Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance will present the Loews Ventana Canyon Indoor Arts and Crafts Festival, featuring majestic desert and mountain views, handmade arts, kids’ activities, silent auction and live music

 

Aug. 6, 2012 — Artists from the mountain-highs to the desert-lows of Arizona, who have shown in galleries around the world, will travel to Tucson this August for a festival showcasing the region’s most elegant handcrafted artwork among the city’s most beautiful mountain views.

More than 60 artists will present and sell their work at the Loews Ventana Canyon Summer Indoor Arts and Crafts Festival on Saturday, Aug. 18 and Sunday, Aug. 19 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

This inaugural event, at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort — 7000 N. Resort Dr., will appeal to all ages, with children’s activities enhancing the creative atmosphere and various styles of musical performances. Also, a silent auction will benefit arts programs in Southern Arizona, and many styles of art will be showcased.

From fine art to affordable crafts, the festival will exhibit an eclectic mix of works in jewelry, pencil portraits, handmade purses, custom hardwood doors and windows, etched and stained glass, beaded designs, gourd art, ceramics, pottery, metalwork, glass, sculpture, leatherwork, organic and handmade beauty products and hand-painted leather drums.

Premier gallery artisans include Diana Madaras, famous for her a color in acrylics and watercolor celebrating the subtle, natural beauty of ordinary scenes in a way that is both intense and dramatic, and Randy O’brien, well-known for his unparalleled pottery style that has appeared on television shows such as “Better Off Ted,” “The Mentalist” and “The Apprentice,” as well as painter Esther Rogoway and mixed-media artist Phil Smith.

Esther Rogoway

Esther Rogoway has lived and studied in a variety of geographic environments that many artists would find exciting, inspirational and in some instances even mystical. These locales have become a part of her spirit, but it is from her inner soul that she creates her works of art that can be said possess a surreal mystique.

Her images present a swirl of color and form, offering the viewer an abstraction of reality that reminds one of being in a dream-scape where everything is somewhat familiar, yet ebbs and slows with a rhythm of its own. Rogoway’s figures, primarily those of horses and people, are easily recognizable, but the nature of each composition speaks more of an inner world of feeling and imagination rather than to the outer world of reality. Her bold use of color is pure, and there is an elegant balance between opposites, or in some cases, the painting exhibits more of subtle blending of compatible colors.

The daughter of noted artist Alfred Rogoway, she naturally grew up around artists, writers and poets. She also had the advantage of spending her formative years in San Francisco and Big Sur, Calif. and Santa Fe Toas, N.M. as well as Mexico, Canne, Mijas and Spain, all being communities where artistry was an integral part of life itself. She first studied at the Tonbridge Wells School of Art in England and later at the Art Institute of Barcelona, Spain.

Phil Smith

While growing up in Decatur, Ill., Phil Smith studied art privately for eight years with a number of artists and teachers at Millikin University. After moving to the Chicago area in 1969, he resumed work as a watercolorist and began to photograph subjects to paint in his spare time. Smith joined several area art leagues and began exhibiting original, framed photographic images. In 1983, he merged the disciplines of painting and photography, constructing three-dimensional, mixed-media collage pieces that combine photographic images with airbrush and traditional painting techniques and found objects.

During the past 30 years, Smith’s work has been seen in numerous shows and galleries in Illinois including the Gold Coast Art Fair, 57th Street Art Fair, Old Orchard Art Fair, Arts and Riverwoods, Fountain Square Arts Festival and the One-Of-A-Kind Show and Sale at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. Smith was awarded the honor of being designated as an “Invitational Artist” to Art on the Square in Madison, Wis., and received an Award of Merit at the Gasparilla Fine Arts Festival Tampa, Fla. His work has also been seen at IMAGES in New Smyrna Beach and festivals in Mount Dora, Ponte Vedra Beach and Vero Beach, Fla.

In June 2005, the city of Salina, Kan. purchased one of Smith’s mixed-media photo collage pieces for inclusion in the city’s permanent public art collection. He has received first prize ribbons and purchase awards in the Broadway/New Town Street Fair in Chicago, Hendersonville Sidewalk Fair in North Carolina, Apollo Beach in Florida and Illinois shows Lake County Festival of Arts, Libertyville Festival of Art, Open Spectrum, Deer Path Art League Spring and Fall Shows, Barrington Area Arts Council Winter Show, The Glen Art Festival, and Wilmette Arts Guild Fine Arts Festival (“Best of Show” 2001).

Musical guests

The Loews Ventana Canyon Summer Indoor Arts and Crafts Festival will host musical performances throughout the weekend in Latin, Celtic, mariachi, bluegrass, jazz, rock, country, folk and more, including the hypnotizing lyrics of 5Horses4Winds and soulful sounds of Cinder Bridge.

Tucsonan singer-songwriter Kathi Huhtaluhta of 5Horses4Winds is a performer of world scope. Her newest album “Transcendente” with Andres Lemons is a collection of folk music from Spain, Argentina, Galacia and Chile. There is the theme of passion, gypsies and flamenco. Huhtaluhta believes “the cante”, or flamenco vocal chanting, in “Transcendente” is very much like the Saami Yoik of Finland, her native country and roots. She claims the flamenco chant and the Finnish Yoik are both an expression of the soul. Huhtaluhta has performed in folk festivals around the world.

Cinder Bridge, an original rock band based in Tucson, delivers piano-driven sound, thought-provoking lyrics and soulful energy. Their songs cover topics that people have been exploring since language was invented—hope, insecurity, friendship, loneliness and the desire to find one’s place in the world. The group tries to approach songs with a fresh angle, while striving to create engaging melodies and arrangements.

Saturday, Aug. 18

10 a.m. 5Horses4Winds – World, Finnish & Latin

11 a.m. David Billman – piano

12 p.m. Mark Willis – Broadway tunes & piano vocal jazz

1 p.m. Trim the Velvet – Celtic

2 p.m. Chris & Rosemary – jazz

Sunday, Aug. 19

10 a.m. Jay Vosk – clarinet jazz

11 a.m. Mariachi Los Changuitos Feos de Tucson – mariachi

12 p.m. Hank Topless – country

1 p.m. Widow’s Hill – bluegrass

2 p.m. Cinderbridge – bluesy folk

 

Loews Ventana Canyon Summer Indoor Arts and Crafts Festival

When: Saturday, Aug. 18 and Sunday, Aug. 19 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Where: Loews Ventana Canyon Resort, 7000 N. Resort Dr.

Cost: Free

Online: http://saaca.org/Ventana_Art_Festival.html

Phone: (520) 797-3959

NOTE TO MEDIA: Photos available

About the Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance

The Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance (SAACA) is a not-for-profit organization that exists to ensure that, through engagement in arts and culture, our communities produce strong, inspired citizens. SAACA enlists artists, businesses, governments, and individuals to expand artistic and cultural opportunities in their respective communities. To enhance access to the arts and to promote cultural awareness in the communities it serves, SAACA presents large-scale festivals, events and other programs. The Alliance also promotes educational opportunities in the arts and culture for both the young and the old.

Organization History
The Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance (SAACA) grew out of the Greater Oro Valley Arts Council (GOVAC), an organization established in 1997 to provide artistic and cultural opportunities for residents of northwest Tucson. GOVAC eventually became one of the largest arts organizations in the region. In 2009, owing to its success, the group expanded its mission to include creation of partnerships with business, governments, and communities throughout Southern Arizona that would encourage innovative, creative cultural expression in the arts for years to come.

For more information about programs and events produced by the Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance, go to www.saaca.org.

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