While COVID-19 has thrown us all off balance, people are helping each other get back on their feet in some lovely ways – sharing their art, connecting people with resources, checking in on family and friends, donating where they can, helping the “helpers” on the front lines, and buying from their local mom-and-pop shops and restaurants. (All from a safe distance, of course!)
I’ve rounded up a list of various goodies to help you stay well, support independent artists and businesses, and give back.
Courtesy of Saywells Design + Why I Love Where I Live.
Backgrounds for your phone or Zoom meetings by Tucson-based Saywells Design, including mask-wearing cacti.
Lisa Congdon sketchbook via CreativeBug
Workshops
Debbie Allen Dance Academy: Founded by Debbie Allen of Fame fame, DADA is a non-profit organization with programs to expand young people’s access to dance + theater.
$3 dance classes on weekdays (signup via Zoom required).
MAST (at Mercado San Agustin): Free shipping on U.S. orders with promo code MARCHON. Or 25% off any one item made by Mellow, Sofie, or Tasha with code LEANON.
Make a donation to help them provide hot coffee to overnight hospital workers.
Republica Empanada, Mesa: $2 beer or $10 mix-and-match six pack with any order.
Tucson To Go: Reforma
Tucson
Several Tucson restaurants are offering $30 takeout meals for two, as part of Tucson To-Go! Even though it’s presented by Sonoran Restaurant Week, this deal is ongoing.
Agustin Kitchen (at Mercado San Agustin): Burgers and sandwiches (a.k.a. “handhelds”) are buy one, get one free from 2-4pm daily. Walk-up or call-in orders.
Beaut Burger (at MSA Annex): Buy one, get one free vegan burgers weekdays from 4-5pm. Walk-up orders only.
In many cultures, around the world and across time, the spoken word has been seen as having a power to create and destroy. In the Hebrew Bible, creation is spoken into existence with the words “Let there be light.”
The words of the Diné (or Navajo) people helped to bring an end to World War II. Diné serving in the U.S. Marines developed a code adapted from their tribal language that baffled the Japanese. These “Code Talkers” were able to communicate top secret information to aid the Allied Powers’ efforts in the brutal theater of war in the Pacific.
The Navajo Code Talker program has grown in public consciousness over the last 40 years and has been the subject of many books, documentaries, and even the 2002 film Windtalkers. Yet, with all this focus on what the language accomplished, you couldn’t watch a Hollywood film in Navajo until recently. Continue reading “The Force of Words”
The world feels different than it did two weeks ago. It seems like a different place than it was when I published this list of Happenings we assumed would actually… happen.
Even in the few days since I started this update, things have changed rapidly. COVID-19 is on the rise, and things are being shut down left and right to prevent its spread. We’ve learned terms like “community transmission” and “social distancing.”
While we can’t physically gather, we can still be there for each other. We need the artists and shop owners who have poured their hearts into work that is now on hold indefinitely, and they could certainly use our support.
So here is what’s happening with the Happenings, along with ways YOU CAN still connect with events that have been canceled and support the people behind them.
The status updates are under each event title, followed by slashes (///) and original descriptions.
As far as I know, the information here was accurate as of 9am March 18 but, of course, could continue to change.
—S
Maybe it’s because of Earth Day. Or springtime. Whatever the reason, there seems to be some common threads running through the upcoming Happenings.
First, there is gardening: seed saving (see #12), vegetable growing (#11), and a garden with an environmentally-focused art installation woven throughout (#7). In fact, preservation of the planet is recurring theme in this spring’s art exhibitions from San Francisco (#6) to Scandinavia (#17).
So here is my list of 22 upcoming Happenings, ordered by date. There are also some free or discounted “goodies,” which I’ve asterisked (*) for you. Enjoy!
STATUS: Ongoing. You can keep supporting local art by sharing photos with the hashtag #localartloves! Originally, this was only for February, but indie artists could use the boost even more now!
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Now – ? / wherever you are / free
Monthlong celebration of local art around the world. Join in by posting photos of your favorite murals and other art from your community on Instagram or Twitter using the hashtag #localartloves!
YOU CAN continue supporting local food and farming! CWFM has a list of vendors you can buy from directly or find elsewhere.
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Now – Apr 4, Saturdays 10 am – 2 pm / Cambridge Community Center gymnasium, Cambridge, MA
The Cambridge Winter Farmers Market is a program of the Cambridge Community Center, a nonprofit that has been serving the Coast community for over 89 years. The Market strives to promote vibrant local economy, create access to fresh, healthy food, and provide a gathering space for community throughout the winter months with local food, craftspeople, and live music.
*Different weeks include different goodies, like free tote bags, coloring pages and activities for kids.
Now – Apr 23, 6 – 8 pm, Thursdays / Yuma Palms Regional Center, Yuma, AZ / free
Outdoor jazz concert series hosted by Yuma Jazz Company Quartet, featuring local performers, as well as student ensembles and bands traveling in from Los Angeles, San Diego, and Phoenix.
Now – May 3 / Museum of Craft and Design, San Francisco, CA
An exhibition exploring housing that is adaptable and sustainable to withstand climate change. It showcases architects and artists who have created artistically interpretive solutions and prototypes for emergency shelters.
*Admission is free on the first Tuesday of every month.
Now – May 10 / Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, AZ / Included with admission.
Installation of hundreds of brightly colored animal sculptures along desert garden paths by Italian artist group Cracking Art. Their work is meant to bring attention to environmental sustainability, the problem of plastic in oceans, and the importance of recycling.
*DBG admission: Free on monthly Community Days (second Tuesday) / Discounted during Garden Happy Hour evenings.
SN: I’ve been following Cracking Art’s worldwide installations ever since I spotted their striking red penguins at the 21c Museum Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky several years ago. So I was really excited to hear that their day-glo art has arrived in Arizona!
Now – May 31 / Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN / admission $12
California-based artist Heather Day makes uses scraped, smeared, and flooded pools of pigment to create work that is more about sensory experience than the literal represensation of a scene.
The exhibition will be closed to the public March 4-6.
STATUS: Complete. However, two Arizona Opera fundraisers have been postponed. The Bravo Vino Arizona Wine Festival has been rescheduled for November and the Gala Luncheon for a date TBD.
See artist’s spaces in “A View From the Easel” articles on Hyperallergic (an independent, member-supported contemporary art site). In recent editions, the artists also discuss ways being quarantined has changed their work and lives.
Visit the West 25th Street location by appointment. Email [email protected] to schedule.
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Mar 5 – Apr 11 / Taggart Contemporary Gallery at 514 West 25th Street, New York, NY
Two-person exhibition of work by interdisciplinary contemporary artists Suchitra Mattai and Adrienne Elise Tarver, featuring painting and embroidery as well as a large-scale, site-specific installation by Mattai. Both artists use intricate formal approaches to reveal the voices of individuals who have been obscured through oppression and deep rooted stereotypes, engaging with narratives of subjugation that remain relevant today.
Representatives from The University of Arizona Pima County Cooperative Extension present an overview of warm-season vegetable gardening with topics like what vegetables to plant, how to plant them and protect them from the sun and critters, and how to feed and water them.
Murphy-Wilmot Library: Mar 21, 10am. CANCELED.
Kirk-Bear Canyon Library: Mar 22, 1:30pm. CANCELED.
Plan to go to the July 9th workshop at the Miller-Golf Links Branch.
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Mar 26, 2:00 pm / Joyner-Green Valley Branch, Green Valley, AZ
Native Seeds/SEARCH’s introduction on how and why to save seeds from your garden, basic botany for gardeners, tool and equipment recommendations, and tips for getting the most out of the seeds you save.
Mark your calendar for the fall edition of the Fair September 24 – 27.
Pre-register to be notified of ticket releases and other announcements.
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Mar 26-29 / Metropolitan Pavilion, New York City, NY / Tickets $20-70
The spring edition of the New York Affordable Art Fair will showcase thousands of original contemporary artworks priced between $100 – 10,000 from over 70 local, national and international galleries. Besides shopping a curated selection of paintings, prints, photographs and sculptures, you can enjoy hands-on workshops, live performances, guided tours, talks, kids’ activities, and a café.
Fiber arts community event taking place throughout Los Angeles County at 18 local, women-owned yarn shops. Each one is committed to education, meeting customers face-to-face, teaching yarn crafts, and inspiring creativity.
*Shops will offer discounts, commemorative totes and pins for purchase, free patterns, and prizes.
Exhibition bringing together seventeen Nordic artists and artist groups, who use their craft, tools, and deep material knowledge to address environmental issues and confront a longing for a deeper connection to the earth. Their work encompasses biology, geology, and cosmology, and challenges our perception of materials, of the natural world, and of ourselves.
Film festival held alongside ClexaCon, a multi-fandom event celebrating positive representation of LGBTQ+ women in the media. The festival will include short films, features, episodics, animation, and music videos.
SN: The film festival is organized by my friend Stacy Calvert, who I met through BlogHer.
Stacy will be screening her new short The Bra Mitzvah during a panel on The Ins and Outs of Making a Short Film, as well as moderating a filmmaker forum.
YOU CAN register online for your tour of choice! The Irish Tourism Group has amended their policies to be more flexible if you decide to postpone a recently-booked tour, but you still need to make changes at least 4 weeks in advance.
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Apr 22 / Southern Ireland / €2,999
Tour of Ireland that combines seeing the countryside with knitting workshops and meeting local craftspeople. Includes knitting workshops (with yarn and patterns), accommodations, Irish breakfast daily, sightseeing (accredited guide, transportation, and entrance fees included), and activities like a traditional music show and whisky and chocolate tasting.
The Happenings List is made up of a seasonal events I’ve found for lovers of art, craft, and culture. I typically edit organizers’ event descriptions for length and clarity.
I try to make sure everything is accurate at the time I put the list together, but, of course, changes or errors are always possible.
Use this as your starting point, and then tell me about the Happenings you go to!
Don’t let the fact that Paul Blake is a sweet and thoughtful 71-year-old Englishman fool you. He is enmeshed in one of the biggest cover ups in sci-fi film history: the question of just who shot first, Han or Greedo.
Paul Blake (right) with moderator Patty Hawkins at Tucson Comic-Con.
You may remember that in George Lucas’s original 1977 Star Wars film, outlaw Han Solo shoots the bounty hunter Greedo to escape capture. When Lucas decided to alter a later release of the film to show Greedo firing his weapon first, fans protested the edit with an outcry of “Han shot first!” and it has been a point of contention ever since.
The alien Greedo via StarWars.com
Paul Blake saw it all firsthand from inside his green Greedo mask.
Wildlife rescue centers in Australia and the animals they’ve taken in have found some unlikely allies.
Joeys hanging around. Photo: Wildlife Volunteers Association Inc.
Caring for injured Australian fauna requires a very specific supply list, which includes things like marsupial sleeping pouches and mitts to protect burnt paws. These can’t be made out of just anything. It has to be soft, breathable 100% cotton fabric – exactly the type of material that quilters are experts at working with.
NotJustQuiltZ’s aboriginal-designed fabrics at the Quilt, Craft, and Sewing Festival in Phoenix.
Jeltje van Essen, owner of Quilt Shop 100 Rozen in Deventer, Netherlands, realized this and recruited a group of volunteers to sew for wildlife centers overwhelmed by Australia’s intense fire season.
Pauline Rogers demonstrates her products at the Quilt, Craft, and Sewing Festival in Phoenix.
Jeltje’s quilt shop crew in The Netherlands started by making mittens for injured koalas, using cheery fabrics to make their carers smile. They have since moved on to other projects, like sewing wraps for rolling up recovering bats into cozy little fabric burritos (bat-ritos?) that make them feel like they’re snug inside their mothers’ wings.
Bat wraps! Photo by Animal Rescue Freecycle Craft Guild.
The Dutch quilt shop volunteers certainly weren’t the only crafters to pick up their needles to help, however.
Donations of handmade items have been pouring in to the Rescue Craft Co. (RCC), based in New South Wales, which has been sharing patterns and coordinating shipments from around the world.
Nests by Nicole Jarczewski.
In fact, the reason the Netherlands quilt shop group switched projects is because the koalas in Australia are all stocked up on mittens. RCC has actually been so inundated that they’ve asked that people stop sending them.
Instead, they’re requesting veterinary supplies, a select list of crafted items, and monetary contributions to their logistics GoFundMe or other trusted organizations working to help Australia heal.
Photo: Wildlife Volunteers Association Inc.
How to Help Australian Animals (via Rescue Craft Co):
