May ArtWalk

Holy smokes, I can't believe it's already May!! I love summer ArtWalks! The streets of Downtown Flagstaff flow with locals and visitors soaking in the vibrant art scene and beautiful mountain weather (it's supposed to be 72 degrees this Friday)!

Click over to flagstaffartwalk.com to download the full guide for this month's ArtWalk map, or stop by a participating gallery or business to pick one up, but keep reading for a few not-to-miss stops!

May's HotSpot is Celebrations Studio at 113 W Birch. If you're looking to plan a special event, Celebration Studio is the place to go!







Head over to Gallery 113 at 111 E Aspen to see artwork by Kody Taylor, Joe Cornett, Simon Kirk, plus BBQ portabellas, cheese, and chocolate!






The Artists' Gallery is at 17 N San Francisco. Stop by to visit featured artists Lynn Overend's watercolors, Ryanne Sebern's jewelry creations, and Lola Serkland's ceramic art. You'll also catch the Small Wonders Exhibit!



Shane Knight Gallery has moved to 5 E Aspen, so stop by to check out the beautiful new space, and of course, Shane's incredible film photography.





Beaver Street Gallery, at 28 S Beaver, presents "Your Government at Work," a new installation by David B. Harton. And in the Delta Space "Gone Fishing," paintings by Franklin Willis.





West of the Moon Gallery, at 14 N San Fransisco, features "Fresh Horses," the newest work of C. Tanner Jensen. These new paintings capture the strength, grace, and beauty of the horse. Enjoy music by Paul Webber while you browse the gallery.







Head right next door to 16 N San Fransico for some bicycle inspired art by Erin Binkman at Criollo Latin Kitchen. Erin's work will encourage you to get on the trail!





You can head over to Sunnyside to grab a hand crafted brew from Wanderlust Brewing Co at 1519 N Main and enjoy the art of Chris Johnson and Parikshith Kumar, plus an outdoor digital projection exhibit. Open until 10pm.
 

Wherever you spend your First Friday, I hope it's filled with art and fun!

Summertime Means Concerts at the Arboretum!

I grew up just a couple hours from Flagstaff, and all of my life, I've endured those brutal Northern Arizona winters by counting down the days until summer. This terrible tease of warmth we've been getting has me wearing flipflops in the snow and shorts in 50 degree weather, traveling to *gasp* Phoenix to catch a DBacks game and sip iced drinks in the heat, spending all my free time in the icy water at Oak Creek. I'm a summer girl through and through.

Summer in the mountains means puppies and rainbows and art and music and family and friends and flowers  and all the happy things I love about my life. And now, it means concerts at the Arboretum. 
We've just announced the lineup for the Summer Concert Series at the Arboretum at Flagstaff. The series features four concerts during the summer season under the shade of the cool pines in the beautiful natural setting of The Arboretum at Flagstaff.

I've been lucky enough to be a part of the Arboretum's summer concerts for two years now, so I've come to expect a certain level of sunny gold from the events. In fact, the very first event I worked as a staff member at Flagstaff Cultural Partners was the Honey Dewdrops concert at the Arboretum in 2011. This year, the series opens with the incredible folk duo Dave McGraw and Mandy Fer in concert on June 1, my Birthday! I'm already getting my boyfriend and close friends to buy tickets so we can celebrate my very special day (I really should explain that I'm as much a Birthday girl as I am a summer girl) in the best possible way.

We have a fabulous slate of concerts on tap for Summer 2013. The series kicks off on Saturday, June 1, with the dynamic, world-traveling folk duo, Dave McGraw and Mandy Fer. We feature the fusion of cello and guitar with Montana Skies on July 6. Coming back to Flagstaff for their second concert, folk duo The Honey Dewdrops sing beautiful harmonies on August 3. And finally, Julia Chacón Inspiratión Flamenca will perform songs and dances on September 7.

2013 Summer Concert Series

June 1 - Dave McGraw & Mandy Fer
Dave McGraw and Mandy Fer are natural explorers. McGraw spent a decade as a wildlife biologist, working everywhere from Mexico to the Grand Canyon. Fer logged some time in Spain, where she studied music and local culture. Together, the two songwriters have built a music career on those travels, funneling everything - the characters they met, the things they saw, the sounds they heard, the stories they learned - into a mix of rich, detailed folk music and rootsy Americana.

July 6 - Montana Skies
Their name, Montana Skies, is a metaphor for musical freedom, and they continue to follow their creative instincts far beyond traditional boundaries. In concert, these award winning musicians delve into music from Pink Floyd and Rush to Vivaldi, and House of the Rising Sun, as well as their own originals that have been featured everywhere from NPR to the Travel Channel. Combining elements of classical technique, jazz improv and the power and energy of rock n' roll; Jonathan's guitar wizardry and Jenn's blazing electric cello combine to create a sound that is truly remarkable. While the music defies simple categorization, it is a fusion in the truest sense of the word. It's been called everything from chamber rock to psychedelic strings. Whatever you want to call it, rest assured, this ain't your grannies chamber music.

August 3 - The Honey Dewdrops
The Honey Dewdrop, Virginia-based roots duet of Laura Wortman and Kagey Parrish, return to the Arboretum at Flagstaff. With a blend of new Americana and traditional folk music, they create inspired songs that are rooted in the experience and lives of people. Their sound is transcendent; they write all their own songs and yet no one could ever peg them as just another singer-songwriter couple, not when they’ve embedded a sparse Appalachian clarity on every track that is accessible to listeners everywhere. The songs they write shine with energy and emotion through intimate performances with a handful of acoustic instruments and tightly layered harmonies.

September 7 - Julia Chacón Inspiratión Flamenca
Within the ancient art form known as flamenco, many who love it best believe, lies the heartbeat of the entire world. Julia Chacón mysteriously sensed that inexorable truth early on, as a teenaged ballet student. Extensively trained at the Phoenix School of Ballet, she was also exposed to other forms of dance expression there, including Spanish dance, and took to it immediately. By the age of 16, she was professionally performing with the Artes Bellas company in Phoenix—and she’s never looked back.



Tickets for all shows are $16/general public, and $13/members of The Arboretum or Flagstaff Cultural Partners. Tickets can be purchased online by clicking here, by calling (928) 779-2300, at the Coconino Center for the Arts, or at the door.

Concert-goers may bring food and non-alcoholic beverages for a picnic setting. Picnic blankets or concert chairs are encouraged. Beer and wine will be available for purchase at the venue. The concert series is perfect for those beautiful Flagstaff summer evenings!

Youth Celebrate Art & Culture

I wrote my first personal essay in barely legible print on the yellow and green pages of my Scooby Doo journal. Oh, the tragedy of unrequited love was unbearable, and I escaped to my lamp lit desk night after night to flesh out the emotions tearing endlessly at my heart. Little has changed over the last 15 years. Even still, decaf coffee with too much artificial creamer turns cold as I cry onto an open laptop night after night and write through the chaotic decision of what I will do for the rest of my life.

I wish I knew the answer. That I could tell you I plan on being a successful essayist in ten years. A writing instructor at a University, or maybe an editor. I don't know though. I just don't know who I am or who I want to be yet. The only thing I'm sure of is this: I have to write.

Hundreds of Flagstaff students feel this way. Desperate to create. But in a shrunken economy where passionate and talented artists are turning to secondary jobs to barely make end's meet, it's hard to pursue a dream - maybe of being a writer someday, a musician, a painter or sculptor, a dancer or actor, the director of a nonprofit, the owner of a gallery. Many children are losing their dreams. And I, for one, am not okay with that.

Neither are the arts teachers for Flagstaff Unified School District. Right now, every school and hundreds of Flagstaff students are displaying art at the Coconino Center for the Arts in our annual Youth Art Exhibition. Numerous local arts instructors are inspiring their students to chase the dream, no matter the cost. To do what they love, even if it means making sacrifices. To challenge themselves creatively, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and to never give up.

My own creative writing instructors at Northern Arizona University are the reason I haven't given up on my dream yet, let my passion turn into a hobby. They inspire me. They encourage me. They teach me. They want me to succeed.

This Friday, March 29, from 4-7pm, the Coconino Center for the Arts is hosting a free reception for the young artists of Flagstaff. The opening reception at the beginning of the month was cancelled due to poor weather, but you can come Friday and see the incredible artistic talent being fostered in our schools. There will be youth performances throughout the evening in the theater, popcorn and lemonade, and hundreds of artists making their first breaks.

Biggest Party of the Year!

The Viola Awards are Flagstaff's Oscars for the arts and sciences community. Celebrating excellence in the arts and sciences, the Viola Awards recognize artists, educators, organizations and leaders who make positive contributions to the arts and sciences in Flagstaff. Over 500 people attend the gala event to celebrate and support these amazing folks. 

Nominations were sent to Flagstaff Cultural Partners by the community at large; anyone could nominate an artist, leader, organization, business or event for an award in one of eleven categories. From this pool of nominees, a Panel of 25 past Viola Award winners selected six nominees in each category to be the Official Viola Award Nominees. The Panel then met to determine the winner in each category.

The Viola Award winners are announced each year at the Viola Awards Gala Event. This year's event is this Saturday, March 2, 2013, at the High Country Conference Center in Flagstaff. Circus Bacchus will emcee the event with flare like no other. Guests will enjoy delicious dinner from High Country, performances by 2013 nominees, silent auction, two raffles (for iPad minis!), and of course, the announcement of the 2013 winners.

The Viola Awards are named after Viola Babbitt, a long time advocate of the arts and painter. Viola was born in the Arizona territory in 1894. She taught music and reading before settling into a big house on Leroux Street in Flagstaff. She raised six children with her husband, Joseph. In the 1950's, she started painting and later, established the Art Barn as Flagstaff's first community arts center. She lobbied Coconino County to build a better facility for a community arts center: the Coconino Center for the Arts. Viola died in 1994, just shortly after her 100th birthday.

This Saturday, we celebrate the best in Flagstaff with the best in Flagstaff! It's going to be a party!

Flagstaff's Newest Resident Lingerie Artist

We are pleased to present our next major exhibition, Underneath It All: Desire, Power, Memory, and Lingerie. The traveling art exhibition features the work of ten female artists from throughout the United States who create or use underwear as objects or topics in their art. The exhibition explores many topics, including: body image, sexuality, empowerment, privacy, women's roles, equality, and many others, as lingerie embodies all of these issues in our society.


Underneath It All opens with an Artist Talk and Opening Reception on Saturday, January 12, 2013, beginning at 5:00 P.M. Four artists will be in attendance at the Opening to give talks and also to mingle with those in attendance.

We also welcome our first Resident Artist of 2013, Diane Bronstein!! Bronstein is the curator and one of the participating artists in the Underneath it All exhibition.

Flagstaff Cultural Partners was one of 788 not-for-profit national, regional, state, and local organizations nationwide to receive an NEA Art Works grant. FCP was recommended for a $40,000.00 grant to support a new program, the FCP Artist in Residency Program. This program will begin with Diane Bronstein's residency at the Coconino Center for the Arts. Bronstein will lead a hands-on Public Workshop on January 19, in addition to creating new work while she stays in Flagstaff over four weeks.

Bronstein creates paper "intimate apparel". Her pieces consist of nude figure drawings on 18" x 24" newsprint paper, which she then hand sews into bras, girdles, slips, camisoles and corsets. The pose of the artwork determines the size and style of the clothing.

Bronstein says: "I love the relationship between the drawings of the nudes, and the clothing. The juxtaposition of using underwear to reveal nude images reverses the order of underwear's intended use: naked skin covered by cloth." The provocative poses hint at what the wearer desires, fears, or imagines that the apparel reveals. Her pieces have shown around the country including New York City, Chicago, Denver, and regionally in New England. In late 2010, she had a solo exhibit at the Frame 301 Gallery at Monserrat College of Art, where she displayed 23 pieces of clothing on clotheslines. Diane is currently a graphic designer in Boston, MA.

For more information on the exhibition, workshop and corresponding events, visit the Underneath It All page.

2012 In Review: Art Exhibitions

I absolutely cannot believe we're installing the first exhibition of 2013! Where did 2012 go!?

2013 was such an incredible year for the Flagstaff art scene. And such an amazing year for the Center for the Arts and Flagstaff Cultural Partners. Often, I feels like FCP is the eclectic (or just plain crazy) uncle at the holiday dinner table with esteemed politicians, teachers, artists, accountants, journalists, business owners, and all these great people on single tracks. FCP is just popcorning out a slew of recent accomplishments and milestones with insane pride. But don't we all really love that nutjob uncle deep down?

So many great things have happened, and are happening. There have been a lot of annuals, a lot of firsts, a lot of "let's see if we can do this." So many things, in fact, that I've had to split this post into subcategories. Here's a look back at the art exhibitions at the Center for the Arts in 2012.

Art Exhibitions

10x10
Over 100 artists displayed in the exhibition to commemorate and celebrate Arizona’s Centennial. Each ten-inch by ten-inch piece of artwork sold or started at auction for only 100 dollars. Local artists donated their work to the Center, so all the proceeds from art sales benefited the Center.

*STAFF PICK*
This exhibition opening was JT's favorite!! We held a special member's preview, where we auctioned off countless works of art. It was crazy!! 

In the Jewel Gallery: Reconstructed, paintings by Jessica McCoy

Youth Celebrate Art and Culture
We celebrated National Youth Art Month (March) with our annual Youth Celebrate Art & Culture Exhibition and Celebration. Hundreds of local youth participated from every school in the greater Flagstaff area, exhibiting their visual art for the public and performing new works.

*STAFF PICK*
The YCAC Opening Reception was Robin's favorite! Youth performance art groups performed throughout the evening in the theater, like Ballet Folklorico, Puente de Hozho students, and more!

In the Jewel Gallery: Learning From the Masters: Celebrating Flagstaff's Masterpiece Art Program

Recycled Art
2012 was the 10th annual year Recycled Art has exhibited at the Center for the Arts. Each year, this show features art that is made from recycled materials. Artists from all over Coconino County come together to promote recycling through this creative, fun and inspiring exhibition.

*STAFF PICK*
This opening reception was Whitney's favorite! Circus Bacchus performed in the theater throughout the night, and they were throwing fire outside!

In the Jewel Gallery: more recycled art made by Flagstaff's youth!

Across the Divide
Curated by Flagstaff local Steve Schaeffer, Across the Divide encompassed the vast array of contemporary ceramics in the sculptural and installation genres. The exhibition featured large-scale sculptural ceramic artwork, and used the Continental Divide as a metaphor for the artist working in clay. The show reached across that divide to artists who have distinguished their work from traditional techniques and stereotypes within the medium.

*STAFF PICK*
Across the Divide was a favorite of Gallery Director, Robin Cadigan's.

In the Jewel Gallery: The Nature of Things, abstract woodwork by Joshua Almond



Prelude to Open Studios
Flagstaff Open Studios Tour is a chance to see how some of your favorite art is created. Over 75 artists opened their studio doors for the 15th annual tour in 2012 for the public to see their creative process. The Prelude show features one piece of artwork by each artist participating in the studio tour, and serves as a preview for the public.


In the Jewel Gallery: Shape, an exhibition of mixed media collage by Sue Katz

Beyond the Border: the Wall, the People & the Land
Beyond the Border addressed the human and environmental impact of issues that surround the US / Mexico border, the border wall and border policies. Works of art in the show explored this impact and how changing policy is affecting the environment and/or people. The intent of this exhibition was not to advocate for or against any position, policy or political figure, but rather offered an opportunity for stories to be shared and questions to be raised that allowed viewers to explore the consequences of intensified focus on this region.

*STAFF PICK*
This exhibition was one of Executive Director, JT's, favorites. The exhibition was accomponied by a huge slew of educational progamming, like a special lecture from authors Dan Millis and Krista Schlyer.

In the Jewel Gallery: Ofrendas a la Frontera/Offerings to the Border, created by high school students at Flagstaff Arts & Leadership Academy, on their experiences spending time in the border region

It's Elemental
The 12th Annual Fine Crafts Exhibition showcased works of art by the finest craftspeople in Northern Arizona. The juried show featured jewelry, ceramics, glasswork, wood, furniture, fabric, sculpture and more. Dozens of local fine craft artists showed over fifty original works of art in this year's exhibition.

*STAFF PICK*
New Program Coordinator and Gallery Assistant, Damon Taylor, loved this exhibition because the work was all local, and all phenomenal!

 In the Jewel Gallery: Foundations, fine crafts by local student artists

2012 In Review: Concerts

So many great things have happened, and are happening, at Flagstaff Cultural Partners. There have been a lot of annuals, a lot of firsts, a lot of "let's see if we can do this." So many things, in fact, that I've had to split this post into subcategories. Here's a look back at the concerts that took place at the Center for the Arts in 2012.

Concerts

Grand Canyon Guitar Society concerts
Johannes Moller
Maximo Diego Pujol
Dale Kavanagh
Brasil Guitar Duo
Andrew York
Carlos Bonell
Rene Izquierdo & Elina Chekan

Summer Concert Series at the Arboretum at Flagstaff
Run Boy Run
Domingo DeGrazia
Burnett Family Bluegrass
Kailin Yong Peace Project Trio

Greenhouse Productions concerts

Arlo Guthrie *STAFF PICK* -JT
Freight Hoppers with Run Boy Run
John Gorka
Sean Hayes in concert with Birds of Chicago *STAFF PICK* -Sarah

Flagstaff Friends of Traditional Music concerts
John Reischman and the JayBirds
Utah Phillips Tribute Band

Living Traditions Presentations concerts
Goitse
Aaron Jones & Claire Mann
FullSet

Other concerts
Valentine's Day Concert Featuring Dave McGraw and Mandy Fer *STAFF PICK* -Robin
Orchestra Northern Arizona concerts
Erasable Color
Border Songs CD Release *STAFF PICK* -Whitney