DOWNTOWN / UNIVERSITY / 4TH AVE

Embrace & Harvest the Rain

July 22, 2013 |

Brad Lancaster, a Tucson gem and water harvesting guru.

Most desert dwellers love, crave, the summer monsoons.

The magical intensity of clouds building up to bring forth los chubascos results in a full-body experience. The scent and taste of the showers, the cooling of the air; the visuals of grey and purple skies lit up by white-hot lightning, the BOOM of the thunder claps and the sound of the sheeting downpours is always so mind-blowing.

What isn’t so awesome are the resultant flooded streets, trying to navigate roads turned into rivers, while watching rainwater whisked away from thirsty ground.

Locally, lassoing rainwater to change the dire and dangerous flooding has been turning tide with the help of many organizations, city codes and the tireless work of Brad Lancaster.

Lancaster is a Tucson gem and water harvesting guru who, according to his bio at HarvestingRainwater.com, culls from the sky, at his abode, “100,000 gallons of rainwater a year on a 1/8-acre urban lot and adjoining right-of-way.”

Anyone who has watched the evolution of Lancaster’s Dunbar/Spring ‘hood over the last decade knows this. A few months ago at a lunch meeting with Arizona State Representative Steve Farley, Lancaster’s efforts came up and the District 28 Democratic Representative said: “Brad Lancaster has transformed that neighborhood.”

Besides transforming a neighborhood, Lancaster has helped to transform a city, and a dominant paradigm in a country that regards water as an endless resource that comes from the spigot. In 2006, he released his first book, Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands Volume 1: Guiding Principles, and followed that up with Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond Volume 2: Water-Harvesting Earth Works in 2008.

This June, Lancaster released a second edition to Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands Volume 1, which features “100 pages of new information, 120 new images, 40 additional images revised, and more,” he wrote via email.

Lancaster was a road warrior in June 2013, spreading rain harvesting techniques on a whirlwind tour of seminars, talks and book signings between New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California. We tried to connect on the phone, but his vehicular travels between the mountainous regions of Utah and Nevada thwarted cell phone interview efforts.

We settled on an email exchange about Volume 1’s upcoming new addition, his thoughts about Tucson’s efforts in the rain harvesting arena and advice for the novices interested in saving water from the sky.

Zocalo Magazine: We caught you at a really busy time! Looks like June has been packed with events – book signings, readings, seminars and talks. How long have you been on the road for this last go-round?

Brad Lancaster: Well. I was a relative hermit working on finishing the book before its release on June 13 (2013). Though this past spring, I did teach in Baja, Mexico; Madrid, NM; Albuquerque, NM and a few other locations. But now that the book is out I’ve been on the road since June 13. I’ll return July 1. The Events section of my website lists some of my upcoming events. Some teaching trips abroad, perhaps not yet listed, include southern Italy and Ciudad Obregon, Mexico.

ZM: For the novice, let’s say a mid-westerner or an east-coast transplant to Tucson, what basic steps would you recommend one takes for getting their proverbial feet wet (and not getting overwhelmed!) 

BL: Get out in the rain to see where it goes, where the runoff flows, how much there is, and the tremendous potential you’ll likely have to harvest. This is the really fun stuff – dancing in the rain!

Then I recommend they simply shape the earth with a shovel (when the soil is moist and easy to work) to redirect the runoff to their plantings where it is a resource, rather than to the street or elsewhere where the water is wasted and lost.

Often this entails digging a simple basin around or beside plantings, using the dug out soil to create a section of raised pathway that will redirect and harvest still more water. Then harvest organic matter and fertility as well by mulching the basin with organic matter, or at the very least just let any fallen leaves beneficially collect there.

We call leaves “leaves” because we are supposed to leave them where they fall beneath plants (in water-harvesting earthworks) where the leaves (and cut up prunings) will break down and build healthier, more water-absorbent, more fertile soil for free.

ZM: Have you seen positive changes locally, regionally, nationally when it comes to harvesting rainwater?

BL: Yes. When the first edition of my first book was released in 2006, it seemed only a few people were harvesting water. Now there are many, many more citizens, businesses and neighborhoods doing it all over town, the southwest and the globe.

Tens of thousands have been inspired into action by my books, presentations, and teachings.

And these numbers are swelling even more by the work of a growing number of water-harvesting installers, groups teaching and promoting water harvesting such as Watershed Management Group, Sonoran Permaculture Guild, our City, and people creating demonstration sites on their property, at their kid’s schools, or in the public right-of-way along their neighborhood streets.

For example, when I started harvesting water I was the only one doing so on my block. Now 80% of the folks on my block do so!

ZM: What would you like to see from Tucson’s citizens and city government? What aspects do you applaud and where can we improve?

BL: I would like Tucson to be known as a water-harvesting capital of the southwest. Thus I’d like passive water harvesting to be the norm in every private, public, and commercial landscape in such a way that rainwater and storm water runoff would be the primary irrigation sources of all our landscapes, and greywater would be a secondary source where available. This would be a huge shift from the current common/dominant practice of using drinking water from Tucson Water as the sole source of irrigation water in most landscapes.

I would also like to see Tucson become a sun-harvesting capital of the southwest where every new or retrofitted building and landscape is oriented and designed to maximize the free winter heat and light of the sun, while maximizing the free cooling of shade in summer. In addition, Tucson should get the majority of its power and water heating from our abundant sun, rather than coal and natural gas. A solar rights act protecting buildings’ year-round access to the sun for active and passive solar harvesting is key to this. New Mexico already has such a solar rights act in place, which could inform our efforts.

My new book shows many ways to do this, while also harnessing other free on-site resources such as the wind and community.

I applaud those who have already made this a reality in their own lives, homes, businesses, and/or schools and places of worship.

I also applaud the City for its incentives such as the $2,000 per home rainwater-harvesting rebates and the $1,000 per home grey-water harvesting rebates. I also applaud the City for mandating that commercial landscapes provide at least 50% of their irrigation needs with harvested rainwater, and all new city streets harvest at least the volume of water falling in a half inch rainstorm. I want to see this mandated for all new private streets in new housing developments as well.

ZM: What will your talk and demonstration cover at the downtown library on July 27?

BL: I will cover all the above and more in an entertaining and informative way. I’ll show folks myriad ways we can simultaneously enhance the quality of all our lives, our community, our economy, and our environment. I’ll show folks how we can all enhance more vibrant life.

The July 27 event runs from 11am-1pm at 101 N. Stone Ave. Details on it, and Lancaster’s techniques, are at HarvestingRainwater.com.

Arizona Biennial: A “State of Art” Exhibition

July 18, 2013 |
Anh-Thuy Nguyen, "Thuy & Rice", 2011, Still Shots, Video, 4:34 minutes.

Anh-Thuy Nguyen, “Thuy & Rice”, 2011, Still Shots, Video, 4:34 minutes.

What does art in Arizona look like today? Do artists in Tucson do the same type of work as Phoenix based artists? Is painting dead? What the heck is an installation?

Every two years the Tucson Museum of Art undertakes an ambitious exhibition that attempts to answer these questions and highlights contemporary art as it is being created by Arizona artists in a single show like no other. The “Arizona Biennial” is open to any artist residing in the state and is always an fascinating survey of how artists are working and what their work looks like. For the past few iterations, the show has been guest curated by a single, invited juror. This arrangement offers two benefits, first all artists who submit to the show have their work seen by a prominent art world curator, and secondly the final show is often a representation of our state’s artists by an outside, unbiased eye. This year the guest juror is Rene Paul Barilleaux, chief Curator of Art after 1945 at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas.

Barilleaux selected “a large number of installations and videos” for inclusion this year according to Tucson Museum of Art curator Julie Sasse. “His unique vision will prove to be a factor in this exciting new look at Arizona art” said Sasse. This year the Biennial features five installations and six video artworks. That coupled with 28 paintings, 12 sculptures and 12 photographs, 15 works on paper and two mixed media pieces, it makes for a diverse and eclectic range of genres in one place. The 80 selected works were drawn from over 1,250 that were submitted by 419 artists around the state. 62 different artists are represented with a slight edge of male over female artists this year. The Phoenix area is home to 22 selected artists, while there are 34 Tucson based artists in the mix, along with 4 hailing from Flagstaff.

Craig Cully (Tucson), “Conviction: A Soft Punch”, 2012, Oil on panel 12.75″ x 12″.

Paintings make up a large percent of the wall space at the biennial again this year with several well known figurative artists presenting strong new works. Tucson favorites Daniel Martin Diaz, Craig Cully, James Cook and Michael Stack are represented with their powerful and unique visions. Former University of Arizona School of Art head and public artist Moira Marti-Geoffrion, and mixed media artist Michael Cajero also present strong works that speak to their unusual use of materials and presentation styles.

But perhaps looking beyond the recognizable names is the true allure of a show like the biennial. Work by emerging, or under-exposed artists from around the state lets us see how artists are responding to social, political and gender issues, along with how they are reacting to new media and non-traditional modes of expression. While this show represents the view of a single juror, and is based upon the submissions that were received, it is also a curious snapshot of a moment in time, and by looking at this show every two years, art aficionados can truly take stock of what contemporary art in Arizona looks like.

The Arizona Biennial exhibition opens on July 19 with a reception from 6-8pm. The show will be on display at the TMA through September 29 in the main exhibition space. The museum is located at 140 North Main Avenue. TucsonMuseumOfArt.Org

Over 1,250 works were submitted to Arizona Biennial 2013 and 80 pieces were selected for the exhibition. This is the oldest running juried exhibition featuring exclusively Arizona artists.

The 2013 Participating Artists are:

Noé Badillo (Tucson)

Robert Barber (Tucson)

Kristin Bauer (Tempe)

Jesse Berlin (Tucson)

Brent Bond (Scottsdale)

Michael Cajero (Tucson)

Christopher Colville (Phoenix)

James A. Cook (Tucson)

Craig Cully (Tucson)

Kerstin Dale (Flagstaff)

Bill Dambrova (Flagstaff)

Jennifer Day (Tucson)

Karen deClouet (Tucson)

Daniel Martin Diaz (Tucson)

Simon Donovan and Rebecca Horton (Tucson/Tucson)

Fausto Fernandez (Phoenix)

Jacob Fisher (Tempe)

Dan Fogel (Tempe)

Moira Marti Geoffrion (Tucson)

Sarah Gill (Tucson)

Jennifer Holt (Flagstaff)

Christopher Jagmin (Phoenix)

Mohammed Reza Javaheri (Phoenix)

Alan Bur Johnson (Jerome)

Devin Kelly (Flagstaff)

Ron Kovatch (Tucson)

Wen Hang Lin (Mesa)

Larry Valencia Madrigal (Glendale)

Michael Marlowe (Phoenix)

Monica Aissa Martinez (Phoenix)

Jill Marie Mason (Tempe)

Tom Mickelson (Tucson)

Eddie Mitchell (Scottsdale)

John Randall Nelson (Tempe)

Anh-Thuy Nguyen (Tucson)

Michael Nolan (Tucson)

George Peñaloza (Tucson)

Anthony Pessler (Phoenix)

Mark Pomilio (Tempe)

Teri Pursch (Tucson)

Rembrandt Quiballo (Tempe)

Doug Rautenkranz (Tucson)

Amanda Ivy Reed (Tucson)

Eduardo L. Rivera (Tempe)

Aaron Thomas Roth (Tucson)

Phil Rowland (Tempe)

Sarah Rowland (Tempe)

Dave Sayre (Tucson)

Steven Schaeffer (Flagstaff)

James Schaub (Tucson)

Henry Leo Schoebel (Phoenix)

Edwina Scott (Tucson)

Gary Setzer (Tucson)

Martina Shenal (Tucson)

Shannon Smith (Tucson)

Mano Sotelo (Tucson)

Shawna Leigh Spargur (Tucson)

Mike Stack (Tucson)

Karen Strom (Sonoita)

Hiro Tashima (Tucson)

Rossitza Todorova (Tempe)

Kathleen Velo (Tucson)

Angie Zielinski (Tucson)

Wen Hang Lin, “Day_09-09 from 10-29 to 17-18″, 2012, Computer recording of mouse movement, digital inkjet output on photo rag paper, 12″ x 40”.

Digging into the Planter Project

July 11, 2013 |

Smiles, salutations and the heavenly scent of books greet this writer on a summer Saturday morning at the Joel D. Valdez Main Library downtown. It is a half hour to opening and the staff is merrily chatting and organizing before their visitors arrive; light streams in through the southern facing floor-to-ceiling windows. The positivity and liveliness are contagious.

Today is a chat with Librarian Karen Greene who is much more than a librarian. Greene is a deeply involved community member (Mind Our Own Businesses, Tucson Spelling Bee, Book Bike, among other projects) and a visionary, with goals that range from short- and medium- to long-term, all shared with an inspiring lilt. We are sitting at a table in the library’s “café,” facing the plaza and the large planters we are meeting about.

“If I were queen,” she says, sweeping her arms in a gesture toward the Jácome Plaza and describing ideas for the half city-block space between the library and Pennington Street, with Stone Avenue and Church Avenue bordering the east and west ends. The field of vision fills with families enjoying a playground, a water splash park, a Kino Heritage Garden. Down the road, of course, if time and money can materialize…

“There are lots of cities with plazas that are vital to their downtown and we want Jácome Plaza to be vital to our downtown,” Greene explains. “I see a weekly event bookend: we have Meet Me at Maynard’s on Mondays, let’s have Meet Me at the Plaza on Fridays.”

Until the larger scope concepts can find sponsors or grants, there are more manageable projects on the horizon that will lead to refreshing the energy at Jácome Plaza. This summer, with the help of several community groups,  the main library is gearing up to revitalize the plaza’s large, grey, concrete planters that flank the building’s southern end with new vegetation and dedicated attention.

“The idea,” Greene says, “was another way to get the word out about the seed library and as a method to involve people in the planting process. The library is all about learning how to do stuff.”

Library Associate and Seed Librarian Kelly Wilson adds that the project “will demonstrate the possibilities of container gardening (to community volunteers) and how to replicate it at their homes and feel empowered to garden.”

The local food and gardening movement has been gaining noticeable traction as more and more people are realizing the necessity of taking back the food supply chain from corporate powers. While gardening in arid lands can be intimidating, Tucson is blessed to have numerous resources available to the novice. The planter project is a great way for the uninitiated to get their hands dirty and minds expanded.

With the guidance of local organizations such as Aravaipa Heirlooms, Arizona Native Plant Society, Community Gardens of Tucson and others, interested Tucsonans can adopt a planter and work under the tutelage of mentors to help grow and maintain the vegetation.

“Creating the (planters’) designs are the community mentor groups,” Greene shares. Wilson adds to that, saying, “They decide what is going in the planters, they know what is doable in this kind of environment, and will share that information with the volunteers to maintain the planters.”

Also contributing to the effort is the Downtown Tucson Partnership, which will be supplying some soil plus man power to the watering scheduling, along with the University of Arizona’s Compost Cats offering compost.

The library will also provide workshops to the general public once “we get planting,” Greens says. The planting day and “Big Dig” for the volunteer and community groups is on September 28, as part of the library’s DIY Day.

As the interview wraps up, we walk over to the seed library. Potential plant life resides in little packets organized in an old card catalogue.

Greene pulls out a few examples, shows the bar code and explains: “You can check out six packets at a time. Once a month, we take those off of your account and you can get six more. The seeds are labeled easy, medium, advanced, which relates to the difficulty in saving the seeds.”

The idea is for borrowers to voluntarily return seeds from the plants they grow. “We want people to harvest seeds from their best plants; we’re also looking for stories,” Greens explicates. “If you don’t save them (the seeds), you don’t save them.”

The ultimate goal, Wilson says, is to have a “completely community supported seed library that will reflect what does work here and what doesn’t work here. We want community ownership of the seed library.”

It looks like it is working. Last month, Wilson said, one thousand seed packets were circulated and one-half of those were donated by local gardeners.

Informational meetings about the planter project are at the main library, 101 N. Stone Ave. on:  Saturday, July 13, 8:30am-10am; Friday, July 16, noon-1pm; Saturday, August 10, 2pm-3:30pm; Friday, August 23, noon-1pm; Friday, September 6, noon-1pm. More details at Library.pima.gov (search Planter Project and seed library) or by calling the info line, 791-4010.

 

 

 

Quench your thirst at Tap + Bottle

July 2, 2013 |

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. 6th 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 4th Avenue or Congress Street bar scene. It’s just north of the 6th 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.

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 |

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. 6th Ave from 6-10 p.m. Fashion art designed by Leon will be modeled at the event.

Tap + Bottle opens

June 28, 2013 |

Tap + Bottle Opening, just before and right after. Read more about Tap + Bottle,  here

Dreaming Big. Really Big. In Widescreen Even.

May 11, 2013 |

Help Wanted

Filmmaking students often toil in obscurity with only their family, friends and fellow filmmakers for support while they work on a project. They rarely get a chance to see their work on the big screen, with all of the related hoopla and attention of their “professional” peers. Well, that’s not how it works at the University of Arizona’s School of Theatre, Film and Television. The annual showing of the final film projects by Bachelor of Fine Arts students again takes place at the Fox Tucson Theatre on Saturday, May 11 at 7pm. This year the program will feature the work of 17 different directors who are presenting the fruit of a yearlong legacy on film.

As in years past, the mix of thesis films this year includes a variety of topics and genres including documentaries, rock operas, romantic comedies and music videos. The films are also vying for a significant prize, $5,000 in film services by FotoKem of L.A. This is the third time the company has supported the event, which represents a strong interest in the UA’s students from the Hollywood industry company. The competition will be judged by a panel of significant jurors including: Claudette Godfrey, the short film programmer for the South by Southwest film festival; Brenda Lhormer, director of the Napa Valley Film Festival; and Kathleen McInnis, film curator and director of industry programming for the Palm Springs ShortsFest.

Lisanne Skyler, Associate Professor at the school of Theatre, Film and Television is hard pressed to nail down a theme of this year’s films. She did feel that all the films were “ambitious” and “pushing the student’s ideas out” but was also quick to state that the filmmakers are also very aware and “care about the audience for their work, and want to make sure they are communicating with the audience whatever it is that they are doing.” Skyler is also proud to mention that recent UA school film grads are making a splash in the festival world with recent films being accepted at the Aspen Shorts Film Festival and Palm Springs Shorts Film Festival.

The wide range of films at this year’s iteration is a first according to Skyler in regards to having everything from animation to documentary along with sci-fi, drama, romance and comedy. The students also seem to be benefiting from the recent increase in hi-tech equipment, which is allowing for a greater range of styles and finishes thanks to Canon cameras and other advances in the industry. But as the old adage goes, it all comes down to story, and no new, fancy camera or technical skill can make a poor story good.

A few films that were available at press time included a dark comedy set in a convenience store entitled “Help Wanted” which is both well done and a sad statement on the current economic climate, and “Ljosio,” which is a music video of sorts married to a dance performance with striking visuals and a haunting soundtrack. Also of note are the films “Allergic To Love” about a man who believes his romantic troubles are really an allergy; “Dad’s Space Mission” which is a mock-umentary about a quest to launch a loved one’s ashes into space; and the science fiction film “Grey State” about a future world where the psychic powers of citizens are exploited by the government.

I Dream In Widescreen, Saturday, May 11 at 7pm at the Fox Tucson Theatre, 17 West Congress Street. The screening is free and open to the public, and doors open at 6pm. Seating fills up, so arrive early. 

More info at http://tftv.arizona.edu


 

The Chords You Need

May 11, 2013 |

It’s a beautiful spring Saturday in the Sonoran Desert; birds are chirping, fruit blossoms are fragrantly blooming and “Electric Caribou” is dancing forth from the speakers.

This is an afternoon with The Modeens; singer/guitarist/songwriter Jamie Laboz, bassist/singer/songwriter Cristina Williams and drummer Jeff Diday. Missing is keyboardist/harmonica/contributing singer/songwriter Dave Prival as the herpetologist is in Cali tracking a reptile. Prival’s genius is evoked throughout the album and the interview. Laboz describes Prival as a “reserved guy, a quiet scientist, but, you wouldn’t know that seeing him onstage. The first time I saw him play, he did a keyboard solo with his head!”

The conversation bounces around from chatting about the desert’s biodiversity to the stylistic diversity of the band’s third release and second full length, “Electric Caribou.”

Laboz and Williams laugh when asked about the album name, and the story goes like this: “I was playing in a blues band in LA, and this guy came in with cooked caribou on a platter,” Laboz starts, “he looked like a lumberjack.”  Williams adds, “a Santa Claus lumberjack but huge!” The surreal experience had the couple saying caribou aloud over and over that night.

“I was loading gear out of the car after the show,” Laboz remembers, “and in this stream-of-consciousness moment, I said ‘Electric Caribou!’ and Cristina laughed.”

The words stuck with the couple, they knew they had to use it somehow, somewhere, and as Laboz says, “a good song or good title keeps coming back.”

With this 10-track release the band has songs that were in its live repertoire for years but not recorded, others were recorded for previous projects; but the songs all come together seamlessly – even with the divergent styles (overall, a 60s vibe that channels classic rock sounds, punk, country and even a ballad).

“Fen (Ikner, who mastered the album) helped us sequence the order of the songs,” Laboz explains, “and we realized he put it in order of a story, in order by key, and it drew a narrative.”

As the album listening party progresses, Laboz, Williams and Diday give the inside scoop on the tracks. Track one, “Modeens Theme” is a groovy rock-romp party song, beginning with the sound of a beer can opening and Williams’ sultry, “Ah yeahhhh.” Prival’s mad genius keys are front and center, with hand clapping and the rhythm section rocking the beats. Then there’s a smattering of beer bottles clinking together, courtesy of Diday, “I do all the weird things besides playing drums. On the last album, I played pots and pans.”

The rock continues with a Laboz penned tune, “Drinkin’ Is A Full Time Job.” He explains: “I wrote that song at Parkside Lounge in NYC, I was on unemployment and drinking.” As we listen, Laboz says, “Fen said this sounds like the Stones and Steve Miller. But, the bridge is Bob Seger.” Cristina seconds that, “Yeah, it is totally Bob Seger!”

The conversation jumps around, as conversations customarily do, so not every song is talked about, but what is shared is songwriting contributions were split between Laboz, Williams and Prival, with Laboz crediting Prival as “the real rocker, he is always the jilted lover in his songs.” Prival’s tunes, “Caroline” and “Not About Me” definitely cull from punk sensibilities – hard driving, intense and fast. Beyond that, Laboz stresses, “Dave is such a sick harp player, he’s so crazy, and there’s so much harp on the record!” It is true, and Prival’s powerful harmonica parts add fantastic depth to the tunes.

When track six starts, “Favorite Shoes,” Diday says, “I googled funtry, it’s not out there.” Funtry, as a music style described by Diday, is “a fun version of country, using all of the clichés of country…” Williams adds, “Yes, but delightfully so!” It’s no disrespect to country; it shares a light-hearted twist on this song, highlighted by Prival’s rag time/honky tonk piano and Aaron Gilmartin’s banjo.

Fun is certainly what we need these days, with all of the craziness of the world torn apart by misunderstanding and fear-based hate. The Modeens offer an album to lose yourself in, a place to let the chords take your mind out of time, to relax and dance. As my husband says, “Baby, I need to get some chords,” and as my father once told me, “Jamie, never underestimate the power of entertainment.”

Have rockin’ fun at The Modeens’ CD release on Saturday, May 18 at Barrio Brewing, 800 E. 16th St. Shrimp Chaperone opens, St. Maybe closes. More info at TheModeens.com.

2nd Saturdays Celebrates 3 Years

May 11, 2013 |

Aztral Folk

Since May 2010, 2nd Saturdays Downtown has consistently entertained event attendees with quality Tucson bands, street performers, acoustic acts and more. Local arts non-profits like Odaiko Sonora and Tucson Circus Arts have lent their talents over the years; Cinema La Placita has provided the free, outdoor film screenings since the event’s inception.

While hiccups in Tucson’s normally temperate weather have affected the crowds, the populace always came back to the event upon clear climes. Summertime typically sees throngs of people coming out to take in what downtown has to offer.

It has been about a year that Congress Street was off limits to vehicular traffic for the modern streetcar construction. Now that those days are (mostly) behind us, the travel paths are open to the masses to enjoy the local restaurants, bars, coffee shops, retail outlets and Downtown’s unique, historic performance venues.

For its 3rd Anniversary, the free event is featuring wide-ranging genres on the Scott Avenue stage. Opening at 6:30 p.m. is ethno-psychedelic fusion band Aztral Folk; following is Kevin Pakulis and The Coyote Supper Club (8 p.m.-9:15 p.m.). In-between acts, is the alluring Belly Dance Tucson with Atom Heart Mother, a Pink Floyd tribute band, gracing the stage from 9:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.

The event is introducing a new venue, T.O.P., located on the roof of the Pennington Street Garage at 110 E. Pennington St. with classic rock band Five Way Street performing up there between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Borderlands Brewery will be selling beer on the roof.

Get more information at 2ndSaturdays.com and follow the event at Ffacebook.com/2ndSaturdaysDowntown.

Citizens Warehouse Captured in Print

May 1, 2013 |

Christopher Stevens. Photo by Alec Laughlin

Downtown historic warehouses teem with artists, though you likely wouldn’t guess it driving by the mostly century-old warehouses on Toole Avenue or the nearby Citizens Warehouse. Dozens and dozens of artists are hunkered away inside. Not much is happening streetside. And thus the entire artisan subculture goes largely unnoticed, other than during the pair of Open Studios Tours each year.

But the artists are there year-round, pretty much anonymously. Alec Laughlin counts among that number. He’s had a studio at the Citizens Warehouse since only January 2011. Before then, the acrylic and charcoal painter was truly anonymous, working out of his home.

In just a bit over two years encamped in the Historic Arts District, Laughlin has taken on the duties of president of the Warehouse Arts Management Organization (WAMO) and published “Citizens Warehouse,” a 140-page tome densely packed with select works by 24 artists that call the Citizens Warehouse their artistic home.

“The book is my big neon sign and marquee for the building,” Laughlin said. “I just want to shine a spotlight on the Citizens Warehouse and the artists that work inside. I just realized so much was going on in there with so much creative energy, but nobody knew it. When you drive by, this building is just a huge hulk that looks empty. I just realized the artists needed exposure.”

You can meet all the artists on May 9 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the book launch party at the Citizens Warehouse, 44 W. 6th St. Laughlin stresses there are “huge parking lots north and east” of the warehouse. Online promotional material, and Laughlin in conversation, make it a point to stress that the book launch party involves “beer and wine.”

“It’s mostly come and meet the artists. It’s a party in my studio. If you ask, artists might show you their studios,” Laughlin said. Laughlin scheduled the party for a Thursday evening. “I didn’t want to compete with other events or people going out to dinner.”

People who pre-ordered “Citizens Warehouse” can pick up the book at the party. The $40 book will also be for sale there. Otherwise, the book may be purchased online at citizensart.com, the Web site for the Citizens Artist Collective, which the warehouse artists established in 2010 to “manage the affairs and concerns of the artists in their relation to Citizens Warehouse management.”

The Collective and Lauglin’s work on the book has altered the dynamic within the Citizens Warehouse. “The artists are interacting with each other more,” Laughlin observed. “That’s a big difference. It’s so nice to have this artistic camaraderie.”  The book devotes four pages to each artist with five, six or seven artistic images and bio material. Julie Sasse, chief curator at the Tucson Museum of Art, wrote the forward. As much as the book is about the artists, the book does not ignore the building’s history.

The Citizens Warehouse has stood at 6th Street and Stone Avenue since 1929, first as a one-story structure, and then a second story was added in 1951. Architect Roy Place designed the warehouse with cast-in-place reinforced concrete that can support a five-story structure, something that has not yet happened. With taller buildings now rising around Downtown, who knows whether Place’s over-engineering will produce more levels.  If the name Roy Place sounds familiar, he also was the architect of the iconic Pima County Courthouse and the historic Montgomery Ward building that now houses the University of Arizona Downtown. These buildings and the warehouse all became downtown fixtures in the same year: 1929.  The warehouse was built for the Citizens Transfer & Storage Co., which was established in 1907 to deliver goods and merchandise from the railroad to merchants and individual. For the first two decades, Citizens operated on Congress Street before building the warehouse.

The Arizona Department of Transportation bought the Citizens Warehouse in 1984 along with 36 more warehouses and other properties with the intention to demolish them all to build a bypass road to link the Barraza-Aviation Parkway to Interstate 10. Most of the warehouses where spared as the City of Tucson took on the bypass and realigned the route to preserve warehouses that had spawned an arts district in the 1980s.

Citizens Warehouse Book cover

Artists have leased space inside the state-owned Citizens since 1994, sparked by arts space manager David Aguirre fielding requests for studio space and him observing a vacant Citizens Warehouse. The Warehouse Arts Management Organization is the warehouse’s master lease holder.  “The building is safe. What’s tenuous about it is, when the state plans to unload it, it would go up for auction,” Laughlin said. Artists have one primary objective: “Whatever needs to be done to preserve the building as artists’ studios and affordable space.”

Lease or own is a question floating around. Like with a home, leasing and owning each have their own advantages and drawbacks. Laughlin envisions the Collective, BICAS (a Citizens Warehouse tenant) and WAMO could own Citizens collectively. Or the City or some other entity could own it and the artist continue leasing.

“We do talk about it, the challenge you’d face,” Laughlin said. “We’d like to see ownership by an arts organization.”

The first run of “Citizens Warehouse” produced 500 copies with another 200 or 300 available. All the proceeds from the book will go to the Citizens Artist Collective for repairs and maintenance to the building and public programs.  “We need a new roof. It leaks really badly,” Laughlin said. “We want to try to engage with the community more with classes and field trips. We want to set up some scholarships.”

The Collective recently became a nonprofit and Laughlin established Eponymous Atelier as the publishing entity for the book and possible future books. The book was made possible in part through an initiative of the Tucson Pima Arts Council, in partnership with the Warehouse Arts Management Organization, and sponsored by a National Endowment for the Arts Our Town grant. To learn more about the initiative, visit www.tucsonpimaartscouncil.org.

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