Art in Wilderness is a project of the Sky Island Alliance to connect people with their wild public lands and to showcase the Tumacacori Highlands of southern Arizona, for which we are advocating designation by Congress as a Wilderness Area (see www.TumacacoriWild.org for more information).
One spring weekend, Sky Island Alliance invited several local artists to go hiking and camping with us in the Tumacacori Highlands--to see, experience, learn about, and connect with the place. From that experience has come a range of artwork--photographs, paintings, essays, poems, songs--all inspired by and celebrating this very special place.
Please join us for the Art in Wilderness Gallery Opening
Thursday, December 13th, 6:00-8:00pm
El Cortijo in Gallery Row, 3001 E. Skyline Drive
(northeast corner of Skyline and Campbell)
additional parking at Plaza Colonial on the southwest corner of Skyline and Campbell
Download a printable invitation flyer here (PDF file) or here (JPG file)
Now available: A magical collection from 19 artists, poets, writers, photographers... over 100 pages of beautiful, full-color reproductions of original art, essays and poems... Two CDs with music and readings... As inspriring as the wild lands they seek to protect...
Download an order form for the Art in Wilderness book and CD set here (PDF file)
Participating artists include:
Richard Shelton — Chuck Bowden — Alison Deming — Ken Lamberton
Kevin Pakulis — Sarah Kucerova — Sharon Holnback — Diana Madaras
Mary Lucking — Diana Stirling — Cantrell Maryott — Tim Lengerich
Michael Berman — Jason Zuzga — Chip Hedgcock — Bob Van Deven
Adriel Heisey — Chris Bondante — Murray Bolesta
For more information on the Sky Island Alliance project, Art in Wilderness, please contact Mike Quigley at 520-624-7080 x11.
Just a sampling of Art in Wilderness:
artist: Sharon Holnback
artist: Michael Berman
Listen to an exceprt of "Nobody Knows" (lyrics by Richard Shelton, music by Cantrell Maryott and Kevin Pakulis) [mp3 file]
An excerpt from Chuck Bowden's essay:
"...I looked out at a landscape of dry grass and green oaks, the trees evenly spaced like in a model railroad layout, and was struck dumb by the ground, that moment they now call imprinting, where some things make an impression that can neither be explained nor removed.
...For 40 years this tract has been the playing field of my fantasy life, the place where there is space, silence, and hills no one has yet broken to a name.
...By June the well pretty much went dry, with late July came the rains, and by the end of November the last hummingbird had fled and did not return until February, when the Arizona holly bloomed. The snow came in the night but left by noon. When it got real dry, a rattlesnake moved onto the porch, but it left with the rains. I saw a red bolt of lightning split an oak and savored the smell lingering in the air..."
Listen to an excerpt of Chuck's reading here. [mp3 file]
artist: Sarah Kucerova
artist: Chris Bondante
Listen to an excerpt of Kevin Pakulis' "Jaguar Blues". [mp3 file]
artist: Bob Van Deven
artist: Diana Madaras
An excerpt from Richard Shelton's essay:
"...It is April in the Tumacacori Highlands near the Mexican border. The large open spaces between the oaks are covered with tawny grass.
...Oaks here are deciduous in the spring, so the leaves vary from green to gold to brown, and a few are falling constantly. The temperature is perfect. I want to go back to sleep, but at my age when you’ve had a ten-minute nap, you can’t go back to sleep again for a long time. You just lie there and think. Shakespeare says “Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look; He thinks too much: such men are dangerous.” I want to be a dangerous man in the time I have left..."
Listen to an excerpt of the reading here. [mp3 file]
Listen to an excerpt from Alison Deming's poem here. [mp3 file]
Listen to an excerpt from Jason Zuzga's poem here. [mp3 file]
artist: Cantrell Maryott
For more information on the Sky Island Alliance project, Art in Widlerness, please contact Mike Quigley at 520-624-7080 x11.