I-Spy: Guitars

As the “Six-String Masterpieces” exhibit enjoys its final week at the Mesa Art Center museum, I’m revisiting a few of my own guitar images — collected during travels near home and beyond.

Soft toy guitars from the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix

Neon guitar that hangs in the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square

Culinary fare from the MIM that could pass as a guitar or violin

Guitar case belonging to an Occupy Wall Street protester in NYC 

Sign for the guitar exhibit at Mesa Contemporary Arts

The “Six-String Masterpieces” exhibit, which is curated by Curse Mackey, runs through Dec. 4 in the South Gallery of the MAC museum. It’s described as “a charitable art exhibition featuring a impressive collection of Dean Electric Guitars that have been hand-painted, illustrated and sculpted by leading musicians and contemporary visual artists.”

With more than $200,000 raised to date, the exhibit “continues to evolve as an ongoing charitable exhibition that serves to raise awareness and support for music education and carries a message of anti-violence.” All proceeds from “Six-String Masterpieces” benefit a music education charity called “Little Kids Rock.”

Folks eager to enjoy guitars in the hands of those who play them can head to Tucson for an exhibition titled “Who Shot Rock & Roll: A Photographic History, 1955 to the Present.” The exhibit, organized by the Brooklyn Museum with guest curator Gail Buckland, runs through Jan 15 at the Tucson Museum of Art — and is part of a larger experience called “Tucson Rocks.”

The University of Arizona Museum of Art presents an exhibit titled “Good Vibrations: The Guitar as Design, Craft & Function” through Jan. 15, 2012. Students from the UA school of music will perform free guitar concerts Dec. 2 and Jan. 13.

Buck Owens guitar exhibited at the House of Broadcasting museum in Scottsdale

The Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix has an Artist Gallery that includes guitars used by Eric Clapton, Paul Simon and the Jonas Brothers — and will soon be adding guitars played by John Denver, Toby Keith and Buck Owens. Their museum shop is full of guitar goodies from holiday ornaments to silver earrings. Fans of Buck Owens can see his “signature guitar” displayed at the House of Broadcasting in Scottsdale.

The world’s best artwork, of course, is created by students. You can enjoy an “Art Rocks!” art show featuring works by students at Marcos de Niza and Kyrene Middle School at Hoodlums Music & Movies in Tempe Dec. 10 from 6-9pm. “Art Rocks!” music will be provided by alumni bands.

— Lynn

Note: Mesa Arts Center offers classes for adults and kids in various visual and performing arts. Click here to learn about lessons in playing guitar and other musical instruments available at the MAC.

Coming up: Use your words, I-Spy: Elvis, More music education from the MAC

I-Spy: Animal art

Next time your children are restless, consider a friendly game of “I-spy” ala art — encouraging them to look for art in everyday places, perhaps picking a kid-friendly theme like animal art.

Most of the photos in this post were taken during my everyday travels, but one — featuring the live snake — hails from the ASU Art Museum. Folks who attend the museum’s Nov. 5 “First Saturdays for Families” event can see the anaconda pictured above.

The snake is part of an exhibition titled Juan Downey: The Invisible Architect. “Diablo is pretty magnificent,” says the museum’s Deborah Sussman Susser, “and worth a visit.” How lovely to be on a first name basis with a reptile that’s morphed into an objet d’art.

I’m told that Jean Makin, who curates the museum’s annual family exhibition each summer, has put together another show titled “Just Animals” that runs through December.

“Kids’ view of their world includes furry, feathery and sometimes scaly friends,” says Makin. “They are part of a child’s family.” So seeing prints of fuzzy cats or fluffy dogs brings “instant recognition and comfort.”

“Art,” adds Makin, “can be very complex and unapproachable to a child, but packaged in an image of an animal, it is understandable. Little kids can draw animals from their memory and heart, conveying a sense of what that animal means to them.”

Families who attend the Saturday event will enjoy opportunities other animals can’t experience — like spin-painting and making musical instruments out of recycled materials.

Parents familiar with the Blue Man Group, performing at ASU Gammage through Sunday, know that some humans actually get paid for doing such things on stage.

I suppose that if my kids were little again (they’re all in college now), I’d challenge them to imagine a world where animals had the cameras and humans were the subject of all their photos.

Then I’d turn them loose with art materials so they could play with ideas about what those animals might capture with their cameras. Something tells me we’d make hilarious subjects.

— Lynn

Note: Animals lovers should check out the “National Geographic Live! Speaker Series” at Mesa Arts Center and an upcoming Childsplay production featuring “Lyle the Crocodile.” Click here for information on the Arizona Animal Welfare League, and here for information on the Center for Native and Urban Wildlife at Scottsdale Community College (which offers tours for 4th graders).

Coming up: A loaf of bread

Art adventures: Arizona Capitol Museum

When the Arizona legislature is in session, hardly a day goes by without members of the local or national media reporting on controversial happenings at the Arizona State Capitol. But this is nothing new.

When my oldest daughter (now an ASU student interested in history and cultural anthroplogy) was in grade school, she spent a year home schooling. We spent lots of time at the Arizona State Capitol — exploring museum exhibits and sitting in on legislative hearings.

Back then, the hot button issue was cash rebates and tax credits for folks buying alternative fuel vehicles or converting vehicles for possible alternative fuel use. While the practice sounded good in theory, it became a wildly unwieldy enterprise as costs of the program soared past expectations and spiraled out of control.

I was inspired to revisit the Arizona Capitol Museum after seeing the cast of Greasepaint Youtheatre’s “Schoolhouse Rock” do a run-through of the show the night before opening their May 6-15 run in Scottsdale. It was a lot more fun than watching some of those House hearings back in the early ’90s.

The musical “Schoolhouse Rock” is based on an animated educational TV show that ran on ABC-TV during the ’70s and ’80s. Topics treated by “Schoolhouse Rock” included grammar, science and math — as well as history and civics.

Hence songs like “Just a Bill/The Preamble,” “Great American Melting Pot,” and “Sufferin’ Till Suffrage” — which you can enjoy all over again with your kids at Greasepaint Youtheater this weekend.

I took oodles of photo during my latest trip to the Arizona Capitol Museum just last week, when Christopher and I went to explore the exhibits and grab a bite in the Capitol Cafe, located in the basement of the executive tower.

Watch for a future post featuring photos of children’s artwork displayed along the corridor connecting the executive tower, where Governor Jan Brewer’s office is located on the 9th floor, and the Arizona Capitol Museum (with doors that open into a courtyard flanked by the Arizona Senate and Arizona House of Representatives buildings).

There’s plenty of material in this slide show for crafting your own version of an “I-Spy” museum adventure or scavenger hunt of sorts. There’s even a Press-A-Penny machine on the museum’s first floor where you can treat your children to one of three nifty designs if they’re successful with your homemade game (you can define success any way you like).

Of course, my children would have preferred viewing the slide show themselves, then coming up with a list of objects for me to identify or locate. And I’d never settle for a single pressed penny as my prize. I’d insist on all three.

— Lynn

Coming up: A trio of Shakespeare posts — featuring new seasons, teacher reflections and student reviews

Art in the fast lane

This sculpture in downtown Phoenix is by Cliff Garten of L.A.

You might think the Valley METRO light rail system is merely a means for getting from here to there.

But it’s actually an impressive mix of art and science, making an afternoon spent riding the METRO a sort of mobile museum adventure that’s fun for all ages.

Seems the clever folks who design and develop such things strive to combine safety and efficiency with aesthetic elements that promote neighborhood pride and cultural identity.

The Urban Design Task Force that planned and designed the Valley’s first light rail system included local architects, engineers, environmental experts and artists.

Their work was guided in part by more than 100 volunteers working on various panels and committees.

Valley METRO credits the 28 artists involved in creating artwork for various stations with helping to make the light rail a “celebration of place and community.”

Artists hail from around Arizona, and from other states including New York, California, Washington and North Carolina.

You’ll see the diversity of their work as you travel around the Valley via light rail — whether you’re traveling across 19th Avenue, Central Avenue, Washington Street, Apache Boulevard or beyond.

I enjoy "HANDS" by Suikang Zhao of New York each time I travel along Apache Blvd. in Tempe

My own personal favorite is a 21-foot high sculpture titled “Hands” by New York artist Suikang Zhao — which is part of a larger installation (“The Space Between”) created by four artists in collaboration.

I see it each time I drive to and from performances at ASU Gammage, or travel between Scottsdale and Tempe for other purposes — like enjoying Essence Bakery or Changing Hands Bookstore.

You can sneak a peak at various works on the Valley METRO website, but the best way to experience public art is to grab your kiddos and just go. Take a camera, a poetry journal, a sketch pad or just your imaginations.

You’ll see all sorts of themes — like air and water, time and space, language and culture. A large circular sculpture titled “Landmark” at a downtown Phoenix stop reflects “the Hopi belief that life is a circle that we each enter at a particular place.”

Public art is like vegetables. Kids need to know that corn and peas come from the ground, not from a can. And they need to know that the works of art and design we too often take for granted are created by people sharing individual and collective stories and ideas. They don’t just fall from the sky.

You'll see "A Thousand Points of Reference" by Phoenix artist Michael Maglich when you visit Burton Barr Central Library

I’m especially intrigued by the backstory of the Smith-Martin and Apache Metro stop in Tempe, another collaboration of four artists — this one including Dan Corson’s “Carpet of Languages,” which references the 70 languages spoken in the area.

Materials used by these artists range from glazed tiles and sand-cast bronze to red granite and steel railings. While one incorporates a quilt theme, another embraces historical photos of the surrounding community.

It might make for an especially fun outing if your child needs inspiration for using art supplies received during the holidays — or if you want to help your teen think through issues of identity and design as he or she starts to redecorate a bedroom or study space.

Let family members help plan the route. Your children might discover an intriguing museum alongside one or more of the Valley METRO stops, whereas your teens might uncover some trendy coffee joints where they can gather with friends tired of meeting at the mall.

And you might just discover that riding the light rail is more than a mere convenience — it’s actually a rather creative enterprise.

— Lynn

Note: Click here to learn more about the Federal Transit Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation and their position on art and design in public transportation.

Coming up: I-Spy: Sculpture style

Photos: Valley METRO