Our Monthly Compendium of Interesting Arts Events, Programs, and Ideas

Sedona painter Libby Caldwell spent all of yesterday installing a body of work in our Special Exhibition Gallery. Entitled Magic of the Ordinary, it's on view through April 5 (daily from 10am to 4pm). Her paintings, each a quiet exploration of human existence and a moment of experience, are not to be missed.  The public is invited to meet Caldwell at the opening reception during tonight's First Friday program. 

In one picture (see detail above), a chef reaches in as the waiter waits patiently, bathed in light yet surrounded by thick shadows. In another, a market vendor offers unwanted merchandise, and then more, and we can almost hear the bustle of a faraway town. A man sits calmly amid the frenzy, Coca Cola in hand, and usurps the scene with his nonchalance. 

Many of the paintings in Magic of the Ordinary, are derived from Caldwell's notes and observations about ordinary people doing ordinary things. But in those scenes, there is always something that the artist finds magical. Her pictures, while serving as a visual record of mundane experience, also give us glimpses of the magic in those moments. 

Those interested in learning from Caldwell, should enroll in her May 20 to 22  Magic of the Ordinary Workshop, for advanced beginner and intermediate level painters. The artist will begin with a study of observation, and how an artist can gather and document subject matter and sensory stimulation on location. In the studio, participants will learn techniques to translate the input, notes, and memory into something extraordinary.  To learn more about Caldwell's three-day workshop, or to register, click here.
 

Here at Sedona Arts Center, we've always encouraged the exploration of creative landscapes and the search for new artistic ideas. It's been part of our history for almost 60 years, and we're working to fill 2016 with more adventurous ideas and opportunities.

Next up is an afternoon private tour of the singular folk art environment known as Eliphante. Join us  at noon on Friday, May 6, for an afternoon that begins with a documentary film at the Arts Center, then continues to Cornville for a tour of an extraordinary folk art environment, and includes a lifetime membership in Eliphante's nonprofit support organization. The afternoon ends back at the Art Barn and a May First Friday reception.  

Eliphante, 3.26 acre arts preserve on the banks of Oak Creek in Cornville, is a sculptural village that was hand-built over 28 years under the vision of artist Michael Kahn, with the help of his wife Leda Livant-Kahn. With friends, they built an environment of iconic buildings—the most significant being the half subterranean structures Eliphante, the art gallery Pipedreams, and living space Hippodome. The result has been written about in The New York Times, Arizona Highways, The Arizona Republic and The Noise (Saving Eliphante, by Ellen Jo Roberts). 

Volunteer caretakers, under the Eliphante nonprofit, are now preserving and restoring the site. They welcome Arts Center members for an afternoon that is sure to be creative and memorable. Special thanks to Eliphante board member Jessica Reece and the Arts Center's Jenny Reed for coordinating this excursion. Click here if you would like to reserve a place and join us on May 6 for at An Afternoon at Eliphante. 
 

What does it mean to help a community be more creative, to bring artistic development to people's lives? At Sedona Arts Center the answer is professional workshops, festivals, ceramics instruction, classes in painting, sculpture, and other mediums. This spring and summer, we offer hundreds of opportunities to develop your creative powers and advance your artistic goals.   

There's still time to get involved in Alternative Ceramics Firings with Dennis Ott, Nature Sketching and Journaling with Elaine Hultgren, or 2 great workshops with American master Kurt Wenner, Perspective and Illusion and Drawing Form in Space. Plan your creative time with Kathryn Stats and a plein air studio painting workshop (see image above), Jan Sitts and her popular Texture, Color, Feeling workshop, take a Drawing Crash Course with Vince Fazio, or develop your dramatic powers with Kate Hawkes and Writing for the Stage.

What does it mean to develop your artistic side? Get involved with Sedona Arts Cetner and find out. To learn more about April and May offerings, click here or view our complete season catalog here. Call us at 282-3809, and our staff will be happy to explain upcoming courses and register for your own plan of creative development!
 

Sometime in 1960, Nassan Gobran was shopping for supplies at Saddle Rock Arts & Crafts, a small Sedona store owned by Cecil Lockhart-Smith. The sculptor and Art Department head at Verde Valley School had spent the past two years trying to build a vision for a new community arts center. He foresaw a place that could support new art, serve as a gathering place and become Sedona's central creative hub.

While in the store, he came across Ray Comerford, then president of the Sedona Chamber of Commerce. It just so happened that the Comerford and the Chamber were looking for an interesting project—something that might build community and enhance quality of life.  

Gobran pulled out his big idea: let's build a new community arts center to activate all forms of creativity and bring people together around the arts in Sedona. That same night, at Comerford's invitation, the ambitious artist pitched his plan at the Chamber’s board meeting. The response was overwhelming.

Almost $1000 was pledged by the end of the night, and Gobran's struggling idea took flight as the town leaders rallied around the idea. Sedona Arts Center has been serving the community, and working with the Chamber of Commerce, ever since. We continue to fly on the wings of Gobran and Comerford's vision for a robust creative community—and we thank you for supporting our 60 year presence as your creative hub.
 

Did you know that the Arts Center offers a weekly opportunity to draw from life? Our Monday Life Drawing Group, coordinated by Pash Glabavy, happens in our North Classroom from 10am to 1pm. It's $10-15 per session and open to all skill levels.  Participants bring their own supplies, and easels are provided. Format includes two 5 minute gestures, followed by 20 minute poses that are determined with group input. Click here to learn more about Pash and the weekly life drawing sessions at Sedona Arts Center, and click here to reserve your place or request more information. 
 

Sedona Arts Center will present the 2nd Annual 12x12 Exhibition and Fundraiser on June 10 from 6:30 to 8:00 pm. Mark your calendar now and don't miss the fun evening of art and competitive collecting! Our 12x12 Project showcases over 100 artists who contribute original works within the confines of a twelve-by-twelve inch canvas or platform. Each piece of artwork is priced at $250, and purchases support your favorite arts center!

This year, the event will feature an artist’s reception and 12x12 Salon. Participating artists will each bring a larger work to exhibit in the Art Barn and be on hand to meet buyers and attendees. The Artist’s Reception and Salon are generously sponsored by Wildflower Bread Company, Board Member Pam Frazier, and the Arts Center's generous Patron Circle members.

Click here to let us know if you'd like to sponsor the 12x12 Project, and look for additional event information in upcoming editions of this e-newsletter. 

Sedona Arts Center Patrons Set Challenge
Help Us Match the $10,000 Already Pledged for Arizona Gives Day
 

Sedona Arts Center is gearing up for Arizona Gives Day, and is calling for generous local arts supporters to mark their calendars for April 5. The single day of grassroots giving invites all Arizonans to make a charitable contribution to their favorite nonprofit organizations and causes. Donors wanting to contribute to the future of Sedona Arts Center can even designate an Arizona Gives Day gift in advance, through our special pledge website. 

In late March, the Arts Center staff and board invited several dozen arts patrons to a kick-off event for the 2016 Arizona Gives Day campaign. Over $10,000 was pledged in a matter of minutes, and the collective generosity realized that evening has become the challenge to all other donors.
 

Click Here to Make Your Advance Pledge
 

Funding from Arizona Gives Day is important to the future of Sedona Arts Center. Donations help sustain operations and programming, including new initiatives and community partnerships. The organization is growing local arts education and outreach activities, adding community music projects and an artists-in-residence program this summer, and actively working to bring the arts to more aspects of the community. 

Arizona Gives Day is a state-wide initiative of the Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits and Arizona Grantmakers Forum that began in 2013. To date, the effort has raised $4.5 million for Arizona nonprofits of all kinds, and helps build awareness for charitable missions across the state. On April 5, the public will be asked to “invest in Arizona” by giving to organizations that build community, enhance the lives of our citizens, and support the arts, education, and well-being. On behalf of our board, staff, and artists: we thank you for your help!