily Star article quotes one circa 1950s Ash Alley artist, Jack Petty, as saying, “We used to show paintings at those parties. We’d bring up Mexican gin from Nogales to try to lower visitors’ sales resistance.”

Although Ash Alley is now dominated by parking lots, other courtyards have assumed roles as a center of community life. How could that not be so for a city that itself was one massive walled courtyard in the form of a Spanish Presidio? Courtyards remain a Tucson environment where unintentional encounters happen in intentional places. Why not sit for a spell in one of Zócalo’s choices?

Crafts Collaboration:
Many Hands Courtyard
3054 1^st Ave.
www.manyhandscourtyard.com

This home to traditional crafters and shopkeepers began life in the 1950s as the Sunshine Motel. Woodworker Cynthia Haas and partner Joseph Bruno purchased the complex in 1999, refurbishing the rundown adobes into the Many Hands Artist Cooperative, an art school, a furniture repair shop, as well as well as several retail businesses.

The Vibe: Artists in the cooperative gather informally on Thursday mornings, to critique works and to plan activities. Classes for children and adults are often conducted in the landscaped courtyard, which is dotted with tables, chairs and vending machines. Visitors may browse the shops, watch a weaver spin, and also purchase a blended natural, fair trade tea and snacks from Tea and More.

Intriguing Times to Visit: You will find shops and studios open Tuesdays through Saturdays. Third Saturday evening open studios and events are planned through July. Check the website for details about a June photo contest. Many Hands also offers a meeting space for community non-profits.

Field Trip: Nine Courtyards for Collaboration and Community

Placita de La Luna

Plein Air Plaza:
Placita de La Luna
2409 North Castro, off Grant
www.placitadelaluna.com

In a 1934 adobe with arches and thick walls hand-formed by Pascua Yaqui artisans, an eclectic mix of oil painters, potters and tattoo artists thrive. There also are service and retail businesses to anchor the complex owned by Greg and Susan Alexander of Maggie Maye’s Tucson Tattoo Studio, which has operated in the complex since 1998.

The Vibe: Native desert landscaping and passive solar elements complement artists, students, customers and visitors who use the courtyard for work and socializing. Often one of the painters will bring a class out to the patio to paint en plein air. Light comes through glass blocks softly while ocotillo metal gates and a gardening project embellish the courtyard surrounded by the original farmhouses.

Intriguing Times to Visit: Check the website for classes offered by the studios. Individual visits to art studios or Susan’s Studio B tattoo salon also may be scheduled by appointment. Some painters have evening classes, and with Maggie Maye’s enclave of tattoo artists open Tuesday through Saturday until 10pm, there is regular access to the courtyard.

Metal Arts Village

Metal Meet-Up:
Metal Arts Village
3230 North Dodge Blvd.
www.metalartsvillage.com

In 2004, attorney-blacksmith Steve Kimble created this destination for all things metal in the Fort Lowell furniture district. Welders now work alongside glass blowers, woodworkers and metal artists in this specialized community, which includes an outdoor sculpture garden as well as a coffee shop, popular with dog lovers who frequent nearby dog parks.

The Vibe: Kimble’s inspiration for the Village comes from the architecture of old rust belt manufacture and assembly plants. Each of the 11 studios has its own character and is built out of steel. The Coffee Loft, directly off the complex courtyard, serves as a gathering place for the artists who socialize there as well as meet with customers.

Intriguing Times to Visit: Once a week sculptors and designers from across Tucson meet to discuss techniques or opportunities, and formal artist collaborations take place the first Monday of the month at 10am. The coffee shop is open Monday through Saturday, 7am-2pm. Next open studio under the full moon: Saturday, May 25, 6-9pm.

Scribes & Poets:
Casa Libre en la Solana
228 North 4^th Ave.
www.casalibre.com

Tucked on the south end of Fourth Avenue, nearby the bars and the foam house, is a history-rich complex that’s also home to a creative and diverse literary salon where people meet for conversation, poetry readings, workshops, art-making and performance. Writer and Casa Libre founder Kristen Nelson purchased the property in 2003, renovating the 1898 property into library and meeting rooms up front, with writer/artist residencies in the back. What was once a dormitory for railroad workers and then a home for retired sex workers, is now the setting for hundreds of literary endeavors hosted each year by the non-profit.

Vibe: There’s a side breezeway and courtyard where youth and adult writers, interested onlookers and visual artists exchange creative energy and participate in diverse programming.

Intriguing Times to Visit: Tucson’s first Trans and Genderqueer Poetry Symposium will be held May 9-12, bringing together contemporary poets from across the country. Edge, a reading series of emerging and younger writers, will host its 54^th reading on May 15. Also check the website for workshops, including a June journaling and sketching class for writers of all skill levels.

Old Town Artisans

Adobe Artisans:
Old Town Artisans
201 North Court Ave.
www.oldtownartisans.com

This mid-1800s adobe complex has been a distillery, private residence, gasoline station and grocery through many iterations, and was owned by parking lot king Don Jones before being purchased by the Cele Peterson family. You can still see original saguaro cactus rib ceilings and odd signage in the complex’s nooks and crannies.

The Vibe: Without question, the courtyard with its mature plantings draws you in, encircling you with history, culture and shopping. Because the La Cocina Restaurant, Cantina and Coffee Bar routinely hosts performances, visitors may visit the courtyard to relax, enjoy food and spirits, shop and have a total experience. Jewelry artist Eddie Gallego is the courtyard’s veteran artist, part of Old Town Artisans since 1991 He regularly hosts traditional Aztec performances and displays ofrendas honoring Día De Los Muertos observances.

Intriguing Times to Visit: With the grill open till the wee hours and the performance venue hopping almost every night, Old Town Artisans can be your shopping, cultural and cuisine experience whenever you fancy one. The La Cocina stage also is Tucson Folk Festival venue on May 4-5. Tolteca Tlacuilo hosts fourth Saturday traditional art demonstrations; check the website for May or June programs.

Ben’s Bells Courtyard

Kindness Collective:
Ben’s Bells Downtown Courtyard
40 West Broadway
www.bensbells.org

Kindness has swept through downtown’s Charles Brown House and activated the courtyard of this historic complex. Once the site of Territorial Arizona’s Congress Hall and saloon, it’s now the downtown headquarters of the Ben’s Bells organization. A photography studio, shops, and nonprofit offices also hum around the courtyard. A nano-brewery-specialty coffee bar should open in June.

The Vibe: Ben’s Bells founder Jeannette Mare knows that courtyards are collaborative spaces for the curious and the creative. Interest grew for the original Ben’s Bells, she says, in part because of the outdoor visibility of its Geronimo Plaza, Main Gate location. The downtown courtyard is a welcoming space with outdoor kitchen, colorful tiles and historic plantings. Benches are shaded under historic arcades.

Intriguing Times to Visit: Kindness seekers of the community may stop in to create a mosaic bell during open studios, held Tuesday through Saturday, 10am-5pm. Check the Ben’s Bells website for a fall party and the opening of a Kindness Shop in line with street car construction completion.

Cottage Community:
Main Street Arts: Kaitlin’s Cottage & Dry River Collective
740 North Main Avenue
www.kaitlinmeadows.com or thundermoonstudios.wordpress.com

Around 1916, Wong Yu built his Sunnyside Grocery at the corner of North Main and University. Over the years this landmark has incubated many artist groups, through conservation efforts first by what was the John Spring Neighborhood preservationist team, and later by historian/developer Steve Leal, who purchased the structures for artist working spaces in 1986.

The Vibe: This unique complex of adobes and tin roof buildings still contain historic touches from when railroad workers and Wong Yu’s mercantile operation were first housed there. The courtyard, with huge, 100-year-plus trees, also contains a garden cultivated by one anchor artisan, Kaitlin’s Creative Cottage and Thunder Moon Collective. Other tenants include Read Between the Bars collective, a sound editor, bronze artist, weaver, as well as southwest impressionist artist Jack Bybee. Signs for the Dry River radical resource collective still front the adobe, although “Tucson’s only anarchist-run establishment” is officially closed.

Intriguing Times to Visit: Kaitlin Meadows regularly hosts art classes and creative playdays for women as well as a number of all-inclusive community events. Check her website for news about Saturday open studios (also held by artist Bybee) and community programs to coincide with the full moon and El Día de San Juan day in June.

Mercado San Agustin

Mission & Market:
Mercado San Agustín
100 South Avenida del Convento
www.mercadosanagustin.com

Melding agriculture history and the hip urban fabric of open air markets, the Mercado opened to the public in May 2011. With architecture inspired by best practices of Spanish colonial design and modern green building ethics, the Mercado highlights heritage in its diverse assortment of small businesses and restaurants. The Mercado’s central courtyard is regularly activated by events and its weekly farmer’s market.

The Vibe: Wander around the arcade of small kiosks featuring traditional and locally-grown arts and eats. The Mercado offerings range from handcrafted moccasins to sno-cones and silver. Hang out, shop or enjoy an open air market that showcases a Mission heritage and locavore items processed in a shared commercial kitchen.

Intriguing Times to Visit: The award-winning Santa Cruz River Farmers Market is held every Thursday, 4-7pm. A Gay Pride fundraiser will be held June 22. Get set for the traditional July 4 “A” Mountain fireworks blowout, and a food truck event for Hot August Nights. Check website for details.

Monterey Court

Roundup Retro:
Monterey Court Studios & Cafe
505 West Miracle Mile
www.montereycourtaz.com

This 1938 motor court was the pride of Miracle Mile in its heyday, and after 18 months of renovation, partners Kelly McLear and Greg Haver opened the complex with 12 rental spaces for studios and shops, a café and park-like courtyard including performance stage.

The Vibe: So many original features including beams and signage have been preserved, so a walk around the spaces is a retro visual experience. Courtyards are magnets for people to generate ideas and collectively produce art, says McLear, who recalls musicians jamming and talking by the fireplace in the south courtyard this past winter. Garden art, metal sculptures and native plantings offer creative interest and green overhead shade for guests, who are found sitting solo reading books or sharing conversation with artists.

Intriguing Times to Visit: The Miracle Mile Neon Tour and Open House will be held May 10, with the free event starting and ending at the Monterey Court. Check the website for both a May 5 first anniversary celebration and a June 21 summer solstice party.

During summers, Tucson’s desert courtyards have a cadence all their own, seducing us with unique conversation or diversions. “Creative energy feeds from one to the next,” says Monica Prillaman, whose Obsidian Gallery in The Historic Depot is the scene of evening exhibits that often open up onto another of Tucson’s more unique courtyards. Here, there’s nothing like an art show evolving into a night stroll set against a backdrop of freight trains and stars.

Courtyards catering to every stripe are found all over this town. Go see how these mini-meccas will ignite your spirit, expand your expertise or find you in a new conversation.

A Bright Future for Soccer in Tucson

June 1, 2013 | Teya Vitu

As professional baseball sunsets in Tucson, FC Tucson is reached amazing heights even before a soccer-dedicated stadium is built. FC Tucson starts its second season May 18 as a Premier Development League team, essentially AA soccer minor league. Beyond its own games, FC Tucson has made it a point to pair each of its games this season with games involving champion teams from a half dozen local soccer leagues. The Chapman Tucson Champions League was just announced April 23.

“We want to show what we’re building here is for the community, not just for a set of professionals,” team co-owner Jonathan Pearlman said.

The 2010s are the decade for soccer at all levels in Tucson. Before 2010, exactly zero Major League Soccer teams had played in Tucson. Now 10 teams – half the league – have taken to the pitch in Tucson, as have two national teams from Denmark and Canada, the first time Tucson hosted an international friendly soccer match.

In the past year, the long maligned Kino Sports Complex started transforming into Arizona’s premiere soccer facility. What used to be Arizona Diamondbacks practice fields north of Ajo Way were converted into soccer fields in 2012. Right now, the field closest to the YMCA is FC Tucson’s home field, known as the Kino Sports Complex North Grandstand (Field No. 5). Next year, FC Tucson will play in what for now is being called the Kino Sports Complex North Stadium.

The $2.8 million stadium is a collaboration between FC Tucson and Pima County to build a 1,800-seat stadium with a half roof where Field No. 1 is now. Additional bleachers behind the goals bring seating to 2,480, and the 850-seat bleachers can be brought over from Field No. 5 to take capacity to 3,330. “The stadium is expandable to 5,000 seats. That has meaning at the next level,” said FC Tucson co-owner Greg Foster, referring to the United Soccer League Pro level, the AAA minor league. He said, ultimately, a 15,000-20,000 soccer stadium is not impossible for the Kino Sports Complex, and neither is FC Tucson graduating to the USL Pro level.

The ground breaking ceremony for the stadium was April 25 and Pima County expects to have the stadium done by November. Some 150 soccer enthusiasts showed up, including FC Tucson’s boisterous supporter group, the Cactus Pricks, who got repeated prompts from Pima County Supervisors Ramon Valadez and Richard Elias to give a soccer cheer.

As recently as 2010, soccer in Tucson equaled the Fort Lowell Shootout and community soccer leagues. Today, FC Tucson has deep relationships with MLS and half of its teams. Without much publicity in 2012, FC Tucson had the 12^th highest attendance in its rookie season among 73 PDL teams – and the only reason the club didn’t rank higher was the Kino Sports Complex North Grandstand capacity topped out at less than 1,000.

FC Tucson is pioneering spring training for Major League Soccer. Nowhere else has a local soccer team assembled spring training packages for nine MLS teams that includes accommodations, meals, transportation, training fields, weight training facilities and opponents. MLS spring training has typically involved a team going somewhere and picking up a game.

The MLS team Sporting Kansas City was training in Phoenix and was looking for competition. FC Tucson co-owner Rick Schantz’s friend Peter Draksin, soccer coach at Grand Canyon University, suggested Schantz give Sporting Kansas City a call.

Just before the Kansas City connection, City Councilman Paul Cunningham called Foster and Schantz, both deeply involved in the Fort Lowell Soccer Club, to plant a seed to make more of soccer in Tucson. That paved the way for them to be able to offer Hi Corbett Field to Sporting Kansas City, which rounded up the New York Red Bulls for an exhibition game in 2010. “That was the birth of FC Tucson,” Schantz said.

Foster and Schantz expected maybe 3,500 people for the game, which attracted more than 10,000 and forced them to shut the gate with a long line of people not able to get in. “It sent a message to us and MLS that spring training could be a spectator event,” Foster said.

FC Tucson has four owners, who refer to themselves as managing members: Foster, an attorney, as the legal officer; Chris Keeney, the chief business officer building ticket sales and sponsorships; Pearlman, the general manager; and Schantz serving as the team’s head coach. They spent 2010 marketing Tucson as a spring training venue to MLS and the league’s teams, several of whom were sold on Kino even when they saw only baseball practice fields.

The first Desert Diamond Cup in March 2011 featured four MLS teams and the proceeds financed the first season for FC Tucson, which joined the Premier Development League the following year and was honored with Rookie Franchise of the Year accolades.

The four-team Desert Diamond Cup this year was preceded by FC Tucson Soccer Fest, which brought another six MLS teams to town. Half of the Major League Soccer teams played at Kino Sports Complex in one-month span in January and February. The Desert Diamond Cup final was telecast by NBC Sports.

Team owners see only a bright future for soccer in Tucson. Right now, FC Tucson is year-to-year with MLS spring training. “We would like to be in a multi-year deal with MLS to host pre-season games,” Foster said. “We think, given the support for soccer in our region, Tucson might be an excellent candidate market for a USL Pro franchise. We’re reviewing that.”

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Pima County came up to bat quickly and decisively for FC Tucson. First, the county permanently converted one baseball field into a soccer field and temporarily converted four others for soccer in fall 2011. Those conversions became permanent after four MLS teams did their spring training here in 2012.

When talk came to a stadium dedicated to soccer last year, the Pima County Board of Supervisors moved swiftly to approve the $2.8 million project for a 1,800-seat stadium. “Pima County is willing to compete with anybody to bring sports amenities to our community,” Pima County Supervisor Richard Elias said. “We understood the need to act quickly.”

FC Tucson drove home their mission to serve the community and that landed Elias and Pima County Supervisor Ramon Valadez hook, line and sinker. “They learned the meaning of the word ‘partnership,’ not just with Pima County but with the community,” Valadez said.

FC Tucson managing members Jonathan Pearlman, Rick Schantz,
Greg Foster, and Chris Keeney.

Elias added: “They always talked to us about including youth soccer in the deal. That’s it.”

AAA baseball tanked spectacularly at Kino for 15 years, the Tucson community never accepting a stadium far on the South Side. Why should that be any different for soccer?

“We think Kino is very well located for soccer,” FC Tucson co-owner Greg Foster said. “It’s right off a freeway with very good access to the Northwest Side and Southeast and Green Valley and Sahuarita. What we’re seeing is soccer is being played all over the city. Kino really is surrounded by the soccer community.”

More than 5,000 adults play organized soccer in Tucson. Let alone thousands of children. “Soccer has a much more interactive base than baseball,” co-owner and team coach Rick Schantz said.

Plus a crowd of 2,000 is fantastic for an FC Tucson match, while 2,000 at a Tucson Padres games is a pretty empty house. The stadium should be done in November and FC Tucson expects to play its 2014 season there.

Soccer is all about crowd noise. “With the half roof, you have captured sound,” Schantz said. “One thousand people will sound like five thousand. When a youth sees a stadium, that creates excitement.”

___________

So, what sort of soccer do you get at a FC Tucson match? Pretty damn good, the team owners insist. FC Tucson, after all, tied Sporting Kansas City this January at FC Tucson’s Tucson SoccerFest.

FC Tucson is a semi-pro team composed of college players and former professionals who have regained their amateur status. None of the players is paid at this point, but team co-owner and general manager Jonathan Pearlman insists MLS caliber soccer takes place at Kino.

“If you look at the top 11 players of an MLS team and you look at the next 11, the quality of our players would be comfortable on any MLS team,” said Pearlman, who recruits the team’s players.

The FC Tucson season is equally about Tucson community soccer league. A community soccer match will precede each FC Tucson home game. These will involve the newly established Chapman Tucson Champions League (CTCL), a series of matches that involve the major adult leagues in Tucson and Southern Arizona: Arizona Soccer League, Guanajuato AZ Soccer League, Menlo Soccer League, Tucson Metro Soccer League, Tucson Women’s Soccer League and the Tucson Adult Soccer League.

“Tucson has the potential to be a big soccer town,” said Tucson Women’s Soccer League president Doreen Koosmann. “If soccer players at every level work together, we could put Tucson on the soccer map. TWSL wants FC Tucson to succeed and we are taking every opportunity to assist them with this goal.”

At other times of the year, the Kino Sports Complex will also feature the Fort Lowell Shootout, the Far West Regional League twice a year, and the Arizona Youth Soccer Association stages state league, state cup and president’s cup matches at Kino.

“It’s a true community asset,” said FC Tucson co-owner Chris Keeney, who moved here from Houston to get in on the ground floor of a soccer emergence in Tucson after stints with the NFL Houston Texans and Major League Soccer teams D.C. United, Real Salt Lake and Columbus Crew.

FC Tucson Home Schedule

Each event is a double header starting with a community soccer group game, which starts at 5:15 p.m. All FC Tucson games start at 7:30 p.m. Admission to both games is $10. All games are played at the Kino Sports Center North Grandstand

May 18: Chapman Tucson Champions League Semifinal 1
May 18: FC Tucson vs. SoCal Seahorses
June 6: CTCL Men’s Semifinal 2
June 6: FC Tucson vs. OC Blues Strikers FC
June 8: TSAFC Women vs. St. George United
June 8: FC Tucson vs. Fresno Fuego
June 15: TSAFC Women v. Utah Starzz
June 15: FC Tucson vs. Real Phoenix
June 28: TSAFC Women
June 28: FC Tucson vs. Ventura County Fusion
June 30: CTCL Men’s Final
June 30: FC Tucson vs. Ventura County Fusion
July 6: TSAFC Women v. SC Del Sol
July 6: FC Tucson vs. CTCL Men’s Winner
July 13: CTCL Coed Championship
July 13: FC Tucson vs. Los Angeles Misioneros
July 20: CTCL Over 45 Men’s Championship
July 20: FC Tucson vs. BYU Cougars

Let the Games Begin

March 22, 2013 | Phoenix Michael

Video games have grown up considerably since the heady days of dark, cramped arcades. Back then, colorful cabinets tempted one’s quarters by offering quick rounds of “Space Invaders” and “Donkey Kong”. Electronic entertainment is these days far more epic. With the advent of home consoles came new tech, and video games adjusted accordingly. Today’s “Mass Effect 3” is a far cry indeed from “Pong”.

Yet what of the social nature of the arcade? Although many modern games do feature online multiplayer capabilities, competing against others over the Internet is still essentially a solitary experience. Each player alone, holed up in his or her respective den clutching a controller and sending a carefully-crafted avatar into combat, hardly approximates the pleasantly unpredictable togetherness that gamers used to enjoy by gathering in their full geeky glory.

Enter Clinton Lee, 24, who along with business partners Bryant Nieuwenhuis and Clayton Abernathy is melding today’s over-the-top plethora of gaming options with the open-door arcade sensibility of yore. Their three-month-old venture at 1927 E. Grant Rd. is already becoming a hub for gamers hungry to interact in person as well as within the digital realms.

Skinny Fingers Gaming Center opened on New Years Eve with a free event, says Lee. “We had a little party,” featuring a costume contest, prizes and gratis gaming on the PS3s, Xbox 360s and Wiis which fill the approximately 3000 square feet of space (formerly occupied by Starr Skates) across the street from Bookmans Entertainment Exchange. No less than thirty computers are also available here in this gaming mecca, and Lee enthusiastically shows off the labyrinthian 2000 feet of cable feeding into SFGC’s server. With “the highest-quality Internet possible” running through their own network, one can be confident any gaming session here will be uninterrupted by technical hiccups. Parents shall be pleased to know that Skinny Fingers also boasts “security features” which control access to M-rated games. These quality assurance aspects have helped Skinny Fingers attract gamers from e-clubs at Catalina High School, the University of Arizona and elsewhere.

Become a member for $25/month at SFGC, and enjoy affordable prices for 1-hour, 3-hour and all day passes. An intriguing concept of “competitive play” even exists among members, by which the leaders in a points bracket ranking system earn discounts on their gaming time. SFGC members also get one free day of game play a month, and half off all tournament entry fees. Skinny Fingers’ library of games includes older favorites and the latest releases. Game on!

Skinny Fingers hosts a 5v5 League of Legends tournament on Friday, April 5; throw your hat into the ring for $15/pre-registration or $20/door. As “the world’s most played video game,” this popular MMO (massively multiplayer online) battle arena currently boasts 12 million players globally each day, so competition may be fierce. If Lee and company are able to organize twenty teams, the top prize will exceed $700. The real winners, of course, will be the players who Lee refers to as family. “Making friends,” he says, is the real goal. Along those lines SFGC supports the anti-bullying efforts of Rize Up Gaming, a nonprofit working to dissuade hatred, discrimination and prejudice among the gaming community.

Skinny Fingers Gaming Center is open Mon.-Thurs. 11am-midnight, Fri.-Sat. 12pm-2am and Sun. 12pm-10pm. Wednesday is “Ladies Night,” so girls play free. While in the neighborhood, try Upper Crust Pizza or Karuna’s Thai Plate next door! Need more information? Find it online at SkinnyFingers.com and RizeUpGaming.com.

Sunshine Smiles on Broadway

March 9, 2013 | Emily Gindlesparger

The Sunshine Mile revival started with a tour: last November, Demion Clinco from Tucson Historic Preservation Foundation found himself on Broadway Boulevard, organizing talks for the inaugural Modernist Week on the mid-Century modern architecture that populates a particular corridor of the boulevard. It was a spark of history that’s now revitalizing the business district. “This section of Broadway between Euclid and Country Club was born modern,” Clinco begins. The decades after World War II saw both an explosion in Tucson’s population and the birth of the Modernist era; the economy traveled east from downtown, using Broadway as its main thoroughfare and prominent, innovative architects in its construction. Now even in the midst of contemporary buck-saving commercial architecture, we’ve been left with so many modernist gems that the Arizona Preservation Foundation added the Sunshine Mile to its list of endangered historical places. They’re in danger of being forgotten and potentially erased by a long-standing proposal to widen the street and tear down encroaching buildings on its north side.

Clinco walked our conversation through the buildings passed by and so seldom seen. Consider the Solot Plaza Building, which now houses It’s A Blast Gallery. Designed by Nicholas Sakeller in 1957, floor to ceiling windows glaze the entire storefront, capped by a cantilevered roof extending shade over the sidewalk, with an opening for one palm tree to grow through. The iconic Hirsch’s Shoes, commissioned by Mrs. David Hirsch in 1954 and still in family hands, has angular walls set with jutting display cases and a framed canopy. “It’s a really beautiful and classic mid-Century modern commercial storefront,” Clinco explains. “I think that’s such a great emblem of the whole corridor, that you have a business that’s highly specialized and they’ve managed to survive despite the chain shoe stores all over the city.” After the Modernist Week talks, business owners along the corridor started banding together to revive and promote the Sunshine Mile again, spearheaded by Monica Cook, owner of Deco. “I love the historical aspect of it and I’m thrilled with how quickly it’s become an active and cohesive business community,” she says.

Her building is sandwiched next to the sprouting Haas Building, built in 1957 with a two-story glass facade and an open steel staircase inside. Its extending west wall now displays the Sunshine Mile mural, bright and evocative of the fifties heydays; a design conceived and painted by Jude Cook, Monica’s husband and owner of Cook & Company Signs. Jude also created a flier and printed merchant stickers with the new Sunshine Mile logo. “Since then many of the business owners have added their expertise,” Monica adds. “Jessica Shuman of Kismet wrote the press releases and serves on the Broadway Coalition and keeps in touch with the neighborhoods, Art Benavidez of Art Hair Studio created the website, Patricia Katchur of Yikes Toys developed the Facebook page, Larry Montoya of Caps and More plans to print Sunshine Mile tees. Since this area is under threat to the possibility of the widening of Broadway in the future, several business owners – Rocco of Rocco’s and Michael Butterbrough of Inglis Florists – serve on the Broadway Citizen Task Force.”

“What is most exciting is having a sense of community beyond myself and my business,” says Patricia Katchur, proprietress of Yikes Toys. “I love the idea of being in a defined area that offers a friendly approach to shoppers, bicyclists, walking, neighborhoods and history!” Fitting to its mid-Century surroundings, Katchur describes Yikes as “an eclectic blend of young, old and all in between,” a description that seems to echo down the street in other shops that are mixing vintage and contemporary. And banding together with these stores, Katchur says Yikes will “join in events to help make us a destination that has a fascinating history, past and present, and is very much a part of the Tucson community on many levels: including retail, architecture, 1950s culture and the rise of the suburbs and extension of the Tucson downtown and city limits.”

On March 2^nd, this collection of merchants will kick off reclaiming their Sunshine Mile name – a title that came out of a competition in 1953 with a $1,000 prize to describe the burgeoning corridor – with a festival. The unveiling of the Sunshine Mile mural will be accompanied by a trumpet soloist from Catalina Foothills Band playing – what else? – “On Broadway.” The Tucson Barbershop Men’s Chorus will rouse the Modernist atmosphere. More than a dozen corridor businesses will be offering discounts, refreshments, and a scavenger hunt continuing through the month with prize gift certificates for winners of a drawing. Monica Cook sees the partnership unfolding into other events throughout the year: “a sunny mid-summer event,” a holiday boutique crawl, and the return of the Tucson Historical Preservation Foundation’s Modernist Week.

“That iconography and that name is tied to that modern era,” Demion Clinco says. “We’re really starting to craft and cultivate a destination to shop in the middle of the city.” He hopes people will take a fresh look at Broadway Boulevard the next time they pass through. “This isn’t just a place in Tucson that’s kind of cool; this is a regional and state-wide asset. And as a region we should be finding resources to preserve and cultivate it.”

Visit SunshineMile.com or find Sunshine Mile on Facebook.

Dillinger Days, January 18-19

January 17, 2013 | Zocalo Staff

Public Enemy No. 1 returns to Hotel Congress in an exciting commemoration of the events that lead to the capture of John Dillinger. The festivities kick off with a Friday night soiree, the “Dillinger Speakeasy”, that recaptures the spirit of the 1930s, featuring premium whiskeys & cigars. “John Dillinger” will start off the night with a quick-draw, gun slinging show on the Club Congress stage. The night will feature tastings of premium whiskies, including an award-winning local – Vickers Brothers Whisky from Flagstaff. Borderlands Brewery will also be on hand with tastes of their locally made brews. A museum of 1930s memorabilia in Copper Hall plus big band tunes from Kings of Pleasure and music from Duo Vibrato add to the early century vibe. $20/person admission also includes a chili bar from Cup Café.

Then on Saturday, whole family will enjoy a free all day event featuring re-enactments of Dillinger’s capture, live music, carnival, a vintage car show, and more. This event is followed by the amazing Brothers Macabre Dillinger Days Magic Show.

Proceeds will go toward the Greater Tucson Fire Foundation to restore a 1923 American LaFrance Fire Engine – the very engine that responded to the Hotel Congress fire on January 23, 1934.

SATURDAY SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Saturday, January 19, 2013

*“Hot Pion” will begin at 10:30am and will play on the 1/2 hour for the entire day.

10am Music and Old Time Radio Program (Hotel Congress Plaza)

10:15 Lecture: “A Nine Ring Legal Circus: 10 Eventful Days In

Tucson” – Andy Dowdle (Copper Hall)

10:30 “Hot Pion” Pioneer Hotel Fire Documentary

11:00 Dillinger Reenactment Part One (Hotel Congress Plaza)

11:30 “Hot Pion” Pioneer Hotel Fire Documentary

11:45 Dillinger Historic Walking Tour – Andy Dowdle. Starts

immediately after reenactment on plaza

Noon Vintage Music and Old Time Radio Program (Hotel Congress Plaza)

12:30 “Hot Pion” Pioneer Hotel Fire Documentary

12:40 Old Time Radio Program (Hotel Congress Plaza)

1:00 Dillinger Reenactment Part Two (Hotel Congress Plaza)

1:30 “Hot Pion” Pioneer Hotel Fire Documentary

1:45 Lecture: “The 1930’s – Tucson’s Last Quiet Decade” – Ken

Scoville (Copper Hall)

2:00 Vintage Music and Old Time Radio Program (Hotel Congress Plaza)

2:30 “Hot Pion” Pioneer Hotel Fire Documentary

2:40 Old Time Radio Show (Hotel Congress Plaza)

3pm Dillinger Reenactment Parts One and Two (Hotel Congress Plaza)

3:30 “Hot Pion” Pioneer Hotel Fire Documentary

4:30 Day Event concludes

5 & 8 PM Brothers Macabre Turn of the Century Magic Show

Posh Petals: Arranged to Flourish

December 14, 2012 | Emily Gindlesparger

For Katie Treat, owner of Posh Petals, setting up her new shop in the historic Tophy Building has brought her into the fold of 4^th Avenue. Posh Petals specializes in custom flowers for events, so the retail space is a bit of a blank canvas. It’s a comfortable shop that she’s filled with funky antiques, artful glass vases, flower boxes, pots, and votives.

“Katie collects the best antiques,” says Christina Fey, her assistant, and Katie quips back, “this is everything I can’t fit in my house!” But the collection creates an organic sense of style that nestles nicely into 4^th Avenue; with everything pretty and everything for sale. There’s a stage and plentiful room on the walls, so Katie envisions a space for the whole community. “I love being a part of what’s going on down here so much that if somebody wanted to do an open mic night, or somebody wanted to put their art on the walls, I’d be totally open to that,” she says. And with a joking tone, she adds, “I mean, we’re just sitting here.”

The duo is relaxing after the whirlwind of wedding season, which often includes five weddings in a single weekend or even a single day. “Katie really cares about the brides or whomever it is we’re working with,” Christina says. “If for some reason something is missing, or the bride needs an extra boutonniere or anything else, Katie will come back, create it, and take it; because she wants their day to be perfect.” Katie responds simply, “It’s their wedding day. That’s important stuff. That’s stuff that is never going to go away, and part of it is that I’m not going to be that person that they’re mad at 20 years later,” she adds, laughing.

“It’s a dying business to do the job right. I think that a lot of people on 4^th Avenue share that idea and it’s part of the camaraderie. People are down here doing what they’re good at; they care about what they do. And I don’t think there are a lot of places like that. It’s great to be part of like-minded people who try really hard. It really makes this a fun place to be.”

Posh Petals is located at 224 N. 4^th Ave. 408-0101. Visit PetalsPetalsPetals.com for more information.