The Big Draw

We’re fortunate in Arizona to have several museums and organizations dedicated to preserving and sharing American Indian culture, including the Heard Museum — with locations in both Phoenix and Scottsdale.

So I was curious, during a recent trip to New York City, to see the National Museum of the American Indian. While there, I stumbled on one of their educational programs called “The Big Draw” — which featured music and dance performance, as well as drawing opportunities, for children and families.

I’m hoping some of my pictures from that day will inspire new drawing adventures in your own home or classroom — and serve as a friendly reminder to visit our own local museums, which I’m convinced are some of the best in the country.

Entrance to the National Museum of the American Indian in New York City…

One of several Big Draw participants getting tips on her artwork…

One of many families who were seated around the room drawing together…

Visitors see this foyer, where I found visitors’ art on display, as they enter…

These panels hold children’s art created during The Big Draw event…

One of several pastel works displayed near The Big Draw activity area…

Another piece of art created during The Big Draw experience at the museum…

Another art selection created during The Big Draw experience…

This piece of art from The Big Draw appears to be a sign of the times…

Click here to explore the National Museum of the American Indian, here to find other Smithsonian museums, here to learn more about the Heard Museum and here to visit the Central Arizona Museum Association.

— Lynn

Coming up: The fine art of Wall Street?

Spoiled in Scottsdale?

Those of us who live in Scottsdale often get a bad rap for being richer or more pampered somehow than folks who live in other parts of the Valley. We actually downsized significantly when we moved to Scottsdale, and we weren’t living all that large to begin with.

Still, I often feel spoiled in the performing and visual arts department — thanks to the wealth of arts resources in our neck of the woods. Think Heard Museum North Scottsdale,  Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art — and many more.

Portrait of modern dance legend Merce Cunningham (from the DNA Dance website)

Tonight I’m heading out with Lizabeth, my 17-year-old daughter, to enjoy the latest legends to hit the local scene. I’ve seen more than my fair share of legends at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts. Most recently, I experienced the work of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.

This evening we’ll be attending “Betty Buckley: Broadway by Request” at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts. Buckley received her first Tony Award after performing the Broadway classic “Memory” in the musical “Cats.”

Portrait of Broadway legend Betty Buckley (from Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts website)

Other Buckley credits include “Sunset Boulevard,” “Carrie,” “Wyatt Earp” and “Tender Mercies.” Tonight she’s performing vocal selections coupled with storytelling to include backstage anecdotes.

Buckley will be accompanied at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts by musician and comedian Seth Rudetsky, who helps our family make all those trips to and from high school each day feel fun rather than frustrating — though that’s hardly his greatest claim to fame.

His piano performance has graced Broadway shows that include “Les Miserables” and “Phantom of the Opera” — two of my favorites from the pre-“Avenue Q” and “In the Heights” era.

It would appear that I’m spoiled in many ways — because my husband James was kind enough to alert me to the fact that if I leave my laptop right this minute, I might also be able to catch some of “Opera in the Park.”

It’s a free viewing of a filmed performance of “La boheme” by Arizona Opera taking place at the Scottsdale Civic Center, adjacent to the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts.

I may be spoiled, but don’t blame Scottsdale. Unless of course you want to pin it on my husband and Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts. They’re guilty as charged — but it’s a good thing.

— Lynn

Note: This post describes March 26, 2011 performances that have already taken place.  Click here for information on upcoming performances at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts.

Coming up: Art and “Asher Lev”

Raise a glass!

Toast the arts while celebrating the New Year!

Plenty of folks will be raising glasses in celebration of a new year, but I’m more interested in glass with an artistic twist — so I went in search of Valley museums and galleries featuring diverse glass exhibits.

Turns out the Tempe Center for the Arts houses not only several performance venues, but also an art gallery that features changing exhibititions like “2010 TCA Biennial: GLASS,” which runs through April 9.

This exhibition, which includes the work of 21 jury-selected artists from around Arizona, celebrates the Center’s third anniversary.

Oil Top by Joshua Dopp on exhibit at Tempe Center for the Arts

If you didn’t know that glass was the modern gift of choice for third anniversaries, you might want to brush up on your marriage-related trivia. (Leather is the traditional choice.)

When you hit the TCA during gallery hours you’ll enjoy free admission and all sorts of glass artistry — from blown glass vessels and window panes to architectural installations and self-standing sculptures.

It’s a far cry from the glass I experience on a daily basis — whether humble tea cup or simple costume jewelry.

You’ll have to make haste if you’ve yet to experience the many glass wonders on exhibit at the Heard Museum in downtown Phoenix.

Clan House by Preston Singletary on exhibit at the Heard Museum in Phoenix

Their “Preston Singletary: Echos, Fire, and Shadows” exhibit — which features “unique interpretations of Tlingit myths and legends in contemporary glass work” — ends its run on Feb 6.

Singletary is a Seattle-based artist whose work blends “European glass-blowing tradition and Northwest Native design.” Tlingit Indians, the original people of the Pacific Northwest Coast, currently live in parts of Alaska and Canada.

Melissa Post, who has served as curator for Tacoma’s Museum of Glass, is scheduled to discuss Singletary’s works, which “meld his Tlingit ancestry with the dynamism of the Studio Glass Movement,” at the Heard Museum at 2pm on Sun, Jan 23.

Carolyn Kastner, associate curator at the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in Sante Fe, will discuss Singletary’s work in the context of American art on Sun, Jan 30, at the Heard.

Chandelier by studio glass artist David Bennett

For an earlier taste of glass art, head to the Heard Museum at 2pm on Sun, Jan 16, for a presentation titled “Combining Hot Metal and Hot Glass.” Studio glass artist David Bennett will discuss the “development of glass and metal art over 2,000 years, from ancient Italy to the United States” — as well as his own work.

I suspect some of you will stumble on intriguing martini glasses and such during cocktail-ridden celebrations of the New Year. But I’m content to simply explore the infinite world of glass as fine art.

— Lynn

Photo: “Clan House” – Russell Johnson

Note: The Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix has a “Tower for the People!” campaign to fund the permanent installation of a work by glass artist Dale Chihuly. Click here to learn more.

Coming up: Celebrating MLK Day