June 11,2009 by Charles Spillar

Yesterday, two more of the giant sculptures from the closed Magic Carpet Golf property on East Speedway were headed to their new homes. The smiling SUN sculpture and the giant KACHINA were removed from their places on the miniature golf course. They had been there for the past 40 years and brought joy to thousands of Tucsonans. The giant figures were transported to a new location in East Tucson.

Attached are some photos of the two unique creations of the late Lee Koplin as they are being moved.
For those that are not aware of these unique hand built folk art pieces, they were part an important part of Tucson’s history and actually achieved icon status in the community. The quirky creatures brought smiles to many visitors.

Lee Koplin was responsible for actually changing the face of miniature golf in America by creating a literal fantasy world on his Magic Carpet courses. There are only a few of these original courses left in existence. (more…)

This blog was going to be called “For Art’s Sake,” paying tribute to the “Art for Art’s Sake,” or “l’art pour l’art,” notion and battlecry that decrees art is not required to do anything but simply exist.

But when I ran this title by Charlie Spillar, art blog contributor and now administrator of this blog, he made that “eh” sound people emit when they really hate your new haircut.

So the blog is named Artistic Tucson.

Contributors will include:

• Charlie Spillar: He’s the guy who was honored for finding homes for the Magic Carpet Golf statues. He’s also the creator of many wacky pieces, some larger than life, and a fellow Gemini. The latter makes him automatically cool. His head is always flowing with ideas and his definition of ART is very broad, so be ready for some funky stuff.

• David Aguirre: Director downtown’s Dinnerware Artspace, Aguirre has a good eye for art and sense of humor. He recently held an entire exhibit that focused on chickens. It even had a live chicken at the reception (where I believe chicken was also served much to the consternation of the guest of honor).

• Ben McNitt: This artistic fellow has a palette full of talent and knowledge about the local art scene. He’s a longtime writer and artist who specializes in woodworking and has close ties with the local arts group WAMO.

Check back soon for their premiere post.

Do you want to add to the Artistic Tucson blog? E-mail site Ryngmaster Ryn Garguinski at rynski@tucsoncitizen.com