Events

Recess for the Grown-Ups

October 6, 2013 |

Adults enjoy the Children’s Museum Tucson interactive exhibits during the 2012 Evening of Play fundraiser.
photo: Britta Van Vranken/courtesy Children’s Museum Tucson

There are levitating balls, a miniature train set and a sound wave machine. You want to experiment and play. It’s okay, you can admit it. This stuff is cool! But you’re an adult, and the Children’s Museum is just for kids. Right?

Wrong. At 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 12, the Children’s Museum opens its doors for its third-annual Evening of Play, an adults-only exclusive event that allows the “big kids” to play and interact with the museum’s exhibits.

“It’s such a unique opportunity for adults to come down and to enjoy the museum and just play,” says Michael Luria, executive director of Children’s Museum Tucson.

But the fundraising event doesn’t stop there. Live music, artistic performances and a silent auction are also included in the festivities. The best part? All of the Evening of Play’s proceeds will support the Children’s Museum in their ongoing efforts to provide interactive and innovative learning experiences for children and families.

“It’s just really a fun interactive event that really supports our exhibits and programming,” Luria adds.

And just in case the excited adults work up an appetite during all of the activities and entertainment, some of Tucson’s treasured tastes from local eateries – Geo Taco, The Hub, Cup Café, Contigo and others – will be on hand. Adult beverages, such as “Playtinis” are on the menu along with other “playfully inspired libations.”

The evening will also allow adults to take a look into the museum’s brand new “Wee World” and Art Studio exhibits, a highlight for the event. The museum is expecting about 350 to 400 guests

“Anyone is welcome to attend,” said Daniela Siqueiros, marketing and membership manager. “It’s going to be a really fun evening.”

Can’t get enough Children’s Museum? The museum is also looking forward to their Bollywood inspired event called “Fame” – Family Arts and Music Experience – that will be a free admission day to children and their families on Sunday, Oct. 27 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Evening of Play begins at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27 at 200 S. 6th Ave. Tickets are $125 per person. All proceeds will help the museum continue to provide innovative learning opportunities. To RSVP or for more information, call (520) 792-9985 or visit ChildrensMuseumTucson.org.

Ephemera and Eccentricities

October 6, 2013 |

Tradition and a 40th Anniversary Spice Up Tucson Meet Yourself, October 11-13

Celebrations of Tucson’s ethnic cultures are the reason for Tucson Meet Yourself!
photo: Steven Meckler/courtesy Tucson Meet Yourself

Tuck in your sari; swallow that mouthful of paella and hang on to your delicate Ukrainian egg. Somewhere between the first spring roll and listening to the bagpipes – you’ll be swept away by an annual phenomenon that lies dormant in Tucson until the second weekend of October. But then, ethnic pride blooms into quite a feast, a meeting of yourself Downtown, a delicious celebration that mixes up shared cultures in the desert.

Authenticity is serious business at Tucson Meet Yourself (TMY), celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. So is the eating and learning about what is both exciting and everyday in a most remarkable cultural stew.

The giant of a man behind all this is hard to miss! Although now leaning on a walker or riding his scooter, Dr. Jim Griffith, practicing urban anthropologist, still looms large at the annual festival. Plucking his banjo, admiring a Mexican lady’s flowers, listening to and talking with Tohono O’odham and Turks and everyone else in between, this man of everyday people has made sharing the multi-cultures of the Arizona-Sonora region his life’s work, resulting in books, the past directorship of the Southwest Folklore Center at the University of Arizona, as well as the nation’s highest honor for folklorists from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Veterans of Big Jim will not be disappointed this year when his showcase of ourselves again covers every corner of the Presidio, Jácome Plaza and environs – a site selected 40 years ago as “neutral ground” for the city’s cultural collaboration. Like an old-fashioned, massive quilting circle, TMY activates Downtown as its own utopian community, a funky melting pot along the lines of what Big Jim and Loma Griffith, the founders of TMY, call “the fruitcake model” – full of textures and colors that stand on their own within a nutty cake.

Doing the 40th
Even if you’re not a fruitcake fan you’ll still enjoy this party of the people. The 2013 event has some new elements, including:

photo: Steven Meckler/courtesy TMY

The 40th Anniversary Cultural Kitchen foodway includes 25 food demonstrations from local cooking gurus, ranging from Ethiopian red lentil stew, to chiltepin chocolate ice cream and Swedish spritz cookies. Also expect prickly pear cheese cake, cholla bud/nopalito salad, Congolese lenga lenga (amaranth stew) and Russian beet vinaigrette salad. The kitchen runs until 7pm Saturday and all day Sunday, and of course the 50+ food booths are open until festival lights out.

The Lowrider Show and Shine returns to its original TMY location (Tucson Museum of Art), while nearby at La Cocina Old Town Artisans – there’ll be a satellite storytelling stage hosted by Pima County Library Foundation.

A new visual and educational exhibit on the Chinese in Tucson will be sponsored by the Chinese Cultural Center in a tent outside the main library at Jácome Plaza, while the Western History Association (conducting its annual meeting up in the Foothills) will host a panel discussion on one TMY stage, bringing scholars who study the history of the west Downtown to join the festival fusion.

Expect the 25th Annual AIDSWalk Tucson to traverse through the festival, kicking off Sunday’s program, beginning at 9am.

Tall Tales
While for many TMY is all about the food, others are interested in the peculiar folklore that has grown up around the festival over four decades. If you haven’t heard the storytelling, here are a few tales:

  • Setting for miracles: The worst tropical storm in Arizona’s history occurred in 1983, with this 100-year flood reporting the highest crests in the Rillito and the Santa Cruz. Campbell Avenue was a river and Grant Road a lake, and distraught festival planners worked out contingency plans with the city and Pima County, so that the cultural clubs who relied on TMY food sales wouldn’t be devastated by the downpours. As it turned out, that year the rains abruptly ceased the Friday of the festival, opening a circle of blue sky over TMY Friday through Sunday – whereupon the rains began again all over Tucson. Or so the folklore goes.
  • The Name Game: The first “Tucson, Meet Yourself” (an intentional comma provided a grammatically correct invitation) was a two-day affair, kicked off by a Friday night “Fandango” (animated dance party) at a newly built La Placita Village. In 1975, the name changed to “TMY and Friends,” to allow all the ethnic you’d ever want from other parts of the country to join in the Tucson party. That year, TMY hosted national recording artist and first lady of Tejano Lydia Mendoza, among other national artists. The name returned to “Tucson Meet Yourself”(without the comma) in 1976, and that name stuck (except for a 1995-2000 hiatus, when the festival was called “THE Tucson Heritage Experience,” and not run by Jim and Loma).
  • Experimentation: Although the mission remained the same over 40 years, Jim often looked for ways to keep the festival fresh. Some ideas, like the Liar’s Contest, which had as its top prize a bronzed cow pie on a plaque, came in 1979 and stayed for a few years. Others, like the corrido contest, begun in 1982, remain an important part of the festival.
  • Supper breaks: In the early years, TMY employed a very-extended supper break on Saturdays to allow tradition bearers to eat and refresh before the evening program. Back in 1974, the festival needed a way to let folks know the festival was starting up again after the supper break. Someone suggested that the pipers process from their courtyard practice area to the city hall stage, bellowing away to herald the program restart. The tradition stuck (even after supper breaks ended in the mid-1990s).
  • Paseo: In the 1980s, when one group wanted to do a fashion show onstage, Jim and team responded by asking all groups to participate in a traditional Show and Tell called the Paseo. For many years, promenades of ethnic costumes were the de rigueur of the Saturday programs. Women and men wearing traditional and contemporary styles of dress proudly displayed their outfits while an emcee explained the intricacies as well as the meaning of the colors and the ornamentation.  The Paseo continued off and on but in a minimal way after the formal supper breaks ended.
  • Gang of Five: What started as a gathering put together by Jim and Loma’s close friends evolved even in the early years as a complex undertaking requiring hundreds of volunteers. The beginning core volunteer group was called the Gang of Five (a nod to the Mao Zedong era and his revolutionary political group known as the Gang of Four). The Tucson gang that planned and ran the festival from the late 1970s until 1995 actually never numbered five. Started after strong urgings from Loma, the group always numbered somewhere between four and 15. Mike and Frieda Stafford, who met doing garbage detail at the festival, and celebrated their honeymoon hauling a white garbage cart through the park with “Just Married” written on it, were part of the early Gang of Five. They’re still married and still attend TMY.

Inevitably, as you lick the last remnants of fry bread from your fingers, someone asks a question about the origins of the treat, or how to spell how to spell chivichanga. And that leads to an exchange at the heart of Jim and Loma’s festival vision: The more we appreciate, the more we’ll respect, increasing the chances of understanding and working together.

The generosity of simple people allowing strangers into their cultures for 40 years is something to remember as we eat or dance or touch that priceless traditional artwork. After the TMY blitz of culture overload that hits the sweet spot this month, ordinary life will seem that much more extraordinary to you.

The free festivities take place at the main library plaza, El Presidio Park, and surrounding streets from 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Oct 11-12 and 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Oct 13. Schedule and parking information is available at TucsonMeetYourself.org.

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TMY Time Capsule
If you want a head start (or a follow up) to the festival, be sure to visit Special Collections, UA Main Library, where a rich repository of TMY folklore is on display, in an exhibit that crisscrosses culture with historical documents and enough visual ephemera to call up festival fun.

“Big Jim” Griffith with his banjo, likely sharing a story before playing a song.
photo courtesy TMY/date unknown

This time capsule of posters, t-shirts, music, leaflets, tickets, albums and all sorts of Big Jim memorabilia was assembled by UA associate librarian Bob Diaz (who also is Library coordinator of exhibits and events and curator of the Library’s Performing Arts collection).

The exhibit is organized by eras and themes, which unfold into unique TMY snapshots, past and present. Each display case, panel or kiosk feels like its own treasure chest, worthy of pleasurable browsing. Adding to the complexity and fun is a music kiosk, containing audio from the festival’s early years. Another large monitor gives great pictorial punch and, sometimes, emotion, to the exhibit via a photographic faces of the festival display.

The overall history itself comes alive through material that tells a different side of the well-known story: for example, there are Jim’s 1974 handwritten and typed notes that show ideas and budget for the 1974 event. In another case, the first corrido contest is brought to life by its printed ephemera. Dog eared old photos provide a connection with the past in ways that today’s digital images cannot – illuminating TMY history to new generations.

An hour before what turned out to be a packed opening-night reception in mid-September, Big Jim and Loma were seen surveying the cases with apparent delight. All told, the exhibition presents hundreds of items from a collection Jim donated to the archives several years ago. Fascinating and even a little weird (the bronzed Liar’s Contest cow pie plaque is on display), this Big Jim exhibition is worth a trip.

“40 Years of Tucson Meet Yourself” is on view at Special Collections, UA Main Library, 1510 E. University Blvd., through January 12, 2014. Hours are Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Entry is free, as is use of the vast and interesting Special Collections archives, where anyone is allowed to research priceless documents and memorabilia on subjects as varied as mining, Gabrielle Giffords or Stewart Udall archives, and an oddly wonderful vaudeville collection. All that is required is to complete some paperwork. A professional band of archivists and librarians are always available to help you discover something interesting about the Southwest. Learn more at: SpecColl.Library.Arizona.edu.

 

Angles on Achieving Happiness

October 5, 2013 |

In a Downtown lecture series, five University of Arizona faculty members share how to utilize scientific research and ancient philosophies as tools for improving life.

Photos courtesy UA College of Social and Behavioral Sciences

In unscientific Facebook and verbal polls conducted by this writer, the question “What is your definition of happiness?” elicited responses ranging from one-word certainties (acceptance, self-respect, good friends, love) to a list of experiences that bring pleasure (a breeze, music, silence, the scent of desert rain); to smart-aleck (a warm gun) to grumpy and demeaning (your “research” is quixotic).

Certainly, individual definitions of happiness are subjective (not everyone finds happiness in solitude and camping), but, as a species – can we define what it is to be happy on some baseline level? Basic provisions for survival probably need to initially be met: water, food, clothing, shelter. Beyond that, what else is universal? Perhaps music, art and homage to a greater being or purpose; such themes have been a running thread in the cultural artifacts of us Homo sapiens.

The question has been rooted in philosophical thought for centuries, but recent scientific inquiries are quantifying elements of happiness in ways that, viscerally, most of us already know. Taking care of our physicality translates to well-being; exercising kicks in brain chemistry that influences our moods via our neurotransmitters. Conversely, it is difficult to be happy when you are sick. Why? Because you feel like crap, you are in pain, et cetera. We get satisfaction out of a job well done – and when people appreciate our work and say thank you, that unexpected benefit elevates our self-esteem. The scientific explanations can be complex, but the principles are simple and sometimes we need reminders on how to achieve a higher state of existence.

The questions, answers and implications are huge. The more satisfied, content or fulfilled a person is can directly affect their families, friends and neighbors. Our interactions with each other have a ripple effect – how many times have you been the brunt of displaced anger and subsequently snarled at the next person who crossed your path? What about the times when a random smile inspired you to randomly smile at someone else? We can create better communities and a better world by thinking about and acting on the concepts that will be shared at the Fox Theatre weekly on Wednesdays from Oct. 16 through Nov. 13, hosted and organized by the UA’s College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

While each UA faculty member has a different lens through which they will present their topics, the common thread and definition of happiness they share is the idea of creating a life of well-being and meaning.

Celestino Fernandez, Ph.D.

As the UA’s School of Sociology Undergraduate Studies Director Celestino Fernandez, Ph.D., describes: “People most consistently say that the following three things make them happy, and these are certainly sociological: family and friends, doing good for others, being engaged in meaningful activities. No one on their deathbed wishes they had more time to live so they could acquire more stuff! They wish they had more time to spend with family and friends.

“Yes, subjectivity is involved in the definition of happiness but there is a great deal of research that demonstrates that when we measure happiness, the nuances of the variations in the definitions do not matter.”

Fernandez’s lecture, “Pursuing and Finding Happiness,” on Oct. 16 opens the series with the major focus covering the fluctuations of an individual’s happiness based on age, income, education and other variables. It will also include “a substantive overview of the research on happiness from various social science fields” with the goal that the audience will have “a better understanding of why social scientists study happiness and some of the major findings on happiness, as well as some practical things they can apply in their daily lives to enhance their happiness.”

Dr. Charles Raison

Dr. Charles Raison, with the UA Department of Psychiatry and Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences, observes that “the issue with happiness is – there’s this real risk in our world – that happiness becomes this commodified thing that you’ve got to pursue and if you don’t have it you are a loser, and that it is something you can almost purchase at a store, that it is a concrete thing. We know some very interesting things about happiness that argue against that. Part of what makes people really happy is unexpected benefit. So, some of the happiest times in people’s lives occur in paradoxical situations and it seems confusing unless you understand that the things that make humans happy are basic things like feeling like you have a meaning or purpose, feeling like the narrative arc of your life is telling a story that makes sense.”

Raison, who researches depression and ways to alleviate it, shares that “most people, especially in the modern world, when they really, really get unhappy for protracted periods and begin to have depression, they become more selfish, more self-centered, less able.”

Clearly, selfishness isn’t great for a community and his studies on Cognitively-Based Compassion Training – developed by Geshe Lobsang Tenzin Negi, Ph.D. – have preliminarily shown that (according to Psychiatry.arizona.edu/raison/cbct) “compassion training actually changes people’s daily behavior in ways likely to enhance emotional well-being, relationships, and improve physical health.”

On Oct. 23, Raison presents his findings in the lecture “Compassion Training as a Path to Genuine Happiness,” and explains that such training helps people to challenge their assumptions and perceptions of the world. “Basically, we are always looking at the world through this lens that falsifies it and does this damage and if you can see the world more as it is, it opens up opportunities and especially opportunities for happiness.”

Dr. Esther Sternberg

While our attitudes can be helped through mental exercises, our well-being is most certainly influenced by our surroundings. Dr. Esther Sternberg, who joined the UA in 2012 as a Professor of Medicine and the Research Director at the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine with joint appointments in the UA Institute of the Environment and the UA College of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture, has done extensive research on mind-body interactions in illness and healing and the inter-relationships of mind-body-stress-wellness and environment.

Sternberg says her lecture on Oct. 30, “How Our Surroundings Influence Happiness and Health,” will “focus on well-being in its larger sense and specifically: What are the elements of the external world, the environment, the world we live in, the natural environment, the built environment, that can contribute to that sense of well-being? And, thereby, help us maintain health and optimize health – both emotional and physical?

“Is it what you see, is it what you hear, is it what you smell, is it what you touch, is it what you do in a space that can help you heal and help you find this sense of well-being? The answer is, all of the above, of course. The exciting thing we are doing here at the University of Arizona as I create the Institute on Place and Well-Being is part of that. The research that we’re going to be doing is going to address all of those questions.

“It’s very exciting to try to tease apart these different elements of place and how they affect the brain – and in turn emotions, and in turn the immune system, and in turn health. And by doing that, by understanding how each of these elements alone and then together can help people shift from the stress mode to a relaxation mode, from a negative mood mode to a happiness mode, how they can help shift the immune system from a diseased mode to a health mode, then people can help themselves. You can structure your environment in such a way that you can find your own place of peace, your own place of happiness, and your own place of healing.”

David Raichlen, Ph.D.

To understand our biological systems, it is imperative to understand how our physiology evolved and how that ties into well-being. Knowing that our brains and bodies communicate with each other, it is important to delve into the “why” of our physical make-up. As hunters and gatherers, Homo sapiens had to be structured to endure the demands of survival. Our current fast food nation, office work and inactive lifestyle don’t gel with our evolution. David Raichlen, Ph.D., researcher and associate professor at the UA School of Anthropology, is looking at how and why our present sedentary ways impact our physical and mental health.

Raichlen explains that his lecture on Nov. 6, “The Evolutionary Links between Exercise and Happiness,” is going to cover, “broadly, how we know exercise improves people’s mood and psychological state and discuss the bigger research projects that have shown that. Then, spend the majority of the time discussing our work in the lab here, linking that change in mood to our evolutionary history, placing the links between exercise and happiness into that evolutionary framework and perspective. Why does exercise make us happy? I’m hoping this speaks to a broader question about how any behavior can have an effect on our mood. What we’ve done in this study is provide at least one sort of way of thinking about why behaviors affect the way you feel. It’s not the only way it happens, but it is one way that it can happen. So, it gives you the opportunity to think about any particular behavior that makes you feel good. There may be an evolutionary perspective that can help explain why those behaviors are enjoyable and can change your mood and make you feel happy.”

Capping off the series on Nov. 13 is Daniel C. Russell’s presentation, “Happiness – A Feeling or a Future?” Russell, Ph.D. philosophy professor at UA’s Center for the Philosophy of Freedom, brings an ancient philosophical approach to the quest of achieving happiness.

Daniel C. Russell, Ph.D.

“By ‘happiness’ we often mean a present state – how I’m feeling right now, or maybe how I’m feeling these days. Those states are very real and very important. But I’m looking at something else, because ‘happiness’ can also be the name of a whole life of involvement in things I find meaningful and fulfilling.

“So, it’s worth taking a moment to think about happiness not just as how you want to feel but as what you ultimately want your life to be. That sort of happiness means finding things to live for. One way to know when you’ve found things to live for, though, is when you have something to lose. That’s the catch for us. As important as feeling good is, we actually risk a lot of sorrow, frustration, and disappointment for the sake of happiness; we realize that no-risk happiness isn’t really happiness. Unfortunately, a lot of what people hear about happiness focuses just on feeling good, as if that were the whole story. I think we can do a lot better.

“Simply put, we think about happiness because we care about what, in the end, we do with our lives. That, I think, is exactly the right perspective, and that is why I have found it worthwhile to keep exploring this ancient Greek perspective on happiness.”

The free lectures start at 6:30 p.m. each Wednesday, from Oct. 16 to Nov. 13. Tickets, four maximum per person, can be picked up from the Fox Theatre box office, 17 W. Congress St., starting at 11 a.m. on the day of the lecture. More information is at DowntownLectures.arizona.edu.

“The Room”: A Portal to the Other Side?

October 1, 2013 |

Brothers Macabre (aka Kenny Stewart and Nate Anderson) along with Dr. Jonathan Arcane (aka Dr. J. Kirkland Redmon). Photo by Andrew Brown

“Have you ever walked in a room, and for whatever reason, it doesn’t even have to be a spooky feeling or anything, but you just get a feeling?” asks John Redmon, also known as Dr. Jonathon Arcane.

“In this world, people emit energy, emit impressions and they can have a residual effect. It doesn’t have to be a manifestation, it can be a feeling or an echo of something that has occurred,” Redmon explains. “When you start considering what makes life… are electrical impulses in the human body. Electricity can’t be destroyed. It has to change form or be posited in another dimension or space for it to exist.”

Sitting around the Hotel Congress’ lobby coffee table – a coffee table that’s face ironically features an oversized Ouija board – The Brothers Macabre and Dr. Jonathon Arcane explain how they will attempt to communicate with manifestations and energies that may still exist at the iconic Hotel Congress, specifically those on the hotel’s infamous third floor. It is the lone third floor room that survived the historic January 22, 1934 fire, which led to the subsequent capture of John Dillinger and his gang, one of America’s most notorious posses at the time and to date.

According to legend, the last occupant of “The Room” was none other than Public Enemy Number One, John Dillinger. Since then, the floor has been repaired, but “The Room” has remained unoccupied and closed to the public… until now.

Walking up the stairs to the third floor of Hotel Congress, there is a definite feeling. The stairs creak with each step – their moaning seems to convey a testament to all they’ve witnessed and endured. The atmosphere begins to feel heavier along the final flight to the third floor, as if it’s pushing or warning you to turn back. And when finally inside the fated Room 328, well, it’s easy to imagine that there could in fact be someone or something left behind, because Room 328 itself is really a ghost of what it once was. Original armchairs and electrical boxes are left as a reminder that energy and people once circulated in it. Maybe some of that energy was left behind.

“The idea is this: is it possible to open a portal between what we experience in this dimension and what some people refer to as the other side?” Redmon postulates. “So the show is about experiencing the influence of The Room, experiencing the manifestations that allegedly occurred there. Are we saying it’s paranormal? No. We’re just trying to keep an open mind.”

Brothers Macabre (aka Kenny Stewart and Nate Anderson) along with Dr. Jonathan Arcane (aka Dr. J. Kirkland Redmon). Photo by Andrew Brown

Maybe “it” is paranormal. According to Todd Hanley, general manager of Hotel Congress, the hotel is recognized as being haunted. In the past 80 years, the hotel has documented that two guests, in separate incidents, have lost their lives there. Stories have circulated about encounters with the hotel’s ghosts. And “The Room” seems to “creep out” even some of the hotel staff.

“There’s an element of spookiness,” Hanley said. “The maintenance staff has always felt that room can be a little eerie.”

Every Thursday evening in October, “The Room” will be opened for two shows, at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Groups of 25 to 30 guests will experience a show unlike any other, and may decide for themselves that they have indeed felt some bizarre energies.

“They say the veil between the living and dead is thinnest in October. We hope we can get a connection. We’re doing things we can’t really explain,” said Kenny Stewart of The Brothers Macabre. “No two shows are going to be the same.”

Accompanied by a complimentary glass of champagne, guests will embark on a journey of the mind and attempt to become more “intuitive.”

“An intuitive is someone who uses their senses and hones what could be called ‘uber senses’ to work with any possible manifestations in ‘The Room’,” explains Nate Anderson, of The Brothers Macabre. “It doesn’t even have to be manifestations. It could be occurrences that have happened in ‘The Room’ in the past.”

Anderson and Stewart discuss how some people have stronger reactions to energies left behind by persons or events – kind of like how some people have more intense seasonal allergies than others.

“Generally, you (can) get impressions from things that have happened. You’re mind will go wild thinking of all of the things that possibly could have occurred in ‘The Room’,” Anderson says of those who are willing to experience what “The Room” has in store.

“The Room” will be opened for two shows -7 p.m. and 10 p.m. – every Thursday in October, starting Oct. 3, at Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress St. Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 at the door and can be purchased through TicketFly.com/venue/503 and at HotelCongress.com. For more information, ring (520) 622-8848.

Artistic Commemorations for the Dearly Departed

September 30, 2013 |

“Party Girls Forever” by Carol Hegedus.
On exhibit at Tohono Chul Park.

Día de los Muertos, the Mexican holiday that honors the deceased, has inspired some very lively artworks currently on display through Nov. 10 at Tohono Chul’s Main Gallery, 7366 N. Paseo del Norte. During the Sept. 13 opening, art lovers had the very pleasurable experience of following Tohono Chul Park’s curving walkway through native desert flora to arrive at the art gallery just as the sun disappeared below the Tucson Mountains.

Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a widely-observed holiday in Mexico that takes place annually on Nov. 1 and 2. Its origins are rooted in Aztec culture, and the observance has become an important part of Tucson’s culture.

Ben Johnson, Tohono Chul’s Curator of Exhibitions, explains the unique nature of the holiday and its art, saying, “I find that when we speak about death, we are actually speaking about life. In the ache of remembering departed friends and family, we are really feeling the beauty of their lives resonating in us deeply. I see this dichotomy in so many of the works in this exhibit. The poignancy and sweetness of life held together at once.”

This year’s exhibit, now in its tenth year, is noteworthy for its diverse range of mediums and interpretations of the holiday. Art includes paintings, prints, paper cuttings, sculptures of paper mâché and of recycled materials, ceramics, mosaics, artist’s books, beaded appliqués and quilts, window art and interactive shrines.

“I feel that the voices of these varied mediums and styles speak to the interesting space that exists between the individual and the larger human bond,” Johnson adds.

The iconic image from any Día de los Muertos celebration is the calavera or skull. Calaveras are in no short supply in the artwork, and despite their ubiquitous appearance, these skulls are as diverse and as engaging as the artwork itself.

The exhibit’s standouts are celebratory works such as the life-size paper mâché sculpture Catrina by Quetzally Hernandez Coronado, and Mel Dominguez’s piece Las Gitanas, a colorful and symbolic rendition of a Day of the Dead celebration in Tucson’s own Barrio Viejo. Carol Hegedus, in her tile mosaic Party Girls Forever, tells us of departed friends, “What normally stays with me is the memory of fun and play and the good times together.”

Beautiful pieces in the exhibit, among them Robyn Duenow’s finely wrought Momento and William Wiggins III’s Afterlife Paradise, offer a more serene view of what awaits us. Janet Windsor’s quilt, My Idea of Heaven, presents a personal view. “I cannot imagine a happier place to end up than at my sewing machine.”

Humor abounds in some pieces; among them Royce Davenport’s Crossing the Line (Meeting the Afterlife Head On). Recycled and discarded materials transform into a cocky motorist behind the wheel of his “ride” ready for a trip to the afterlife.

Life returning after death is seen in Jennie Norris’s painting The Offering. Sunflowers are in full bloom, and yet the calaveras are already present in the roots and creeping up stems. A small bird holding a seed waits patiently to offer another chance at life. Joan Binder’s large scale Community Ofrenda is invites visitors to write the names of dearly departed on cards and add them to the ofrenda (offering).

Two more serious works addressing cross-border migration include Alvaro Enciso’s Those Who Walked North #3 and Barbara Brandel’s collage painting, Small Paper Shrine that she created “in remembrance of the devastatingly dangerous and sad situation that is faced by border crossers and their families.”

“Untitled” by David Weaver

One especially compelling work is Untitled by David Weaver, created as a “layers and separations photographic process.” It depicts a top-hatted robber baron calavera with a cigar in his mouth. One wonders: Is that the American middle-class disappearing between those corporate teeth?

Johnson expounds on his view of the art: “The traditions inherent to Día de los Muertos are so rich and vivid, and the celebratory light that these observances shed on life and death are an inspiring force that I feel emanating from each of these works.”

On the actual day of the dead, Nov. 1, Tohono Chul Park hosts a Park After Dark event, 5 p.m.-8 p.m., which will include music by Rafael Moreno and Descarga, calavera face painting, Mexican food and drink, in addition to the artwork showing in Tohono Chul’s Main Gallery. Admission to the event is $10 for the general public, $5 for members and free for children under 13-years-old.

Tohono Chul is located at 7366 N. Paseo del Norte and its galleries are open daily from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission is $10, adults; $5, students with ID & active military; $8, seniors (62+); $3 children 5-12. For further details, visit TohonoChulPark.org or call (520) 742-6455.

Zombies, Zebras and Zoot Suits, Oh My!

September 30, 2013 |

Halloween horrors happen at The Slaughter House in October.
photo courtesy: SlaughterHouseTucson.com

Do you remember when Halloween was a holiday for children? Boy, are you old! Adults usurped Oct. 31 from the young and commandeered their party ages ago. This speaks to the unsatisfying nature of being a grownup in modern society, where living one’s wildest dreams takes a backseat to getting a steady job. Once a year though, we can at least pretend to be that swashbuckling pirate or awesome astronaut. Here’s the lowdown on Old Pueblo spooktacular happenings.

As the undisputed granddaddy of haunted houses in Southern Arizona, Nightfall at Old Tucson always lives up to its reputation. It is, after all, an entire terrifying town with multiple attractions available for those who dare enter. Top-notch live shows are their specialty, with this year being no exception. Expect the 2013 headlining performance “Kindred of the Dust” to deliver the death-defying stunts, eye-popping pyrotechnics and unsettling imagery that has made Nightfall popular for so long. Old favorites like the Iron Door Mine and the wisecracking gargoyles in Terror Square will of course return. Nightfall is open Thursdays and Sundays 6 p.m.-10 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays 6 p.m.-midnight through Halloween night within the Old West movie studio/theme park at 201 S. Kinney Rd. Admission is $25 for ages 12 and up, $20 for ages 4-11. Call Old Tucson Studios at (520) 883-0100 or visit NightfallAZ.com for all the gory details.

In recent times however, The Slaughter House has challenged Nightfall’s reign as the most frightening spot in town. Located inside the walls of the creepy former Farmer John’s meatpacking plant at 1102 W. Grant Rd., the four haunts here – the Twisted Tree Mortuary, the 3D nightmare CarnEvil, The Boiler Room and City Meats – are almost guaranteed to make you scream. There’s even an interactive shooting gallery-type experience called Apocalypse. It’s all for a good cause, as well: the 501c(3) Tucson Screamers who operate The Slaughter House have given upwards of $80,000 to local charities over the years. Classic rock band Zebra performs a family day at The Slaughter House on Sunday, Oct. 13; purchase tickets at FlavorUs.com. Hours and admission prices are at SlaughterHouseTucson.com or call (520) 784-2501.

The shuffling dead of Tucson Zombie Walk are restructuring their event in response to new city ordinances; planner Patrick Reed promises location, date and time details will be announced when available. In the meantime, Reed and TucsonZombies.com are sponsoring the third annual Tucson Terrorfest horror film festival Thursday-Saturday Oct. 17-19 at The Screening Room, 127 E. Congress St., featuring “Dead Meat Walking: A Zombie Walk Documentary.” The movie includes insights from actor Norman Reedus (“The Walking Dead”) and makeup artist/director Tom Savini (“Django”). See TucsonTerrorFest.com for a full schedule of films; with Reed claiming he is “fairly certain that zombies are among us” but is “not authorized to disclose official evidence at this time,” it’s best to be prepared.

Howl-O-Ween! at Reid Park Zoo
photo courtesy ReidParkZoo.org

Too scary? Those with young children in tow will appreciate Reid Park Zoo’s Howl-O-Ween! event running Friday-Sunday, Oct. 25-27 from 6-8pm nightly. It’s more fun than frightening, and definitely a delight to see the zoo transformed into a spooky playground. Parents can relax while their little ones trick-or-treat in a safe environment, and the kids will love wandering the zoo’s winding paths finding surprises around every corner. Admission is $5 for zoo members and $7 for the general public, with gates opening early at 5:30 p.m. for members. Reid Park Zoo is located at 3400 Zoo Court in the middle of (you guessed it) Reid Park. Call (520) 791-4022 for more information or directions, and to watch the elephant cam visit ReidParkZoo.org.

For celebrants wishing to stand out from the crowd, the closest Spirit Halloween Superstore isn’t going to cut it. Finding an outfit unlike anybody else’s requires creativity.  It doesn’t require driving all over town, however. Tucson Thrift Shop, 319 N. 4th Ave., is your one-stop costume shop with feather boas, wigs, jewelry, vintage footwear and hats of every style imaginable. With myriad duds from funky to fancy, this is a great place to piece together the period look of a 1920s flapper or 1943 zoot suit rioter. Tucson Thrift Shop is open seven days a week; stop by Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. and Sunday noon-5 p.m. Visit TucsonThriftShop.com or call (520) 623-8736. Still can’t locate what you need? You are a discerning customer, indeed. Try locally-owned Creative Costumes and Formal Wear at 4220 E. Speedway Blvd. from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. They can be reached at (520) 882-8822 and CreativeCostumesTucson.com.

The Tucson area has more Halloween-themed events to attend than a century’s worth of candy corn-caused cavities:

Located only thirty minutes away from downtown at 17000 W. Ajo Way, Buckelew Farms’ “Terror in the Corn” runs every Friday and Saturday evening in October, in addition to College Night Out on Thursday, Oct. 24 and Halloween Night on Thursday, Oct. 31. Visit BuckelewFarm.com for details. Valley of the Moon presents “Scooby-Doo and the Haunted Ruins” at their enchanted 2544 E. Allen Rd. location Oct. 11-13, 18-20 and 25-30. See TucsonValleyOfTheMoon.com for showtimes and admission prices. Colossal Cave Mountain Park is offering candlelight ghost tours and haunted hayrides Oct. 18-19 and 25-27 at their 16721 E. Old Spanish Trail headquarters out in Vail. Learn more at ColossalCave.com. And Bookmans Entertainment Exchange graciously hosts a Zombie Fair with free makeup and special effects on Saturday, Oct. 26 from noon-3 p.m. at their 6230 E. Speedway Blvd. location. Plan your visit at Bookmans.com.

Boo!

Events October 2013

September 28, 2013 |

Fri 4- Sun 6

ANNUAL PUMPKIN FIESTA The Sonoran Glass Art Academy presents over 400 unique glass-art pieces up for sale! Make your own pumpkin for $85. 10am-5pm daily. Sonoran Glass Art Academy, 633 W. 18th St. 884-7814, SonoranGlass.org

TUCSON MODERNISM WEEK A Celebration of Tucson’s Mid-Century Modern design and architecture. Events include: Cocktail party, Marketplace and Expo, Vintage Trailer Show, Films, Lectures and more. See website for times, locations and prices. TucsonMod.com

Sat 5

THE BIG PICTURE  Members of the Central Tucson Gallery celebrate their season opener for the contemporary art galleries with a kick-off expo at several galleries in Tucson including The Drawing Studio, Raices Taller, Conrad Wilde Gallery, Joseph Gross Gallery, Davis Dominguez Gallery, Philabaum Gallery, Contreras Gallery, Sacred Machine Gallery, Louis Carlos Bernal Gallery and Obsidian Gallery. Free. Galleries open at 11am, reception events start at 6pm. CTGATucson.org

WAMO TAART WALK Experience art exhibits, micro-cinema screenings, workshops, music performances, brew tastings, and food trucks while meeting the artists and innovators on and around East Toole Avenue. 5pm-10pm. Toole Avenue between 6th and Stone Avenue. Free. WAMOTucson.org

DANCING IN THE STREET A gala event featuring a cabaret performance by Anneliese van der Pol and catered dinner on behalf of Arizona Theatre Company. $200. Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave. 622-2823, ArizonaTheatre.org

MEDITERRANEAN NIGHTS A night of dancing featuring guest star Frank Farino. 7:30pm-9:30pm. $15. Berger Performing Arts Center, 1200 W. Speedway. KathrynFerguson.net

Sat 5-Sun 6

EARTH HARMONY FESTIVAL A weekend celebration of living in environmental, social, spiritual, & musical harmony. Free. Avalon Organic Gardens and Eco Village, 2074 Pendleton Drive. 398-2542, EarthHarmonyFestival.org

Mon 7- Fri 11

HUMANITIES WEEK Series of events showcasing professors and topics from the College of Humanities. See website for various times and lecture topics. Dorthy Rubel Room, 1508 E. Helen Street. Free. 626-4319, Humanities.Arizona.Edu/Week

Thu 10-Sun 13

TUCSON FILM AND MUSIC FESTIVAL 9th annual showcase of music‐related films and international music artists. See the film listings/website for lineup, locations and ticket information. TucsonFilmandMusicFestival.com

Fri 11-Sun 13

TUCSON MEET YOURSELF The 40th Annual celebration of cultural foods and traditional arts of the multi-national Arizona-Sonora Region and ethnic communities. The three-day event features hundreds of artisans, home cooks, dancers, musicians and special exhibits that celebrate and honor beauty in all its diverse, informal, and everyday forms.
Downtown at the Main Library Plaza, El Presidio Park, and surrounding streets. Free. 11am-10pm, Oct 11-12; 11am-6pm, Oct 13. TucsonMeetYourself.org

Sat 12

2nd SATURDAYS Monthly entertainment and family-friendly urban street fest, includes merchant specials and street performances. Performers include: Dan Green & The Dive Bombers, Belly Dance Tucson, The Mission Creeps, and The Swigs. Free. 6pm-10:30pm. Congress Street, 2ndSaturdaysDowntown.com

Belly Dance Tucson performs at 2nd Saturdays on Oct. 12.

PRIDE IN THE DESERT FESTIVAL A pride celebration! Featuring Tucson Pride Grand Marshall Stuart Milk. Kino Sports Park, 2500 E. Ajo Way. 11am- 9pm. $10-$50. 219 S. 5th Ave. Free. 622-3200, TucsonPride.org

Sun 13

AIDSWALK  245th Anniversary: 5K walk & 10K fun run in remembrance of loves ones lost to HIV/AIDS and in support of services and prevention education for anyone living with, affected by, or at risk for HIV/AIDS. Registration fees. 8am. Joel D. Valdez Main Library, 101 N. Stone Ave. 628-7223,  AidsWalkTucson.com

BUTTERFLY AFFAIRE Martini party, dinner and raffle prizes. Performers include Jeff Haskell, Katherine Byrnes, Dale Ann Cook and Jeff Grubic anc Friends. $200. 4pm-8pm. Tucson Botanical Gardens, 2150 N. Alvernon Way. 326-9686, TucsonBotanical.org

Sun 20

BLUES HERITAGE FESTIVAL Lineup includes various blues singers and bands including The Coolers, Ed de Lucia Blues Band, Kara Grainger and more!11am-7pm. $10. Rilito Race Track Park, 4502 N. 1st Ave. AZBlues.org

Fri 25

THE 7TH ANNUAL WORLD MARGARITA CHAMPIONSHIP Taste over 15 original margaritas with paired food from a variety of Tucson original restaurants. 6pm-9pm. $60. Tucson Museum of Art, 140 N. Main Ave. 621-7567, TucsonCulinaryFestival.com

Sat 26

FEAST WITH THE DEARLY DEPARTED Mariachis, sugar skulls, luminarias, workshops, Sonoran food, and a Day of the Dead Procession. 5pm-8pm. Non-members: $8 adults, $4 children (ages 4-12) Members: $4 adults, $2 children (ages 4-12). Tucson Botanical Gardens, 2150 N. Alvernon Way. 326-9686, TucsonBotanical.org

ONGOING

TUCSON FOOD TOURS Tucson’s only walking food tour. Combination of foods and a little history of downtown Tucson. Takes you through the historic downtown and 4th Avenue districts of Tucson.See website for dates. 477-7986, FoodToursTucson.com

Mondays

MEET ME AT MAYNARDS (@Hotel Congress) Southern Arizona Roadrunners’ Monday evening, non-competitive, social 3-mile run/walk, that begins and ends downtown at Hotel Congress, rain/shine/holidays included! 311 E. Congress St. 991-0733, MeetMeAtMaynards.com

WILDCAT HOCKEY Wildcats take to the ice at the TCC against the following teams: Fri 25: Northern Arizona, Sat 26: Alumni Game, Delaware, Thu 31: Colorado. Tucson Convention Center, 260 S. Church Ave. 7:30pm. Prices Vary. ArizonaWilcatHockey.org

Fri 11-Sun 13 & Fri 18-Sun 21

OKTOBERFEST AT CAFE PASSE Enjoy festivities and live music in the Biergarten as well as special food and drink including the Hofbrau Oktoberfest Beer and Bratwursts. Oktoberfest menu served from 12pm-10pm on Fridays and Saturdays; 12pm-6pm on Sundays. Cafe Passe, 415 N. 4th Ave. 624-4411, CafePasse.com

Click here for this month’s Halloween events.

 

 

 

Mosey for Mutts

September 13, 2013 |

Humane Society of Southern Arizona Hosts a Fundraising Walk on Sat., Sept. 28.

Volunteer Matt O’Bright cuddles an adoptable pup at one of HSSAs many community events.
photo courtesy of the Humane Society of Southern Arizona

“We have approximately 525 animals on site at any give time,” explains Samantha Esquivel, public relations lead for the Humane Society of Southern Arizona (HSSA), regarding the number of critters the center regularly shelters. “They have as much time to be adopted as they need, we try and compensate for the lack of behavior training, we take the necessary time to work with them. Every dog is different and we comfort them as much as possible.”

The sad reality is that some creatures HSSA receives aren’t able to be adopted out. “We do humanely euthanize animals that are medically or behaviorally untreatable.”

Esquivel is expounding on HSSA’s modus operandi, which is a deep dedication to taking care of and finding forever homes for the animals that come through their doors. The organization – an independent, locally run 501c3 – was established in 1944 and has been on the same property since its inception. According to its 2012 annual report, HSSA received 9,515 animals in fiscal year 2011-2012. Over 6,000 were critters given up by their owners during that time period. Close to 7,000 were adopted out.

And these are pets of all ilk, Esquivel says, in addition to dogs and cats, the center receives “pocket pets – gerbils, hamsters, bunnies – sometimes we get fowl, roosters, geese. We try to adopt them out too, they have their own area (on the property).”

The role of HSSA in the Old Pueblo goes beyond sheltering and adopting out companion animals, it also provides veterinary care, has a spay and neuter clinic, a vaccination clinic, a feral cat trap/neuter/return program, and classes for people on pet safety and pet first aid. For its shelter dog guests, HSSA has a Canine College program to get the pooches ready for their new homes.

Needless to say, it takes time and money to be this deeply involved in Tucson’s human and animal community. HSSA has “zero affiliation” with the national organization, Esquivel clarifies, and the organization is “always trying to incorporate the community with fun activities that involve animals and families.”

With the Mosey for Mutts event coming up on Saturday, Sept. 28, HSSA is bringing those elements together with a human and canine walk around Reid Park, at Country Club Road and 22nd Street, starting at 7 a.m. The idea, Esquivel says, came up in a meeting. “It is something we know people would like, plus early mornings or late evenings are the best times to walk dogs!”

“It is the first walk we are doing, we will have local vendors on hand, plus a photo booth – you can get some shots afterward for free! There is a $25 registration fee, which includes a tee-shirt, a collapsible water bottle and each dog gets a bandana.”

In addition, there will be demonstrations by DMAFB K9, Tucson Police K9, Ruff House, Snake Aversion Training and Agility Training.

Kids under ten and dogs can walk for free, but make sure your canine companions are harnessed or leashed, with the leash length no longer than six feet. Get more details and register online at HSSAZ.org/mosey or call 321-3704, ext. 188.