Art, art, art!

Van Gogh Immersive Experience

I've had a week full of art with a friend who's visiting from Flagstaff! We started with a Van Gogh Immersive Experience, including projections of his work all around us with music while we relaxed in slingback chairs. There were many other innovative displays of his art, such as this life size construction of his famous bedroom scene.

Tubac

Another day we visited the artsy town of Tubac, about an hour south of Tucson. It was a beautiful, balmy sunny day, perfect for wandering among the galleries, shops, and courtyards.

We capped off our browsing with ice cream on the porch of the Tubac Deli. Earlier we had scrumptious sandwiches at the deli for lunch.

Tumacacori

Then we headed to the nearby Tumacacori National Historical Park, where a centuries old Spanish mission still stands surrounded by the grounds where the community farmed and grew orchards along the Santa Cruz River. Before the Spaniards arrived, the O'odham thrived there, and some of them moved into the mission community.

Tucson Desert Art Museum

One day was devoted to the Tucson Desert Art Museum and Medicine Man Gallery on the east side of town.

The museum has a fine collection of Navajo weavings as well as prominent 19th century landscape paintings, photographs from the Dust Bowl, and exhibits about pioneer women and the gold rush.

 

I, of course, was drawn to the weavings.

But the exhibit of layers of undergarments suffered by women over the years was fascinating. I would never have survived wearing all those corsets and cages.

Medicine Man Gallery

At the Medicine Man Gallery, I found a vibrant, colorful woven rug from the 1890s that would look very nice draped over my couch. The only problem was the price: $6,670. Don spent a lot of time in the Maynard Dixon room, and I loved all the native American jewelry.

University of Arizona Museum of Art

And more weavings, this time at the U of A Museum of Art by a contemporary Navajo man named Marlowe Katoney who was taught to weave by his grandmother and then studied painting at the university. He weaves together traditional imagery with current life events.

I also really liked the color and energy of this painting by Linda Hess titled "La Grande Place."

 

University of Arizona Museum of Optics

A different type of treat was glass art at the university's Optical Sciences building. The striking largely glass building has six floors of antique optics, architecture and art, with a rooftop patio where you can look out over the campus. It was a nice way to cap off the day.

(And there's more to come when Quilt Fiesta! opens tomorrow! It's the annual show by the Tucson quilt guild. I'll file a full report!)

Have an artful day