by Diane Howell

 

There is perhaps no better place to view an exhibition such as Changing the World One Thread at a Time than Tubac, Arizona, in the springtime.  For Tubac, a picturesque burg southwest of Tucson near the U. S. border with Mexico, is awash with ripe colors:  pinks and oranges and vibrant greens that dance in sunlight and shadow. It is an enriched environment, one that makes even fast drivers slow to take notice of the healing power of the desert.

 

The exhibition covered the center's three gallery spaces, made all the more intresting because of varied wall colors ranging from blues in the first room to blood-red and earthy tones in the third.

 

From the moment you walked into the first hall, you were confronted with someting special.  In that room one piece created, perhaps demanded, a moment all by itself:  La Madre #2, by Valarie James (Amado, Arizona).  This life size bust of a woman, cast in cotton, is based on the artist's outdoor sculpture project, The Mothers:  Las Madres, installed at Tucson's Pima Comunity College.  All of these related pieces pay triibute to those who have died crossing the border from Mexico.  They are imperanent works, meant to dissolve as they endure the chalenges of rain, sun and wind, just as many who travel north perish and fade away.  It is James' hope that one day we have a world without borders.  Her piece in Changing, charged with the textural bits found in raw cotton, is striking.  It is prhaps the most moving piece in the show as its very fragility puts a powerfu human dimension into the issue of immigration.