Championing the makers, artists, and wanderers in all of us.
On our anniversary this year, we took Quijote for a picnic at The Farm at South Mountain.
We saw herbs in terra cotta pots on these stepped shelves that looked like little plant bleachers. Maybe they were cheering on the good weather!
It was just cool enough to sit on the porch awhile the morning I took September’s photo, and Quijote seemed to want a little extra sun.
The sky was mottled with little white clouds, like the edges of the approaching cloud bank had crumbled off ahead of it.
They reminded me of the bits of cream cheese you get when it’s too cold to spread properly. Or the pattern of paint after a timid first pass on a textured wall.
Later, the wind and air pressure and afternoon heat would work together to spread the storm clouds across the sky and cover it completely.
On September 22, many museums across the U.S. are offering free admission and/or planning special events as part of Smithsonian magazine Museum Day. You can search their list and then download a ticket for a free general admission (good for 2 people) to the participating museum of your choice.
I found 5 Arizona museums – 1 in Tucson and 4 in the Phoenix area – that I’ve visited and would recommend. They’re listed below in alphabetical order, followed by a few bonus suggestions from Indiana, Seattle, and Washington D.C.
While not a museum in the traditional sense, the Desert Botanical Garden participates in Museum Day and was actually where we went last year.
There are cactus and succulent galleries, a wildflower trail, a contemplation garden, exhibits on historical peoples of the Sonoran Desert, cafes with patio seating, and art sprinkled throughout. Located in Papago Park near the Phoenix Zoo, it beautifully showcases the plants of the Arizona desert and is one of the top places I recommend to Phoenix visitors.
Another place at the top of my Phoenix must-see list is the Heard Museum!
It’s an extensive museum of American Indian art, culture, and history, focusing on the tribes of the Southwest. They display both traditional and contemporary art, including jewelry, ceramics, katsina dolls, and textiles. There is also an immersive exhibit on the Indian boarding school experience.
Formerly known as the Arizona Museum for Youth, the i.d.e.a. Museum is an art and science museum with interactive activities and exhibits for kids.
It’s also where I’ve given my journal workshop during Southwest Maker Fest the last few years.
Tucson’s MOCA hosts rotating contemporary art exhibitions in an airy space converted from an old fire station. They also have a fabulous little gift shop with jewelry, prints, and gift items by local artists.
It’s located in Downtown Tucson, just across from the Tucson Convention Center (and Tucson Music Hall, where we saw Riders of the Purple Sage).
SMoCA is an art and event space with a permanent collection and exhibitions in the areas of contemporary art, architecture, and design.
Bonus non-Arizona recommendations:
Conner Prairie in Central Indiana is a living history museum that I loved visiting as a kid! I remember candle-dipping demonstrations and sitting in on a lesson in an old-timey one-room schoolhouse. Even though I haven’t been there in years, it made me smile to see it on the Museum Day list.
The Experience Music Project (EMP) was recently re-named the Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP). It makes sense, because, while they do have an atrium devoted to constantly-playing music videos (“Sky Church”), a towering guitar sculpture, and galleries for Seattle legends like Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana, there are also exhibitions on sci-fi, video games, fantasy genre archetypes, and other subjects besides music.
Housed within a striking building designed by Frank O. Gehry, MoPOP is located at Seattle Center, near the Space Needle.
I think DC’s lesser-known museums can sometimes get lost in the shadows of the more imposing, free-admission Smithsonian Museums on the National Mall. If the cost of admission is what’s keeping you away, then Museum Day is a great opportunity to finally visit!
My mom and I loved participating in a National Museum of Women in the Arts community day. I hope to visit again and check out more of the artwork!
I very much wanted to visit the Newseum while we were in DC, but I just couldn’t fit it in. It’s a museum about the news, specifically how breaking stories are covered and the importance of a free press.
For more exhibitions and museum events, check out this fall’s Happenings List!
At the Museum of Pop Culture/EMP, we were guests of Visit Seattle.
In February, we focused on local artists and asked you to share local art you love from wherever you are.
Check out these submissions by artists and fans, and keep showing love to local arts!
Peter Skidd produces large works in steel, especially hand-painted wall art in the shape of bowls, waves, or lotus flowers.
He and his wife Sarah are a dynamic team, who we got to meet during a Hidden in the Hills studio tour.
Jocko Moriarty shared this work “purchased from a craft and souvenir shop in M’Chigeeng, Manitoulin Island, Canada and painted by island artist Leland Bell*.”
Mixed media artist Sarah Irvin shared High Note. It’s part of a series of pieces she creates by writing on Yupo, a smooth synthetic paper, and then smearing the ink with a squeegee. Her solo show, In and Out of Weeks, is at the Page Bond Gallery in Richmond through March 31.
Another Virginia artist, Jessie Rublee creates ceramics for both functional and decorative uses. This porcelain vase is from her Frail and Sound series, which explores the dichotomy between the strength of the earth and fragility of pottery.
Jenny Parks draws an original, one-of-a-kind illustration on each pillow she makes – like this mandala “cuddle pillow” with a napping bunny curled up in the center. Her work is meant to comfort people in need of healing.
Many of Beck Lane’s works are vibrant, unconventional portraits of women. She recently completed a two-canvas painting of soul singer Lauren Mitchell.
Matthew McKinley shared pieces from several artists he’s worked with in the Bay Area. (More on his Instagram.)
Sophia Lee incorporates non-traditional materials into her paintings, like the expired make-up that gives color to Night Stroll.
Self-proclaimed “artist of multiple personalities” LE BohemianMuse feels abstract art is more able to capture the complexity of life. Her acrylic painting Bedlam Desired is from the Chaos Series.
Arran Harvey is interested in how people group together. In this spirit, Parade Crowd 2 focuses on the spectators, rather than what they’re watching.
*Note: This is the Canadian Leland Bell (a.k.a. Bebaminojmat), Woodlands school artist of Anishinabe (First Nations) ancestry. He was born on Manitoulin Island in 1953 and still lives in Ontario. Not to be confused with the American Leland Bell (1922-1991), a figurative painter born in Cambridge, Maryland to Russian-Jewish parents. Anyone else think it’s a weird coincidence that there are two 20th-century North American artists with the first name Leland?
Photos in this post link to their sources. Each one comes either from the artist or the person who submitted the work.
The sunset the last evening of 2017 was gorgeous – nature’s fireworks to celebrate the New Year.
A couple of the year’s other beautiful sunsets showed up on my Instagram Best Nine, fitting neatly into its unintentional bright pink/purple/royal blue color scheme. All of my most-liked photos were taken in Arizona, so, of course, they include some desert scenery.
Only a few coincided with my monthly photo picks.
1. #LOVE sign at airport protest 2. Star Wars Capacitance Electronic Disc (CED) 3. Sunset behind palms 4. Tovrea Castle, Phoenix 5. Buildings in Old Town Peoria 6. Hotel Congress sign, Tucson – July 7. High Desert Trail, Black Canyon City – August 8. “Let’s Be Better Humans” campaign bus – March 9. View from Picacho Peak – en route from Tucson
I thought the photos I’d picked for 2017 were more varied than the automatically-generated Best Nine list. But, looking back, almost all are plant- or architecture-related. I guess it was a good year for both those categories.
I wonder what 2018 will bring.