DOWNTOWN / UNIVERSITY / 4TH AVE

“Small” Art: Creative & Inspired

May 24, 2014 |

The 22nd Annual Small Things Considered exhibition at Davis Dominguez Gallery is a institution unlike any other. With work by over 80 different Tucson-based artists, the exhibition presents a snapshot of what many of our city’s better-known artists are up to–with a slight twist. Each of the invited participants must provide a work of art that is 12” x 12” for painters or no larger than 18” tall for sculptures. The results of this restriction are both inspired and surprising.

“Tulum Boy,” by Moira Geoffrion

“Tulum Boy,” by Moira Geoffrion

With a list of artists that reads like a who’s who of the Tucson art world including names such as Julia and David Andres, James Cook, Bruce McGrew, Gary Benna and Jeff Smith, this show is a great introduction to some of our city’s best and brightest. According to gallery co-owner Mike Dominguez, painters Jim Waid and James Cook have participated in all 22 iterations of the show. Two pleasant surprises to watch for, as noted by Dominguez, were the LED-lit rocket ship sculpture, Ground Control to Major Tom by Bob Hassan, and a painting by Moria Geoffrion entitled Tulum Boy.

An interesting twist is this year’s inclusion of kinetic works. Several of the pieces feature either moving lights or moving parts as a key component of the work. Dominguez sees this as a 21st century development and is not sure what’s next. The aforementioned LED rocket, as well as a piece by Mike Fadel, which incorporates Lebanese olive oil and an altered music box, is particularly unique this year.

While I find myself drawn to works whose style I recognize, I’m also drawn to the works whose creator escapes me without a look at the title card. Work identified by Dominguez and his partner Candace Davis as artists to watch include two abstract painters, Karen DeClouet and Jenny Day, and photographer Claire Harlan—whose parents had possibly the first serious contemporary art gallery in Tucson in the 1970s.

Given the long history of this show, and the gallery itself, it’s natural to ask what Davis and Dominguez think of the local art world and what they have seen since they started. Dominguez sees Tucson as “still recovering from the financial crisis, especially in the young and emerging collector market,” but as a strong art community overall that has “riches yet to be unveiled.” This annual summer showcase is really a must-see for Tucson art lovers.

The 22nd Annual Small Things Considered show, at the Davis Dominguez Gallery—154 E. 6th St.—is currently open and on display through June 28. A reception is scheduled during the annual Summer Art Cruise on Saturday, June 7 from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. Visit DavisDominguez.com for more details.

Small works in the Salon Gallery. photo: Peter L Kresan

Small Works in the Salon Gallery. photo: Peter L Kresan

 

Buffalo Exchange Downtown Location Closing

May 13, 2014 |

This just in from Buffalo Exchange…

Buffalo Exchange Downtown Tucson from buffaloexchange.com

Buffalo Exchange Downtown Tucson Image from BuffaloExchange.com

“The Downtown Buffalo Exchange location will be permanently closed after Friday, May 16, 2014. We would like to thank the Downtown community and our customers for supporting this location for the past three years. All remaining merchandise will be transferred to our Speedway and Campbell location. Please enjoy our other Tucson locations at Speedway and Wilmot and Speedway and Campbell.”

Anna & Roy Laos

May 9, 2014 |
Roy & Anna Laos circa April 1952. photo courtesy Anna Laos

Roy & Anna Laos circa April 1952.
photo courtesy Anna Laos

The year was 1950. Anna Laos was sitting at a table with a group of friends at Club Latino on South Stone Avenue at 16th Street, and a man with a white bandage wrapped around his head walks in the front door and up to the table.

Who is this old man?

“I didn’t know him,” Anna recalled. “He asked me to dance. The next night he came over to my house and serenaded me.”

Anna married that “old man,” Roy E. Laos, two years later. They’ve been partners in marriage, family and business ever since.

Anna Laos is sitting at her desk inside Roy’s Arizona Liquor & Food at 647 S. 6th Ave., and she has stories to tell: stories about the neighborhood, the people and the local history of Downtown. Behind her is a wall filled with framed photographs and personal mementos.

She takes one down: a restaurant menu from the Shanghai Café. “When we bought this building in 1958, it was a Chinese/American restaurant and this is an original menu.”

It lists: T-bone steak dinner – $1.85. Hamburger – 30 cents. Cup of coffee – 10 cents.

“See that picture of Ronald Reagan on the wall? He sent that to Roy after the two of them went horseback riding together in Arivaca, while he was President.”

A buzzer sounds. It’s after closing time, still Anna gets up and walks past the blue vinyl chairs, where customers can sit and talk, past the shelves filled with vintage Jim Beam decanter bottles, past the life-size cardboard figures of Elvira, Marilyn Monroe and John Wayne, and over to the sliding walk-up window.

What does the customer want? Maybe a postcard, or a plastic comb, an alarm clock, a can of beans, a blackboard eraser, or a thermos bottle. How about a craft beer or an elegant bottle of wine? It’s all here.

Anna Laos outside of Roy’s Arizona Liquor & Food. photo: Steve Renzi

Anna Laos outside of Roy’s Arizona Liquor & Food.
photo: Steve Renzi

Impatient, the customer is gone by the time Anna arrives. She looks out the window. “That’s Blind John,” she says. She knows her customers by name. “He’ll be back tomorrow.”

Anna walks back to her desk. She’s got more stories to tell: how about the time César Chavez and a group of protestors surrounded the store in the late ’60s.

“We used to sell Gallo wine and lots of it. César Chavez wanted Roy to take it off the shelves. My husband said he wouldn’t because his customers wanted it. Three weeks later, here comes a large group of protestors, led by Chavez, many of them waving red flags with what looked to me like chickens on them. They surrounded the store. I knew a lot of the protestors. Roy grabs an American flag, burst out of the store and starts waving it. Eventually, it went to court and the court ruled that we had the right to sell the wine.”

When she met Roy, he was a WWII veteran, studying to be a licensed pharmacist and also helping his father’s transit company by driving a bus. That’s why, when they first met, he was wearing a bandage around his head. Earlier that day, he had been in a minor traffic accident.

“Roy’s father started his own bus company in 1920, called the Old Pueblo Transit Company. It served the south and west sides of Tucson because the other bus company wouldn’t go south of the railroad tracks and pick up Mexicans, Blacks and Indians. He started with one Chevy truck; he attached wooden benches on the flatbed and stretched canvas over the top for shade. Sometimes, people would pay with tamales or chickens, anything they had,” said Laos.

“Roy graduated from the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy in 1952 and became a licensed pharmacist. This neighborhood was full of single-family homes, filled with families with children. As a pharmacist, Roy helped to cure a lot of kids that were sick in this neighborhood. We also raised five boys together. They all worked in the store after school; stocking shelves, cleaning and sweeping, taking the garbage out. All of them have a good work ethic and they all graduated from the University of Arizona.

“We’ve lived in Armory Park since 1960 and still live in the same house. It tore me up when I saw them tearing down the barrio to build the convention center. They wanted to do more (destruction), but we stopped them. Mayor Corbett wanted to build the Butterfield Freeway from the airport to the convention center. This would have torn down a large part of Armory Park and Safford and Carrillo schools. One freeway plan also called for elevating the wishing shrine, El Tiradito, up in the air on freeway pylons.

“Rosendo Perez and I led the protest against these plans. Mayoral candidate Lew Murphy supported us. He won the election by 360 votes. It took an election and a miracle to stop the freeway plans. I believe it was the power of the castaway of El Tiradito. After that, we helped to place the wishing shrine on the National Register of Historic Places” (added in 1971).

“We also got the Amory Park neighborhood designated as a historic neighborhood. The reason we were able to do this was because of the railroad. All the houses along South 3rd Avenue, which is right in the middle of Armory Park, were railroad houses, for the workers. The neighborhood was accepted on the national register in 1976.”

Anna Laos outside of Roy’s Arizona Liquor & Food. photo: Steve Renzi

Anna Laos outside of Roy’s Arizona Liquor & Food.
photo: Steve Renzi

Times change. The Spanish word for pharmacy, botica, is on the store signage out front, but the pharmacy has been closed for a few years. Roy is retired. Anna still works and she enjoys it. She welcomes the changes she sees happening in the surrounding neighborhood.

“I see younger people moving back in, in fact, four new couples have moved in within eyesight of the store. They are bringing a vitality and new life and I’m absolutely glad to see it.

“We have had 14 wine tastings at our store and each one has been a little more successful each time. More people are coming. That was the prime reason for them, to gather the neighbors together, so they will get to know one another.”

Institutions come in all shapes and sizes; they evolve and change. Sadly, one of the best—the mom & pop neighborhood store—is disappearing. They are neighborhood anchors and communal gathering spots. Over time, you get to know the owners and they know you. If you’re a kid, they watch you grow up and you watch them grow older. A place of memories and stories. At Roy’s Arizona Liquor & Food, you can have a conversation with owner Anna Laos, buy a bottle of beer, pick up some school supplies and on your way out, step on the vintage scale to have your weight and fortune told. Appreciate it while you still can.

Roy’s Arizona Liquor & Food is located at 647 S. 6th Ave. Hours are Monday–Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Phone (520) 623–4824.

¡Viva Los Guapos!

May 8, 2014 |
Justin Valdez y Los Guapos

Justin Valdez y Los Guapos

Justin Valdez y Los Guapos is ready to rock your world with its CD release this month. Gonna Have a Party! is a sprawling multi-genre, Latin-heavy hip-shakin’ good time. The album begins with the band theme song “Aye Vienen Los Guapos,” full of fantastic energy and tremendous guitar.

Various influences are converging on the super catchy tracks, and singer/songwriter Valdez said via email that he thinks that is what makes the band’s sound. “I am channeling my guitar influences like Link Wray and Jimi Hendrix, while the rest of the band is channeling their influences like Santana and WAR. Vocally, I channel Hasil Adkins and Lux Interior, again that makes the sound ’cause the other guys have no clue who those guys even are! Two worlds collide to make one sound. I think if there was one act that we would compare to it would be Eric Burdon era WAR.”

In the rockin’ title cut, the listener is invited to “lose your mind for a time.” Valdez trades tasty guitar riffs with great keyboard work from Richard Verdugo. Valdez’s lead guitar work is strong throughout the whole 15-track offering.

Several tracks are instrumental. “Tortilla Maker Twist,” “The Flyin’ Mayan” and “Plethora of Piñatas” particularly stand out. Western swing guitar meets Sonoran meets Tex-Mex.

Song 10, “In the Van” is silly fun with almost a surfer rock feel prevailing, featuring more hot licks from Valdez and the band cooking away. Keys and smoking percussion stand out. On “You Got to Try, Girl,” a person of the female persuasion is urged to “try really hard if you want me to be your man.” Some sweet saxophone and a bit of a horn section make a fevered appearance. The album concludes with “El Cucuy,” a bit of a devilish scary number with organ, sound effects, Valdez’s evil laughter and killer guitar.

The different styles come together seamlessly, which Valdez attributes to setting out to make a concept album, “the kind you put on and listen to from start to finish,” he wrote via email. “I think people have gone astray from that. I don’t want someone to buy one MP3 for 99 cents, I want them to buy 15 songs for $10. It’s not just about one song, it’s about an album, it’s about an experience, it’s about a musical journey through many genres and feelings. The songs were arranged on this album to take you on a magic carpet ride, without the hangover and crash the next morning. The album is exactly one full hour, which with all the other ‘seamless’ planning, was coincidence.”

Other musicians in the band and on the album include: Adam Block, bass; Joe Cruz, congas; Philbert Mackowiak, timbales; Manny Moralez, drums; The Deacon David Clark, backup vocals; Joel Dunst, additional percussion; Marty Muerto and Eric Eulogy, additional backup vocals. Gonna Have a Party! was recorded, mixed and mastered locally by Petie Ronstadt at LandMark Sound Recorders.

Surly Wench Pub, 424 N. 4th Ave., hosts Justin Valdez Y Los Guapos on Friday, May 30 at 10 p.m., with special guests San Crudelio. $5 gets you in. For more info, visit Facebook.com/JustinValdezyLosGuapos.

Over email, Valdez chats with editor Jamie Manser about the past, the present, the album, and future plans. (The following Q&A was edited for length and clarity).

Z: What have you been up to over the last couple of years? The last time I saw you was in 2008!

V: Time sure flies when you are having fun! Since then… I got married (thanks eHarmony!) and have a mijo on the way. I can see us having a few more too, and maybe finally forming the Valdez 5. It’s always hard to answer the question, “what have you been up to,” mainly because I have always done the same thing. I have been playing in bands since the tender age of 15 (I’m now 37). I don’t watch TV, can’t even tell you the last movie I saw and do not play video games. My life has always been about playing music and writing songs.  My wife is very creative as well and supports my ventures and habits.

Z: Going back, how long were you in the Last Call Brawlers? Is that project still alive?

V: I formed Last Call Brawlers in 1999, shortly after I met Marty Muerto and Eric Eulogy and we have been together ever since. LCB is still together, we play out about three times a year. These guys are my best and longest friends. However, I have way too much music inside me to only play on a stage a few times a year. LCB released an album in 2012, and will be recording and releasing a new full length album this year.

Z: How long has Justin Valdez y Los Guapos been around? How did the band start?

Justin Valdez, left.

Justin Valdez, left.

V: I’ve had a 4 track recorder full of songs that were just sitting there. One day I just decided to go for it and put out a solo album. In 2012 I released “Duce-Seven-Off-Suit.” I had Eric, Joel and Marty from LCB back me up in the studio for this. It got some praise here and there and some spins on Al Perry’s World Famous Clam Bake. But I needed to start playing these songs out live to do them justice. So I played a few solo shows, just me and my acoustic, and also some shows with some hired guns backing me up. People seemed to dig, so I decided to find a full time backup band. I put these songs up on craigslist and ran an ad. A few days later, Joe Cruz (congas) responded. He came over, we jammed a time or two then he said “I know a keyboard player, can I bring him over”? I said yes, and then the next jam, the keyboard player (Richard Verdugo) said, “I know a drummer and Timbales player.”

We still needed a bass player though, so I put it out on Facebook. Jamie Laboz (Modeens) sent me a message and referred me to Adam Block. Quickly, the old songs from my solo album were obsolete and I was writing these Latin sounding songs. David Clark (Chango Malo) and I have played in other bands as well, and he quickly joined as the “hype man” and backup vocals. Joe, Richard, Manny and Philbert all had been in Tejano and Tez-Mex cover bands previously. This is their first original project; they had always just been in cover bands, except Adam and Dave. Los Guapos will have been around for a full year in June and have played out about seven times only. But those shows have included The Low Brow Shakedown, HOCO Fest Latin night, opening for Reverend Horton Heat, Dick Dale and also a small AZ weekend tour; Prescott, Phoenix and Tucson back to back to back.  This is all new. “Bean Dip for Two” and “In the Van” got re-vamped, originally on Deuce Seven, but all the other (songs) are brand new.

Z: How long have you been playing guitar?

V: My first guitar teacher was Robbie Lochner, Roc-Lochner, Great White, etc. I learned enough to play power chords in a punk band in high school but that was about it. However, the experience from that band, Social Outcast, left a lasting impression. We played the DPC (Downtown Performance Center) about once a month and recorded an album in Nogales. There will never be another DPC. Later, I started taking lessons from Tommy Tucker. His methods and theory have made me the player I am today. Growing up there was always a guitar around. My dad played in a band as well.

Z: How long has this album been in the works?

V: In December of 2013, I told the guys I wanted to get us in the recording studio. Coming from the cover band scene, except Adam and Dave, this was all new to them. So, I wrote out a schedule and stepped up as band leader. At that time, we were only going to record a five song EP. But, since inspiration is everywhere – many times in the shower I get an idea, and end up on the bed in a towel with my guitar and note pad – I was able to write the full length album. I write all the lyrics, and most the time will have a song about 90% complete before showing it the band for their input. At that time it’s a group effort, but just to polish it up. I always strive to do something different and something I have not done before. We recorded at LandMark Sound Recorders here in Tucson. Petie Ronstadt (Ronstadt Generations Band) recorded, mixed and mastered the album. He went above and beyond as a sound engineer. He really got into the recording and put his two cents in which was much appreciated, him being such an accomplished musician an all. Example of him getting into it: One night he had a gig and came home late and had a burst of inspiration to try something different in the mixing process. He started playing with “Flyin Mayan” and the result is it sounding like an old field recorder capturing a Zulu tribe getting abducted by aliens….

We set up in his studio on a Friday night and got dialed in. We went back Saturday morning at 8 a.m. and had all 15 songs recorded by noon. Almost all the songs on the album were nailed on the first take live, except vocals were another session. Mixing took a few sessions, but only ’cause it’s a seven piece band.

Z: Are the musicians on the album going to also be at the CD release party?

V: Yes. This is a seven piece band. With this many people, it’s on the ridiculous side and every sound man’s nightmare.

Z: Are there any other plans in the works for the band this summer?

V: After the CD comes out I intend to keep the ball rolling. I would love to continue to open up for my long time influences at places like Rialto and Congress. At the same time, I want expose this band to the scene I came from, punk and rockabilly, which is one reason we are having the album release party at Surly Wench. And also, I would love to continue to play on a regular basis in Phoenix and Prescott. I feel this band has a real good shot a going somewhere and representing Tucson and Arizona as “its sound.”

Authentic Photography, Natural Bodies: A Beautiful Body Project

May 7, 2014 |
The Bodies of Mothers photo: Jade Beall

The Bodies of Mothers
photo: Jade Beall

There’s a hunger in the world for love, acceptance, compassion and understanding. There’s also a hunger in the women of this world—and definitely those imbued by the unrealistic dictates of Western culture and the media’s unrelenting notion of what “perfection” looks like—to find self-love in bodies that don’t match what is showcased on television screens, movie screens, billboards and in magazine ads.

Tucson photographer Jade Beall fed that hunger when she posted a vulnerable, nude self-portrait with her newborn son in 2012. The image went viral and, as she writes in her newly released photography book The Bodies of Mothers: A Beautiful Body Project, “Not only was this self-portrait helping others, it was a self-love catalyst for me too!”

Beall’s act of courage spoke to hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of women across the globe. Requests from women wanting to be photographed started pouring in, but how to pay for it? Her husband and business partner Alok Appadurai said they needed to launch a Kickstarter campaign and make a video.

Sitting in her office on 9th Street, tucked on the west side of their clothing shop Fed by Threads, Jade says, “I didn’t want to do the Kickstarter video because I didn’t believe that anybody would possibly back some chick from Tucson who had no photo credibility. And Alok said, ‘Let’s just do it. It’s just a video!’ So, we made a video and it has had almost two million views now, through YouTube and Kickstarter combined! And it just boggles my mind because it is a video I was so hesitant to make, I was so afraid it was going to be so amateur.”

That video ultimately raised $58,000 and sparked a worldwide media frenzy, starting with The Huffington Post, in early 2013. Beall’s story has since garnered coverage in over 60 outlets, ranging from the BBC, Yahoo!, Tucson Weekly and the Arizona Daily Star to The Guardian, Baby France, Mums & Tots to The Today Show.

At first, the coverage was a bit overwhelming, she says, but “it’s died down, it is mellow and perfect right now. But, it was also super exciting. I was not expecting it.”

While the media has mostly been accurate in their reporting, Jade says there were some words they used that “I wish they hadn’t, like, ‘This is what real mothers’ bodies look like,’ those words I don’t identify with and I don’t use. But, I trust that was what they needed to do and that’s their stuff, but overall, I feel really supported.”

Jade has a sweet, open, energetic and fun goofiness that is undeniably engaging. Her work with the mothers, women physically and emotionally exposing themselves in ways they may not have done before, has had profound impacts on her subjects’ lives.

“Her photography seems to transcend mere film or digital image. She seems to be able to capture the spirit or soul of the person she is shooting. Through her lens, everyone is beautiful. It’s a unique art that I have not seen in another photographer,” says Tucsonan Paula Randall, whose story and pictures are in the book. “I have learned that love is not something that we can compartmentalize into what we think it should look like. Love is absolute acceptance and compassion. It’s opening up your heart just a bit farther than you are comfortable with and stepping out of ego. Participating in the Beautiful Body Project has been amazing! I felt so empowered and still do.  It has reshaped how I look at myself and how I look at the world.”

Amy Michel was drawn to the project because she was pregnant with a girl at the time, and Michel “wanted a better society for her; to teach her (that) beauty comes from inside. I just want people to stop thinking that the crap we see in magazines and on TV is normal or attainable.”

Women of A Beautiful Body Project photo: Jade Beall

Women of A Beautiful Body Project
photo: Jade Beall

Jade’s tasteful, artistic, authentic photography is reminiscent of Peter Paul Rubens, the 17th century artist whose 1630s paintings depicted curvaceous women, with cellulite and rolls. Beall enthusiastically wants to capture the skin we’re in, “blemishes” and all. “I’m not going to Photoshop out varicose veins! ‘You had a breakout today? I’m photographing that!’ Because, it’s just part of the story and I think they are beautiful.”

Before starting A Beautiful Body Project, Jade’s previous photographs were of women that were not pregnant or post pregnancy.

Then, she was accused of “only photographing thin, white women. And, I didn’t agree, and I don’t agree that I only do it one way now. It’s not one way or another, it’s uniting. But it’s also, for me, seeing imagery of all body shapes and skin types. Un-Photoshopped. I want to see blemishes, I want to see pores, I want to see wrinkles! Wrinkles are a part of our skin, to erase them means erasing part of our lives away, the grief and the smiles!”

Beall says she had hit rock bottom when she took the self-portrait that cyber-spaced around the world. Her whole life she had lived with self-loathing for not having perfectly clear skin and a perfectly svelte figure.

“Luckily I was really successful in school and I did get through it, but I feel I could have done so much more if I felt confident and worthy instead of all this insecurity. And then I go into my 20s, after some therapy, and getting to kind of a good place, but then getting pregnant, gaining like 70 pounds, not shedding it, so, yeah, it was dealing with almost a life long habit of feeling unworthy and then reaching an all time low when I knew I was so blessed. And here I am, feeling like I want to die and I’m the ugliest person on the earth, wasting my precious time with those thoughts. And then took those photos and then, the truth is, for me, taking those photos, and working on my stuff with a life coach, all these different things, feeling better myself, but then connecting with each of these women and sharing each other’s stories and crying and together, each time they would feel better, I would feel better.”

The amount of coverage Beall has received, along with Tucson’s Body Love Conference organizer Jes Baker, seems to signal a paradigm shift to more acceptance of humanity’s diversity. “This is a part of a global movement that is happening right now. I don’t know how the stars aligned, when I had hit rock bottom, right at that time, that tons of body positive movement stuff was happening all over the planet. And especially here in Tucson—Jes Baker, The Militant Baker, and her huge campaign; our messages are different but very similar. My work went really big in Australia, because they are doing their thing too. And through social media, you can share ideas, and constantly growing from our own inspiration and wanting to empower one another. Sisterhood!”

Beall’s book, designed by Zócalo’s publisher David Olsen, “The Bodies of Mothers: A Beautiful Body Project,” celebrates a Mother’s Day release on Sunday, May 11 at Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress St., from 9 a.m.-noon with a talk at 10 a.m. and music at 11 a.m. The 168 page book is $50 and is available online at ABeautifulBodyProject.com and at the event. Upcoming Beautiful Body Projects include “Wise Women,” a collection of women over 50, and a photo project on couples.

How Sweet It Is

May 4, 2014 |
Mel Rivers, formally of The Drifters, performs at 2nd Saturdays May 10. photo courtesy The Picture People

Mel Rivers, formally of The Drifters, performs at 2nd Saturdays May 10.
photo courtesy The Picture People

Before the days of hip-hop, dubstep, disco, punk rock, metal, electro-pop, alternative and all modern genres, there was a simpler kind of music where the voice was the main focus and the soul was emoted through passionate, honest lyrics that spoke of love, life and struggle. Duos, trios and quartets would line street corners, subway stations and any acoustically welcoming space they could find to belt their voices without the assistance of auto-tune or the audio enhancing devices of today. It was all about melody, harmony, rhythm and soul. This is the era that singer Mel Rivers belongs to and those were his cherished days that live on through his deep vocals that he still belts today.

“The songs back then were all about love–all kinds of love. It was about the love that made you feel good, the kind of love that made you want to hold each other and even the sad ones made you glad that you had love. The lyrics were close and personal. Even the fast stuff like the jitterbug made you put your hands on somebody,” says Rivers. “There was a lot of slow stuff too, so you got a chance to whisper in her ear and hold her tight. The music nowadays doesn’t have that feel or that message. The spirit of it seems gone from today’s music.”

Rivers grew up in Brooklyn, New York in the 1950s when the decade of ’40s doo-wop was still the dominant music of the time. Rivers sang all throughout his childhood and in his teen years he developed a voice that was rich and low in timbre, which made him perfect for the foundational role of bass singer in a capella groups. He quickly found that music was a good way to stay out of trouble from the local gangs that surrounded his neighborhood blocks, so he dedicated most of his time to harnessing his craft and learning a catalogue of tunes that he would perform any chance he could.

“I got into music when I was around 13 years old. It was during the explosion of music coming over from the ’40s into the ’50s period. People were singing in hallways, in subways, anywhere they could get a good sound really,” says Rivers. “That was a period where there were a lot of gangs in the streets of New York and in the area I was living in, music was salvation for a lot of gang members. I found a home in music and I felt comfortable there. No matter what I did and how far away from music I went, it always came back to me. It always felt like it was what I was supposed to be doing.”

After performing on local street corners for some time, Rivers went on to join a group called Seville that quickly gained the praise of becoming the second coming of The Temptations. After spending two years holed up in small studio apartment while rehearsing and preparing, Seville went on to record tracks for some of the biggest record labels at the time including RCA and Millennium among others. But as Rivers began to be introduced to the glitz and glamour of the business, the long hours, tireless work and obstacles of the industry began to wear on him. And just when Rivers gave up on his dream, opportunity knocked unexpectedly.

“I got a little frustrated and I decided I couldn’t keep going through that stuff any longer so I started on as a law enforcement officer in New York and I worked my way up to sergeant. I was still singing at the time through a few outlets and I would set up local shows here and there. So one night I was setting up for a show in an auditorium and I had a disc of original stuff that I had worked on and I started playing the music and singing. Two people came up to me when I stopped and they told me that one was the lead singer of The Drifters and the other was their manager and they were looking for a voice like mine. They said they wanted to audition me and I thought they were playing a joke. So I went and auditioned and 90 seconds later they told me that I was in the band.”

Rivers went on to perform with the legendary act The Drifters, starting in 1990, for seven years; he toured all over with the band and shared concert bills with big names including the likes of Tina Turner. In 1997, Rivers got the news that his mother and brother were both battling cancer, so he moved to Tucson to be with them. Rivers has resided here ever since and still performs at Grace Temple Church, at local venues and even on the road with The Drifters on occasion. Rivers will be performing Downtown for the 4th anniversary of 2nd Saturdays on May 10, starting at 8 p.m.

“I’ll be performing material from The Drifters and some old classic tunes. Hopefully it’ll bring up some warm memories for some folks. And for the younger people, they’ll see how music used to be when it told a story from beginning to the end and was full of heart and soul.”

For more information on the show visit 2ndSaturdays.com.

 

Odaiko Sonora’s Taiko Passion

May 2, 2014 |
Odaiko Sonora in concert. Left to right: Nicole Levesque, Rome Hamner, Karen Falkenstrom. photo: PJ McArdle

Odaiko Sonora in concert. Left to right: Nicole Levesque, Rome Hamner, Karen Falkenstrom.
photo: PJ McArdle

In an unassuming, square industrial building on Downtown’s southern edge is a place of creation.

It is the Rhythm Industry Performance Factory and during a bright spring morning, Odaiko Sonora’s community taiko group is at practice. Sweating to the beats. Taiko, or “big drum” in Japanese, is ensemble drumming and it is a physically demanding art form. Beating the drums to achieve the resonance that speaks to the heart of us as human beings takes concentration and cooperative effort.

Taking turns coaching the group is Nicole Levesque and co-founders Karen Falkenstrom and Rome Hamner. With good humor, excellent leadership and teaching skills, the three women engage and guide the drummers to achieve their best. Everyone is sweaty, tired, looking happy at the end of the practice. They move into a group circle as I slip out the door.

Odaiko Sonora’s story begins approximately 14 years ago when Rome Hamner began studying taiko with Stan Morgan; Falkenstrom picked up the bachi (taiko drumming sticks) in 2001. In 2002, their sensei Morgan fell ill and disbanded his group MoGan Daiko. The drummers, still fairly nascent in their taiko knowledge, hefted up the chutzpa and started Odaiko Sonora.

Karen writes via email that, “Even in the U.S., taiko is still an art form with a strong emphasis on lineage and master teachers. It was highly unusual for anyone to found a group with as little experience as we had—actually it was crazy—but we really didn’t have a choice.

“I think both of us felt we had discovered something that embodied everything we wanted to be doing in the world: taiko is physical, empowering, expressive, fun. We both had been inspired to study taiko by seeing it performed live; there is something about the passion and power of taiko performance that speaks to the very core of many people. Once we had the experience of playing the drums—feeling that passion and power from playing, not just watching—it wasn’t something either of us felt we could live happily without.”

Karen Falkenstrom performing with Odaiko Sonora at Arizona Matsuri in Phoenix, Febraury 2014. photo: Tracy Baynes

Karen Falkenstrom performing with Odaiko Sonora at Arizona Matsuri in Phoenix, Febraury 2014.
photo: Tracy Baynes

They didn’t have drums, they lacked resources, didn’t have a teacher and only knew a handful of songs. It didn’t matter because, “more powerful than the doubts was a deeply passionate love of taiko,” Falkenstrom writes. “We just did what we had to to make it happen.”

She states it simply, but the hard work and dedication that fueled their drive is evinced by the organization’s evolution. The 501c3 grew quickly because of “our respective skills in nonprofit arts and public administration, and partly because Tucson has a strong arts community,” Falkenstrom explains. “But much of the credit for our rapid growth is the appeal of the art form itself. Taiko has amazing crossover potential; it’s music, it’s a martial art, it’s a team sport, theater, and spiritual path. Almost everyone likes it. And it’s easy to learn the basics and very fun to do. The two of us are the leadership/administrative team that run all of Odaiko Sonora—the performances, classes, educational programs, equipment, and Rhythm Industry.”

This school year saw the nonprofit completing its first year as Opening Minds through the Arts teaching artists, reaching approximately 2,000 children. In November, Odaiko Sonora will be providing the music for the All Souls Procession grand finale, for which they are committed to “doing something really special.

“So far, the vision involves guest artists from Sacramento, L.A. and Toronto, Canada. We also hope to purchase a 4 foot gekko, or frame drum, from the world’s oldest family of taiko makers: Asano—think the Stradivarius of taiko.”

The big vision, fitting for the All Souls Procession finale, also means big bucks. The finale will feature about $70,000 in drums while the drum the group is looking to buy is comparatively reasonable, at $6,000. In order to fund it, a Kickstarter campaign is being launched this month—which also coincides with Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

Besides keeping busy with elementary education, performances, and maintaining and coordinating Rhythm Industry Performance Factory, a building the organization purchased in 2006, Odaiko Sonora also offers classes.

Rome Hamner performing with Odaiko Sonora at Arizona Matsuri in Phoenix, Febraury 2014. photo: Tracy Baynes

Rome Hamner performing with Odaiko Sonora at Arizona Matsuri in Phoenix, Febraury 2014.
photo: Tracy Baynes

“Our six-week all ages recreation class is a great intro to this art form,” Rome says via email. “It introduces beginners to basic taiko form, beats, and simple drills and songs. Taiko is not like many other instruments. Most people don’t go to see Wynton Marsalis play, for instance, and think, ‘Wow, I’d really like to try playing trumpet!’ But people do say that about taiko.

“Some people come because they love Japanese culture, some because they just love drums, and some because they like the idea of a musical martial art. Almost all people who come to play saw us perform somewhere, and they want to try it because it looks like so much fun.”

The all ages class begins on May 17. Odaiko Sonoro performs at 2nd Saturdays, May 10 at 6:30 p.m. Visit TucsonTaiko.org for more details.

Sacred Machine: Creation, Evolution & Moving On

May 1, 2014 |
Daniel Martin Diaz and Paula Catherine Valencia, in a photo for their band Crystal Radio. photo: Danni Valdez

Daniel Martin Diaz and Paula Catherine Valencia, in a photo for their band Crystal Radio.
photo: Danni Valdez

It’s easy to get deep with Daniel Martin Diaz and Paula Catherine Valencia. Diaz’s art and Valencia’s writing—plus their music with Blind Divine and Crystal Radio—dig into the heart of the mysteries of existence. One cannot look at Diaz’s work without feeling pulled into a rabbit hole of esoteric human inquiries; his pieces—especially in his recent book Soul of Science—are individual time machines of ancient knowledge and futuristic anomalies of biology and technology; amalgams of religion, science, mythology and psychology. The detail is exquisitely intricate, the edgy motifs are fascinating and possibly daunting to the unadventurous or religiously sensitive.

For Diaz, creating is about letting the art and music “take me where it wants to take me. Really, you’re just a vessel for the art or the music that you are creating, it’s like you are sculpting something. It’s manipulating you as opposed to you manipulating it. I think also, creating art or creating music and not really fully understanding what you’re doing is part of the mystery.

“I’ve always approached music and art (that way)—always trying to find the mystery that is hidden there, but then not truly understanding what it is. And I think that’s what keeps me motivated enough to keep going and keep finding this mystery because, for myself, this is what’s worked. If I understand what I’m doing, then the magic and the mystery is gone. And then it’s like, what’s the point of going on anymore creating?”

Soul of Science is Daniel Martin Diaz's latest book of art. photo courtesy Mysticus Publishing

Soul of Science is Daniel Martin Diaz’s latest book collection of art.
photo courtesy Mysticus Publishing

Opening himself as a vessel for the music and art has proven very successful. Diaz, a 47-year-old native Tucsonan, has been extremely prolific during his career, which has included: a 200-song catalogue (collaborations done with Paula and others) with tracks utilized by over 30 major television outlets, national and international art exhibits, album and book covers, four personal publications of his work, and a list of public art commissions.

The most recognizable of Diaz’s public art projects in Downtown Tucson are: Club Congress’ Proscenium Stage, Hotel Congress’ terrazzo floor and the metal work on the Plaza Centro parking garage, 345 E. Congress St. at 4th Avenue. While the process of creating public art is different from his personal work, there are still similarities.

Wife and creative/business partner Valencia explains: “We have to work within parameters, so, you’re given this set of rules to work within, and then it becomes kind of free form. Half the things that we do are sitting somewhere in a restaurant, done on a napkin, especially with public art. ‘Ok, here’s the concept, this would be really cool.’ And then maybe Daniel starts sketching stuff and I start writing the concepts and themes behind it. In our folders, we always have these napkins stuck behind the paperwork and the contracts. So, a lot of times it’s a free form type of thing too and then it gets developed from there, then working with architects and all the intricacies, putting that into the large work.”

“A lot of research goes into public art,” Diaz adds. “We research the area, research the community, research who’s lived there–like in the 1880s, 1700s–and look at the wildlife and what has been here in this area that we can use as a resource for the art. I think that’s a different approach than I do with my own work, but I really like it.”

The couple explains that the work integrated into the Plaza Centro garage, called Desert Splendor, includes inspiration from the desert, the trains, the railroad tracks and artistic patterning from local Native cultures, all placed to incorporate the sun’s movement for specific effect.

“If you look at that design, one side of it has a tree with leaves and the other side has a tree without leaves, so it’s this idea, because the sun hits one side of it and it changes throughout the day, so it’s this idea that ‘Change is now occurring,’” Diaz explains, “with the seasons and even just the change within a day that we go through. Downtown changes from morning to sunset.”

For Daniel and Paula, their own changes are occurring. At the end of May, after a four year run, the couple is closing their museum/gallery/curio shop Sacred Machine, 245 E. Congress St., and moving to Los Angeles in the fall.

The decision to open the space in May 2010 wasn’t premeditated, they explain. “It was one of those things he was talking about with his art,” Paula says. “It really chose us, this space. We were sitting in here for a meeting… and I’m like, ‘We need this space.’ It was really strange; he thought I was insane, and I said, ‘Well maybe I am, but this space is calling out to me for whatever reason’.”

At the time, their neighbors on the block included Xoom Juice, Yoga Oasis and Cricket Wireless. Businesses across the street (Tooley’s Cafe, 276 Works Gallery, Central Arts Gallery, Preen, Rocket Gallery, Dinnerware ArtSpace and Metropolis The Salon) had been displaced for what wouldn’t become An Congress (now Playground, Pizzaria Bianco and HUB), though the night club Sharks (now Saint House) was still operating; The District Tavern was and is still pouring drinks. The couple has witnessed Downtown’s evolution (see related story here), and has had a great run with Sacred Machine—hosting compelling art exhibits and live music in addition to meeting interesting artists, musicians, getting to know other merchants and the public at large.

“We had one of the producers of The Simpsons come in here, and Paula became really good friends with her and,” Diaz continues, “we became good friends with Alex Maas from The Black Angels, because of the gallery. In L.A., I think those opportunities are going to be intensified. We’ve been here our whole lives, so we’re ready to move.”

“We’ve been creating (in Tucson) for 24 years now, since we’re met, and raised our son,” Paula says. “Damian is 21 (now), so, let’s go explore! We’re doing art, music, public art, we’re doing all these things, and really, we can move any where and do those things. It’s kind of–have art, will travel. Let’s go do this there, and we’ll do that, and maybe we’ll end up in Paris one day.”

“We’ll give it a shot and see what happens,” Diaz adds. “We have no—like in everything we do—we don’t have expectations. I just feel like when you have expectations, you are setting yourself up for some kind of failure. Just go over there, see what happens. And, if we’re there for 10 years, if we’re there for 20 years, great, if not, we could end up in Paris, with Sacred Machine over there, great. We just don’t know. That’s been our life. We wake up and we don’t know what that day is going to bring, and that’s good and how we want to live.”

Sacred Machine’s May events include the 1st Saturday Art Walk on May 3, 4 p.m.-9 p.m. The farewell celebration is from 5 p.m.-10 p.m. during 2nd Saturdays on May 10; the “Blue Print for the Future” exhibit opens May 10 and runs through May 31. Closing day hours on May 31 are noon-9 p.m. Regular hours are 5 p.m.-8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday and 4 p.m.-9 p.m. Saturday. Keep abreast of their adventures at SacredMachine.com and DanielMartinDiaz.com.

Downtown’s Shifting Landscape

May 1, 2014 |

All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.
– Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Directional sign at Maynards Market. photo: David Olsen

Directional sign at Maynards Market. photo: David Olsen

In the mid-‘80s and through the ‘90s and early ‘00s, Downtown was considered a schlumpy locale eschewed by seemingly many Tucsonans. It was the artists, musicians, the writers and photographers, galleries, bars, a handful of entrepreneurs, restaurants, long-established families, some smart investors and renters who comfortably called it home. The cheap rent and authentic vibe drew those to the area.

As progress happens, so does construction, such as the 4th Avenue underpass and the streetcar tracks. Congress Street, as was the revitalization goal, is a different place than it was five years ago. Only a handful of pre-2009 businesses along that strip remain.

Today, Congress Street is certainly a destination for food and drink. It’s not a destination for the arts, the galleries mostly ring the northern edge of Downtown in the Warehouse District. Three galleries that were in the Downtown core are leaving or have left: Sacred Machine, 245 E. Congress St., Atlas Fine Art Services, 41 S. 6th Ave., and Obsidian Gallery, 410 N. Toole Ave.

For Sacred Machine’s proprietors, Paula Catherine Valencia and Daniel Martin Diaz, closing shop isn’t related to the Downtown economy or foot traffic. Theirs is a career move to L.A. However, Paula’s observation was this: “If you want to know what challenge might be happening with galleries down here is that it’s not necessarily a walking destination like 4th Avenue. You know, people go there, they walk, they’re used to looking through shops and hanging out. Their main thing isn’t to eat and drink there. When all that you have Downtown is restaurants and bars, people are here for lunch and dinner and to party later at night. Their agenda is to eat and drink, their agenda is not to shop and browse. So that becomes a different thing all together. I think that’s what’s happened with Congress Street.”

With Atlas Fine Art Services, which opened in August 2011 when Downtown was gaining traction with new restaurants—which would presumably help with foot traffic—it was difficult to gain traction themselves and they closed earlier this year.

Co-owner James Schaub wrote via email, “Foot traffic was something we hoped for and would have been helpful—but it never came. The foot traffic that happens Downtown is still much the way it used to be—people park as close as possible (increasingly harder to do) to where they want to go and go to that place and then drive to the next place. Our business, and others like it, is more of a destination. We usually knew when people were coming in—they called in advance. The students who now live Downtown are similar, most have cars and there is no real retail culture yet in the Downtown.”

Valencia also commented on the public’s parking habits: “I think another thing too is, we even have parking garages and people don’t want to park, so not only do they not want to park, they don’t want to walk. Something needs to change probably, and, possibly the streetcar will be the key. We’re not sure, but it could possibly be a help, to get people and things moving a little bit more.”

Diaz added that, “I think the most successful cities is where there’s circulation. For instance, Prescott; it’s a little town and they have the square, and you go in this circle and you can go in that circle all day and really not get bored because it’s so beautiful, but there’s no circle here in Tucson where you can walk and just go around and look at shops and come back around. You walk in a straight line. And who knows where you end up.

“I think that’s a really important thing,” Diaz continued. “I think that we have the potential to do it, with Congress and 6th and then come back around, but everything is on the outside. You need squares, and a park in the center.”

Having a focal point, a zócalo if you will, would be a wonderful thing for Downtown, and the Ronstadt Transit Center would be the perfect place. Maybe one day. There is currently a Request for Proposals out for a joint development of the Ronstadt Transit Center. (See www4.tucsonaz.gov/integrated-planning/joint-development-ronstadt-transit-center-project-area.)

At the end of April, Downtown Tucson Partnership CEO Michael Keith and I did a walking tour of the core, starting at the east end. I parked at Plaza Centro garage and met Keith outside of Gio Taco, 350 E. Congress St.

Signs in the first floor of The Cadence, the student housing complex at 350 E. Congress St., promise the upcoming arrival of Planet Smoothie and Fed By Threads, a sustainable clothing store. (Fed By Threads co-owner Alok Appadurai says mid-May.)

"Bar Open" signs placed along Congress Street, fall 2009. photo: David Olsen

“Bar Open” signs placed along Congress Street, fall 2009.
photo: David Olsen

As we walk by the Rialto Theatre, Good Oak Bar, Diablo Burger, Proper, then Playground, and before peeking into the still under construction Pizzeria Bianco, I have a flashback to 2009.

David Aguirre, Director of Dinnerware ArtSpace—a gallery that had been displaced, along with a couple others, from Congress Street in 2009 when there were initial plans to have Kwang C. An open a restaurant in the 200 block of East Congress Street—had placed several A frames along the sidewalk with the words “Bar Open” on both sides of the signs. It was funny in a prophetic, times are a’changin’ sort of way.

It’s not all bars though, there’s food—HUB and Saint House, though both are known for their cocktails. Across the street there’s Yoga Oasis, Sacred Machine, FORS, Connect Beta, Xoom Juice and Sparkroot. On the next block there’s the Olive Orchard Gourmet Pantry coming to 222 E. Congress St., Buffalo Exchange is there, Studio 220/Got All Your Marbles, Tierra Antigua Realty, Iguana Cafe and Crescent Smoke Shop.

Around the corner and south on 6th Avenue is the forthcoming Johnny Gibson’s Downtown Market in the old Beowulf Alley Theatre space at 11 S. 6th Ave., then there’s The Drawing Studio, Flash in the Past Vintage Pinup Photography Studio, La Fashionista (sharing it’s space with Wig-O-Rama), and Black Rose Tattooers.

Swinging back down to Congress Street, we pass Chicago Music Store and pop into the forthcoming Saint Cecilia Studios—which looks beautifully awesome (see story in last month’s issue). We pass MEB Management and Unplugged Wine Bar; Voodoo Jack’s and Wig-O-Rama sit empty, awaiting restoration due to damage caused by a fire that gutted Grill over a year ago. We look across the street and see, from 6th Avenue to Scott Avenue: Hydra, Empire Pizza, Elliott’s on Congress, The Screening Room, Zen Rock; then, from Scott Avenue to Stone Avenue, JunXion Bar, Jimmy John’s, On a Roll, Sapphire and the upcoming H2O club. Further west, there’s A Perfect Pantry, Lesco Optical, V Thai; from Stone to Church Avenue, the Fox Theatre, Subway, Caffe Milano, Rice House.

Scott Stitler, owner/landlord of the buildings on both sides of the 200 East Congress Street block, said, “Today, I’m not interested in more food,” when talking about what kind of tenants he is looking for to occupy the spaces at 245 E. Congress St. that will become empty once Sacred Machine, and possibly Connect Beta, move out.

Stitler, who also co-owns the Rialto Block with Don Martin, explained that he doesn’t just take any tenant interested in one of his available spaces, he is thorough and selective. “I don’t advertise or put ‘For Rent’ signs in the windows, I’m hyper focused on all three blocks for a good mix, I’m constantly processing all these cities I visit, I travel a lot and take a lot of pictures.

“It’s takes a lot of patience, Pizzaria Bianco is a perfect example. We had 40 or 50 unsolicited offers, and it is tough to manage because you are dealing with nice people, but I was glad I said no on that space, because once Chris (Bianco) came along, and he’s had hundreds of offers to do another Pizzeria Bianco, and after 23 years of saying no, he searched his soul and his soul said yes to Tucson, and this space.”

Stitler said he has had offers on the spaces already, some of them are food, but he’d rather allow the current restaurants to stabilize and he doesn’t want “to add another two or three more.”

“It’s hard on everyone to make it in a month. The short answer is to let some of these projects get further along. Restaurants always lead an area that is getting revitalized, and then you get an office and then an apartment building and so on and so forth. I like where we are from five years ago, and we still have a ways to go, with more housing and more jobs Downtown.”

He paused, and said what is on a lot of people’s minds, “I hope the streetcar is a successful launch.”

Galleries May 2014

April 29, 2014 |

ART HOUSE CENTRO A Stroll Through The Barrio opens Sat, May 10. Old Town Artisans Complex, 201 N. Court Ave. 620-1725, OldTownArtisans.com

ARTSEYE GALLERY 6th Annual Curious Camera Event continues through summer. Mon-Fri, 9am-6pm; Sat, 10am-5pm. 3550 E. Grant Rd. 327-7291. ArtsEye.com

CENTER FOR CREATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY Charles Harbutt, Departures and Arrivals continues through Sun, June 1. Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm; Sat-Sun, 1pm-4pm. 1030 N. Olive Rd. 621-7968, CreativePhotography.org

"Along the Paztaza River," by Jo Anderson, shows at Contreras Gallery through May. photo courtesy Contreras Gallery

“Along the Paztaza River,” by Jo Anderson, shows at Contreras Gallery through May. Image courtesy Contreras Gallery

CONTRERAS GALLERY Prints: Intaglio, Planographic and Relief show Sun, May 3-Sun, May 31 with a reception opening night, 6pm-9pm. Tues-Fri, 11am-5pm; Sat, 11am-4pm. 110 E. 6th St. 398-6557, ContrerasHouseFineArt.com

DAVIS DOMINGUEZ GALLERY Small Things Considered – 22nd Annual Small Works Invitational opens Thu, May 8. Tue-Fri, 11am-5pm; Sat, 11am-4pm. 154 E. 6th St. 629-9759, DavisDominguez.com

DECO Art for the Garden, featuring artwork by Katherine Hetzel and Monica Hay Cook, displays through Sat, May 31. Tue-Wed, Sat, 11am-4pm; Thu-Fri, 11am-5pm. 2612 E. Broadway Blvd. 319-0888, DecoArtTucson.com

DESERT ARTISANS GALLERY Dreaming In Color opens Tue, May 6. Reception is Fri, May 9, 5pm-7pm. Mon-Sat, 10am-5pm; Sun, 10am-1:30pm. 6536 E. Tanque Verde Rd. 722-4412, DesertArtisansGallery.com 

DRAGONFLY GALLERY Spring Fling opens Fri, May 2 with a reception from 5:30pm-7:30pm. Featuring watercolor artists, Barbara Amyx, Pam Cheeseman, Jennifer Clark, Judy Constantine, Deanna Thibault and Scarlett Taylor; interpretative photographs of nature by photographer Don Knight. 146 E. Broadway Blvd. 628-3164, DragonFlyVillage.org

Detail of Jenny Day's "Sanctuary." Day's work shows at The Drawing Studio in May.

Detail of Jenny Day’s “Sanctuary.”
Day’s work shows at The Drawing Studio in May.

THE DRAWING STUDIO Resonant Soils and Revision Structures by Jenny Day and Karen deClouet shows Sun, May 3-Sun, May 31 with a reception opening night, 6pm-8pm. Mon-Thu, 10am-4pm; Sat, 1pm-4pm. 33 S. 6th Ave. 620-0947, TheDrawingStudio.org

ETHERTON GALLERY Under The Violet Sky by Bill Lesch, Gail Marcus-Orlen, and Lynn Taber continues through June. Tue-Sat, 11am-5pm. 135 S. 6th Ave. 624-7370, EthertonGallery.com

JOSEPH GROSS GALLERY. Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition continues through Fri, May 16. Art by Kristin Bauer and Emmett Potter opens Wed, May 28. Mon-Fri, 8am-5pm. 1031 N. Olive Rd. 626-4215, CFA.arizona.edu/galleries

LOUIS CARLOS BERNAL GALLERY Annual Student Juried Art Exhibition continues through Fri, May 9. Mon-Thu,10am-5pm; Fri, 10am-3pm. 2202 W. Anklam Rd. 206-6942, Pima.Edu/cfa

MURPHEY GALLERY Luminous Watercolors an exhibit of original watercolors by artists Shannon Russell, Euayne Glinski and Loisanne Keller, opens Sun, May 4 with a reception from 12:30pm-2:30pm. Sun, 12pm-5pm; Tue & Thu, 2pm-4pm or by appointment. St Philip’s in the Hills Episcopal Church, 4440 N. Campbell Ave. 299-6421.

MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART See website for details. $8, adults; free, children under 12, members, military; free to all last Sunday of the month. 265 S. Church Ave. 624-5019, MOCA-Tucson.org

PHILABAUM GLASS GALLERY & STUDIO See website for information. Tue-Sat, 10am-5pm. 711 S. 6th Ave. 884-7404, PhilabaumGlass.com

PORTER HALL GALLERY Two Artist Show featuring Troy Boswell and John Culp takes place Fri, May 2-Fri, May 30. Daily, 8:30am-4:30pm. $13, adults; $12, student/senior/military, $7.50, children 4-12; Free, children 3 and younger. 2150 N. Alvernon Way. 326-9686, TucsonBotanical.org

RAICES TALLER 222 ART GALLERY AND WORKSHOP Gente De La Tierra continues through Sat, May 17. Fri-Sat, 1pm-5pm & by appointment. 218 E. 6th St. 881-5335, RaicesTaller222.webs.com

Blue print of "Eternal Universe," by Daniel Martin Diaz, shows at Sacred Machine May 10-May 31.

Blue print of “Eternal Universe,” by Daniel Martin Diaz, shows at Sacred Machine May 10-May 31.

SACRED MACHINE  Blue Print for the Future exhibit opens May 10 and runs through May 31. Gallery closes May 31; a farewell celebration takes place May 10, 5pm-10pm. Closing day hours on May 31 are noon-9 p.m. Regular hours are Wed-Fri, 5pm-8pm; Sat, 4pm-9pm. 245 E. Congress St. 777-7403, SacredMachine.com

SOUTHERN ARIZONA WATERCOLOR GUILD Experimental Art Show continues through Sun, May 4. WOW: Watch Our Walls opens Tue, May 6. Reception is Fri, May 9, 5pm-7pm. Tue-Sun, 11am-4pm. SAWG Gallery, 5605 E. River Rd. 299-7294, SouthernAzWatercolorGuild.com

TRUST GALLERY Unhinged, featuring the art of Archie Sutton, opens Fri, May 2 with a reception from 4pm-8pm. Flying Leap Vineyards, St Philip’s Plaza, 4330 N. Cambell Ave. 602-481-8944, TrustArtAndDesign.com

UA ART MUSEUM MFA Thesis Exhibition continues through Fri, May 16. Tue-Fri, 9am-5pm; Sat-Sun, 12pm-4pm. $5 adults; children/students/faculty, free. 1031 N. Olive Rd. ArtMuseum.arizona.edu

WEE GALLERY A.T. Willett, Photographs from the 1980s Archive shows Sat, May 3-Sat, May 31. Thu-Sat, 11am-6pm. 439 N. 6th Ave Suite #171. 360-6024, GalleryWee.com

WILDE MEYER GALLERY  Views of the West opens Thu, May 8. Interpretations and Interpretations (Annex) open Thu, May 8. Mon-Fri, 10am-5:30pm. Wilde Meyer Gallery, 3001 E. Skyline Dr. WildeMeyer.com

WOMANKRAFT ART GALLERY Drawing Down The Muse continues through Sat, May 24. Wed-Sat; 1pm-5pm. 388 S. Stone Ave. 629-9976, WomanKraft.org

YOU AND YOUR BIG IDEAS GALLERY Rhythm and Harmony: New Works by Gavin Hugh Troy takes place Sat, May 3. 174 E. Toole Ave. 629-9230, Facebook.com/YouAndYourBigIdeas