What it’s all about

Recently I revised the About Travelcraft Journal page. Here are some slightly rambley thoughts that expand on what I ended up putting there…

This is about exploring the world around you with an open heart. Continuing to be curious and taking the risk of trying new things. Finding the beauty and uniqueness – appreciating the particular quirks – of wherever you happen to be.

It’s about uplifting independent shops and eateries, art, makers and micro-businesses.

Even if the result is not to your taste, you can take notice of the time, effort, thought, and expertise someone puts in. You can admire the process, the craft of it. And tell a friend.

Supporting what is individual, handmade, human, unusual, and often imperfect is to resist de-personalization. To push back against forces pressuring conformity and throwing away anyone who doesn’t fit the mold. The ones that stand to profit from treating people as commodities.

Above all, it’s about striving to practice kindness to our neighbors worldwide, to nature, to ourselves.

It’s about practicing humanity.

May 29, 2025April 9, 2026

Free Admission to Arizona Museums with the Culture Pass

Updated May 2025.
Originally posted November 2017.

Over 30 Arizona museums and attractions offer free passes to local library card holders through the Culture Pass program!

“G’s Horn” sculpture of bronze and living plants by Robert Wick at **Tucson Botanical Gardens.**

What is a Culture Pass?

Culture Passes are a limited number of free admissions to cultural, historic, and other educational sites in Arizona that libraries make available to patrons. It was created by Act One, a 501(c)3 charitable organization.

Libraries that offer Culture Passes have a certain number available for each museum, etc. Different libraries have a different selection and number of Culture Passes that they offer.

long reading tables with lamps and library bookshelves in the background — Great Reading Room at Burton Barr Central Library in Phoenix

About 175 libraries statewide and the library districts for 11 out of Arizona’s 15 counties participate in this program.

Desert Botanical Garden pathway

Who Can Check Out a Culture Pass?

To check out a culture pass you must…

Be a current cardholder for a participating library.
Live in the district (or be a member of the community) that library serves.
Be 18 or over.

abstract sculptures at Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson — “Measures of Separation” sculptures by Nazafarin Lotfi at **Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson**

How to Use a Culture Pass

Each pass is good for free general admission for two people on one visit.

Continue reading “Free Admission to Arizona Museums with the Culture Pass”

May 20, 2023April 28, 2026

Stolen de Kooning Painting Restored to Tucson Museum

University of Arizona Museum of Art (UAMA) entrance — University of Arizona Museum of Art today.

“The art heist went down without a hitch in only 15 minutes.”

–Maria Woodie, ArtistsNetwork

The Crime: Tucson 1985

The University of Arizona Museum of Art (UAMA) wasn’t even open yet the morning after Thanksgiving 1985, when an employee arrived to find a man and a woman already waiting outside. The gregarious couple managed to talk their way in, following the employee into the building.

University of Arizona Museum of Art in 1982 via Gannett.

The woman, wearing a red jacket and a scarf in her hair, chatted up a security guard, while her mustachioed partner went upstairs toward one of the museum’s most important works.

Woman-Ochre had been in the museum’s collection since 1958. It was unceremoniously taken off exhibit when this Black Friday visitor hacked the canvas out of its frame, rolled it up, stuffed it under his jacket (or somewhere), and made a hasty exit with his accomplice.

Continue reading “Stolen de Kooning Painting Restored to Tucson Museum”

March 23, 2023March 22, 2023

Color Story: Deep Teal

Updated March 2023.

Originally published January 2020.

While Pantone’s 2020 Color of the Year is Classic Blue, I feel like I’ve already explored that in my 2018 Blues color story. Instead, what’s been on my mind – colorwise, at least – is teal.

It’s a tricky one to define exactly.

Teal resides at the divide between blue and green, undulating from one to the other, like waves over the border between sea and ocean. The side it falls on depends on who is seeing it and how.

You might find dark, dramatic shades of teal in a flowing river, in paint and pottery, in flora and fauna. Maybe it’s made its way into your home.

Teal can feel tranquil. Like a deep breath. Like that time after the holidays but before you’ve completely resumed your regular routine. Like the peace we need more of in 2020.

For now, maybe we can start by simply taking a moment to breathe deeply and take in some gorgeous teal tranquility.

1. A dramatic shade of natural stucco paint made with minerals sourced in Europe. / via Kromoxi (H/T A Girl Inspired)

2. Diving kingfisher near Kirkcudbright, Scotland. / One of over 720,000 photographs Alan McFadyen shot during his 6-year quest to perfectly capture the birds’ dive into the water. / via Daily Mail

3. Detail of VisionShift, Sonia King’s mosaic installation for the HALL Arts complex in Dallas.

4. Mudstone font sample. / I’m not sure whether this festival actually exists, but I kinda hope it does. / via You Work For Them

5. Tips for making a eucalyptus leaf bundle to hang in your shower. (Or purchase a ready-made one.) / Photo via Healthline

6. Prickly pear cactus earrings created by Australian artist Amelia Marks. / via e.g. etal

7. Tiled steps at The Dreamcatcher Guesthouse in Ocean Park, Puerto Rico. / via BLDG 25 + Dreamcatcher on Facebook

8. DIY tropical wreath with paper foliage by Lia Griffith.

9. Ceramicist Gwendolyn Yoppolo shows the lovely variation from different glazes and firing techniques.

10. Hand-printed vintage camper tea towel by Cara Hibbs. (Her Etsy shop, ohlittlerabbit, is taking a break. More fun, hand-screened tea towels here.)

11. Sea lions and pelicans enjoying a sunny day at Old Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey, California. / I took this photo when we were there in 2012. We stayed in a cute little vintage camper that looked a bit like the lower right one on the tea towel above.

12. Lacinato kale + recipe for kale and sausage skillet via The Rainforest Garden.

13. 1960s brushed metal pendant lamp by Doria Leuchten via VNTG.

14. “You Belong Among the Wildflowers” embroidered Tom Petty lyrics wall hanging by BreezebotPunch on Etsy. (Currently out of stock but you can get on the waitlist or request a custom order.)

15. Abstract sketchbook painting of the Smith River in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park (Northern California) by Heather Day. / Her work is more about sensory experience than the literal represensation of a scene. She camped + painted in a spot overlooking this river in 2017. / via VSCO

16. The Vintage Turkish Over Dye Rug by Cadrys is one of the accessories “Interiors Addict” Jen Bishop selected to help your home feel cozy over the winter. (H/T The Home)

17. This adorable little square planter is handmade in Maine by Elizabeth Benotti.

Teal we meet again!

Photo sources: the Monterey and Venice photos are mine. Others are as cited.

This post contains Etsy affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission on purchases – at no extra cost to you. So shop away!

December 9, 2021December 8, 2021

Slow Art

When you rush through a museum, everything can start seeming like a non-descript blur. Oftentimes, you’ll have a better experience by spending more time with fewer pieces – instead of speeding by in an effort to see (or at least glance at) every single item.

In this spirit, Phoenix Art Museum introduced their “Slow Art” events. Pre-Pandemic, I believe this was an option you could choose instead of a gallery tour on certain days. People would gather around a specific work of art and a docent would talk about just that piece.

I’m more familiar with the program’s COVID-safe incarnation as a monthly Zoom meditation. You may have seen this as a “join in from anywhere” item on our Happenings List.

I attended one of these a couple months ago. It focused on the work of Colombian artist Oscar Muñoz, whose Invisibilia exhibition is currently on display at the museum.

You slow down, settle in, and take deep breaths. Phoenix art educators guide you in examining the work.

We looked at several of Muñoz’s self portraits, as a series and individually. The docents explained his unusual artmaking processes and shared how you could see some of them on display at the museum. The pace of the presentation was measured, allowing plenty of time for questions and contemplation.

It was a refreshing way to calm my mind and reset, while also learning about an artist and his process!

The next session is Thursday, December 23 at noon (Arizona time). RSVP is required, and the cost is just pay-what-you-can.

The Oscar Muñoz: Invisibilia exhibition is on display at Phoenix Art Museum in the Katz Wing for Modern Art through January 16, 2022.