thelmasmith

July 30-August 2
Will present workshops, fiesta & concerts at The University of Arizona School of Music & the UA Centennial Hall July 30-August 2, 2008. Music & Dance Workshops will be hosted at The University of Arizona School of Music: Flamenco, Salsa, Hip Hop, Folklorico, Mariachi, Tejano, Guitar Trio, Classical Flamenco Guitar, Zumba and Voice. This year’s mariachi workshops will be directed by Jose Hernandez from Mariachi Sol De Mexico. VIVA FIESTA will be held in front of UA Centennial Hall on Saturday, August 2 from 3pm to 6pm. The AHS will conduct a Storycorps program at the fiesta, modeled on National Public Radio’s oral history project of that name, where the attendees can reminisce about how music and dance has influenced them in their everyday lives. Authentic Mexican and Spanish food and drink will also be available at the Fiesta.“VIVA ARIZONA!” 100 Years of Hispanic Musical Memories CONCERT at the University of Arizona Centennial Hall Saturday August 2,  2008 at 7:00pm. A Musical and Dance Production- showcasing the History and Evolution of Tucson’s Hispanic Musical Heritage. Featuring: Special Guest Jose Hernandez and Mariachi Sol de Mexico, IMAS,Hermanos Perez Trio, Olga Flores, Viva Orchestra under the direction of Jesse Tovar, the Viva Arizona Dancers and much more. Tickets available at the UA Centennial Hall Box Office 1020 E. University Blvd. (520) 621-3341 For more information you can visit www.vivaazworkshops.com

The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has issued an RFP for this substantial grants program. Grants of $200,000 to $600,000 will support programs that “utilize the arts to engage civil society - particularly youth and diverse and underserved populations - and that foster linkages and build partnerships between U.S. and overseas nonprofit arts and cultural organizations and local communities.” Project themes are limited to: 1) Mixed Visual Artistic Mediums: Cultural Exchange between American Indigenous and Minority Artists and Indigenous and Afro-Latino Artists from Latin and Central America; and 2) Mixed Visual Artistic Mediums: Cultural Exchange between American Women Artists and Women Artists from Africa and/or the Middle East. Applications, due May 22, must be made through nonprofit organizations or institutions of higher education. www.communityarts.net/apinews/archivefiles/2008/04/grants_for_arts.php

Register now for the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture Workshops, hosted by the Tucson Pima Arts Council, April 24, 25, and 26, at the Hotel Arizona in downtown Tucson. NALAC’s Regional Arts Training Workshops are convened throughout the nation to assist in strengthening local networks of Latino artists and arts and cultural organizations. All are welcome! Workshops will provide professional development opportunities and foster theoretical and aesthetic discussion. For more info contact Reuben Tomas Roqueni at 624-0595 x18 or reuben@tucsonpimaartscouncil.org   To register, visit the NALAC website at: www.nalac.org To view the just released NALAC Conference Agenda visit: www.tucsonpimaartscouncil.org/about/AboutWordDocs/NALACAgenda.pdf

Join ArtCorps and use your creative talents to strengthen international development in Central America in 2009.  Through community arts projects, artists educate and inspire people to participate actively in improving the environmental, health, and social conditions in their communities. Work as a volunteer with a host nonprofit development organization that is an expert in its field. All volunteers will receive a personal stipend of approximately $1,000 to reduce personal costs, in addition to receiving airfare, room and board, and medical insurance. Both 1-year and 2-year opportunities are available. Candidates must be proficient in Spanish. Deadlines are April 4 and May 2. For application visit http://www.artcorp.org/artist_placements.html

A request from an old friend sent me to the old slide master files. She remembered a commission I had done in 2002. One of the things it proves is the foolhardiness of keeping backup on Cds. If they aren’t clearly marked you will never find what you are looking for.

Since I keep images in my picture files on an external hard drive to keep the speed of my machine and I’ve changed machines since then it was a challenge. However the artist’s statements were still in the 2004 business files. TMI, I know, you didn’t need to know all that.

These images are commissions that were made in 2002 and before.  They are in private collections.  This is probably the only chance you will get to get a glimpse of them.

Preliminary sketch.

One of the images, backed by textiles that was sent to the gentleman who was handling arrangements for the commission.

The cliffs along the highway, byway, along Patagonia Creek. This is the road from Nogales, through Patagoia to Sonoita. You can see the image in the snapshot and the detail.

The far mountains were too bright; they advanced too far in the picture plain. They were covered with a printed sheer. The lines were then couched to reinforce the shaping while retaining the distance.

This is, by far, my most favorite detail of the whole work. Click the image to enlarge. There is a coatamundi in the lower left corner. The tall agave blossom tell that that particular agave has reached it’s life’s end.

The whole image, All is Right With the World. It is five feet high and eight feet long.

See all those folds in the mountains? Every one of them is a passageway for a traveler who is looking for a way to feed his family. For every traveler who gets through safely and finds a job a village of forty people stay at home, retain their own culture, and survive from the wages that one poor man sends home.

Other things to remember about the Sonoran Desert, it is the wettest, greenest desert on earth. You will see the Patagonia Creek Ford at the lower right. In reality that ford is three miles down the road. It is fed by an artesian spring up in the hills above Sonoita. It has fed this land for eons.

Water in the desert is rarely seen; it is like the force that runs the universe. Seldom seen, yet it’s effects are seen everywhere.

Now, I’ll show you an earlier commission, Desert Icons, that led to the one above.

This is the mountain range I see from my workroom windows. The mountain on the left is Mount Hopkins. It is home to the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory. To the right is Elephant Head. If you look closely you will see his ear and his tusks. These mountains are all volcanic remains.

My favorite detail from Desert Icons, the Harris Hawk. He is about the size of my fist and I have small hands. There are twenty one different pieces of fabric giving him life. His stick nest is appropriate as the sahuaro is the place the hawks nest. It was made by destroying a child’s toy witches broom.

The last, Painted Desert, now in a private collection in France. This piece was the original piecework of the far, rolling, valley in AIRWTW; it was much too bright. It landed in the dustbin. I finally thought, no, it’s much too beautiful to throw away. I cut it and added the brilliant red orange, turned pieces this way and that. The backing was turned in instead of binding the work.