Concentric Controversy
Crop Circles: Quest for Truth
7:30 p.m., Friday, July 10
Tubac Plaza Main Stage
29 Tubac Plaza Road
398-2542;
globalchangemultimedia.org
For decades, crop circles have mystified the world, but in a documentary from director William Gazecki, the various clues we have start to fall into place.
As part of the Cinema Under the Stars series and the nonprofit Global Change Multimedia's indie-movie series, Crop Circles: Quest for Truth will be showing in Tubac on Friday.
Crop circles are a source of wonder as well as contention, but Gazecki begs us to keep an open mind, more than anything else. He explains on his Web site (cropcirclesthemovie.com) that the specific features of crop circles, including eyewitness reports, suggest the involvement of something we do not understand.
"Whether crop formations are navigational points, encoded ancient or future technologies, warnings or simply messages of greeting, their stunning beauty and mysterious manifestation continues to spark worldwide controversy," he says on the Web site. While the question of whether the culprits are here on Earth or from somewhere else is never quite answered, Gazecki makes the case that humans could not have created all of the crop circles we see.
The film features an in-depth look at the current theories behind crop-circle formations, from the relatively believable to the downright bizarre. Gazecki includes interviews with leading researchers and crop-circle scientists, several of whom had never agreed to be on camera before. Whether you're a skeptic or already a believer, Crop Circles: Quest for Truth promises to show you something you haven't seen before.
Proceeds from the event will go toward teen and young-adult rehabilitation programs, as well as internships at Avalon Gardens in Tubac, an organic garden that provides food and agricultural training.
The movie will start at 7:30 p.m. and will run about 120 minutes. Tickets are $5; admission is free if it's your birthday. —S.J.
Enjoying the Season?
Colors of Summer art show
5 to 8 p.m., Saturday, July 11
Jane Hamilton Fine Art Gallery
29 Main St., Bisbee
(520) 432-5464;
janehamiltonfineart.com
As we're bombarded by the blistering heat, we in the desert often forget that summer has an upside. Luckily, the new show at the Jane Hamilton Fine Art Gallery in Bisbee reminds us of that pleasant glow that comes with a summer sunset and the joys of relaxing afternoons—in an effort to distract us from the blinding glare we usually associate with the season.
Carolyn Barker, director of the gallery in Bisbee, says the art featured is "vibrant, cheerful and whimsical. It reminds us of what summer is, even with the heat!"
She says that the "evening art extravaganza" is the new (sorta) Bisbee gallery's first show and will be part of the free Bisbee After Five Art Walk. The show features the work of several Arizona artists, including Martha Braun, Thomas DeDecker and Tucson's own Jack Eggman, known for his abstract landscapes.
As part of the second-Saturday Bisbee After Five Art Walk, a dozen galleries will stay open until 8 p.m., and about 30 other businesses in Bisbee will stay open late. The evening will also feature live music from the band Cool Jazz.
"We're excited to be part of what's become a great Bisbee art walk," says Barker.
She explains that the gallery first opened in Bisbee almost two decades ago, but Jane Hamilton moved the gallery to Tucson eight years later. Recently, the Tucson gallery moved to a new space (2890 E. Skyline Drive, Suite 180), and while looking at locations for that gallery, Hamilton found that her old Bisbee location had opened up. Now, the Jane Hamilton Fine Art Gallery has locations in both Bisbee and in Tucson. —S.J.
Thief for a Day
Steal My Art! show
7 to 10 p.m., Saturday, July 11
The 5th on 6th Art Studio and Gallery
439 N. Sixth Ave., No. 153
Adan De La Garza hasn't had much luck selling his art.
"If people are interested in my work," he says in an e-mail, "they don't want to pay for it. I hear a lot of, 'I like it, but I just wouldn't want it in my house.' Which is fine, because I don't see many drapes that match my art."
The problem is, he's moving to Colorado for grad school in about a month, and he doesn't want to take his archive with him. He'd rather have people take his works for free, and he'd rather have his art displayed somewhere other than his room, even if he doesn't make any money off it.
"It's amazing how interested people are once they think they can get something for free," he says. And so, the Steal My Art exhibit was born.
Guests at the event will be able to actually rip his work off of the walls and take it home—if he doesn't catch you. That sets up an interesting dynamic, "because you'll have me trying to prevent it and encourage it at the same time," he explains.
De La Garza believes that the event will let people interact with the art in a way that isn't sterile or stagnant, as galleries often can be. "I wanted to provide a chance for people to interact with the art, but think on their toes at the same time," he says.
The event, which De La Garza calls "an exploration through the archives of unsellable work and failed ideas," will feature a collection of photographs, screenprints, zines and other work spanning the last six years. The event (and whatever you can grab) is free, but remember—think fast! —S.J.
From Bees to Art
Tucson Encaustic Artists' Seduction of Wax
Opening reception: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Thursday, July 9
Exhibit on display through Friday, Aug. 14
Jewish Community Center
3800 E. River Road
299-3000;
tucsonencausticartists.com
As if Burt's Bees lip balm and that thick, gooey goodness known as honey didn't give you enough reasons to appreciate bees, the Tucson Encaustics Artists collective has another reason: art.
The collective, which formed a little more than a year ago, consists of 10 local artists who all create encaustic art, which means they use melted beeswax as a medium, says TEA member Sherrie Posternak.
"The medium itself is a combination of beeswax and a small ratio of damar resin from a particular tree from Southeast Asia, and then pigment," Posternak explains. "It's painted with brushes or palette knives or other implements, and the medium can be used in so many ways—that's what keeps us all excited about it."
Posternak says working with encaustics started out in the fifth century B.C. as a way for ship workers to seal holes on the bottoms of their boats. Today, the medium has brought together artists in TEA to offer each other friendly critiques, support and networking.
With encaustics, there are several different opportunities for art, like sculpting, creating textural effects, making photograph or graphite transfers, and embedding things into the wax, Posternak says.
Some of these techniques were used in the art that is currently on display as part of the Seduction of Wax exhibit.
The exhibit, which is on display through Aug. 14, will feature an opening reception this Thursday. For more information, visit tucsonencausticartists.com. Admission to the reception and exhibit is free. Regular gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Thursday; and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday and Sunday. —A.B.
