Tucson, AZ

Last night and the night before I helped a friend create a really beautiful art project. I can say that modestly because the concept was all hers. We worked at the U of A and then at the site: La Siesta Motor Lodge, located at 1602 N. Oracle Rd., near the Meet Rack. It’s part of the Tucson Pima Arts Council (or TPAC) Open Studio Tour, which I didn’t have time to check out, but it’s where a bunch of local artists open their studios to show the public what they’re up to.  Exciting!

I haven’t seen any 2-D or video art yet, but the outside sculptures are great: A larger than life wooden TV set you get walk into, and swings hanging from all the beams (we’re not sure about the liability issues concerning swinging or TV viewing from the inside out yet–in other words, the art we know is good, but who knows how the owners of the space will or won’t encourage it).

I went to the opening, and we weren’t allowed to swing on the swings, but we were allowed to get inside the TV, which by then had a nice chair and end table for comfortable inside-out viewing. There was a keg, wine and snacks, so people used that end table, and all of the chest-level swings for little trays. It was cute. The paintings inside were pretty great, too, and there was a video project I wish I could have seen more of (I came pretty late).

Here’s some info on it: http://www.tucsonpimaartscouncil.org/ost/index.html

Actually, here’s a map of all the open studios: http://www.tucsonpimaartscouncil.org/ost/Fall08/map/index.html