November 30 - December 6, 1995
Thursday 30
PAPER PRAYERS. In the front gallery at Dinnerware, 135
E. Congress St., the third annual Paper Prayers exhibition,
sale and silent auction offers prayers of hope and good health
to those living with AIDS. The invitational show orchestrated
by the Shanti Foundation opens with a catered reception from 5
to 7 tonight. Paper Prayers borrows its theme from the
Japanese tradition of giving a work of art, on a strip of paper,
as a gift to bring good health to a loved one who's fallen ill.
Says Anne Maley, executive director of the Shanti Foundation,
"We hope people who purchase Paper Prayers will not only
receive a beautiful piece of artwork, but they will also transmit
the hope for good health to individuals with HIV/AIDS."
Admission is $10 at the door, with proceeds aiding the Foundation's
support services, including a food bank, support groups and transportation
services. Regular gallery hours are noon to 5 p.m. weekdays. Call
792-4503 for information.
MCMURTRY SINGS. We hate to introduce James McMurtry as
the son of novelist Larry McMurtry, since he's got talent to spare
in his own right, but with all the McMurtry fans of both ranks
out there we had to clarify. It's been a long, twisted road since
the musical McMurtry's college days at the UA, playing happy hours
at the Saw Mill Café. Given the literary aspirations of
his parents (his mother is a University of Richmond English professor),
it's easy to see how McMurtry comes by his Hemingway-esque bio:
a year in Madrid, a couple in a "beer joint" in Talkeetna,
Alaska, and then a slew of odd jobs in San Antonio, Texas. His
rough-edged lifestyle has earned him a songwriting reputation
for "spare, finely etched portraits of people dealing with
ambivalent, often contradictory, emotions in a minimalist landscape."
See Soundbites for details.
Find out what McMurtry has in store on his third album, Where'd
You Hide The Body?, at 7:30 p.m. at the Southwest Center for
Music, 2175 N. Sixth Ave. Tickets are $10, $9 for KXCI, TFTM and
TKMA members. Outlets include Loco Records, Zip's (Speedway) and
Hear's Music. Call 881-3947 to charge tickets.
Friday 1
REVEILLE REGALIA. While World AIDS Day calls for a somber
moment of reflection as we head into a 15th year of devastating
losses of life and talent, it is also a day to celebrate life,
and the triumph of the human spirit. So join the nation in dimming
the lights between 5:45 and 6 p.m., but then gather your friends
and family and celebrate the songs of the season with the Reveille
Gay Men's Chorus, whose "Holiday Tapestry" season opener
promises to be a concert you'll remember for years to come. The
wild rumpus begins at 8 p.m. at Grace St. Paul's Episcopal Church,
2331 E. Adams St. Tickets are $10 in advance from Antigone Books,
Tucson Trunk and Hear's Music. They'll cost $2 more at the door.
HIT THE BOOKS. Far be it for our humble publication to
tell you where to shop, but the Arizona Historical Society, 949
E. Second St., will give you some food for thought from 5 to 7
p.m. with the Holiday Book Fair, featuring a new frontier of Western
and Southwestern topics from Arizona Press, Treasure Chest Books,
High-Lonesome Press, Northland Press (with those dynamite children's
books), Westernlore Press and others. An autographed copy of a
treasured book is a timeless gift, and more than 20 local authors
will be on hand with their John Hancocks, including Sinclair Browning,
Carolyn O'Bagy Davis, Gregory McNamee, Jim Griffith, Brian Laird,
Susan Lowell and Tom Sheridan. Call 628-5774 for information.
Saturday 2
DOWNTOWN SATURDAY. This holiday festival in the Arts District
will charm the Dickens out of you, with live performances, extended
shopping hours and plenty of opportunities to stuff yourself like
a Christmas goose. Among the highlights: The Tucson Goodtime Singers
and Gatekeepers Youth Choir belt out seasonal favorites from 7
to 10 p.m. at the Ronstadt Transit Center, Sixth Avenue and Congress
Street; and La Placita Village is transformed into Whoville with
a colossal tree-lighting ceremony complete with caroling, cookies
and cocoa, at 6:30 p.m. in the gazebo. Call 624-9977 for event
information.
TERRITORIAL CHRISTMAS. This charming exhibit at the Sosa-Carrillo-Fremont
House Museum, 151 S. Granada Ave., houses antique toys, ornaments,
nativity scenes and menorahs, along with Christmas trees decorated
with authentic ornaments collected by Arizona pioneers. The exhibit
will be on display through January 27, but stop by today from
10 a.m. to noon and enjoy the holiday music and refreshments.
Admission is free. The museum is located in the TCC complex, between
the Music Hall and the Arena. There's ample parking in Lot C,
one block south of Congress Street on Granada Avenue. Call 628-5774
for information.
NORDIC JULEFEST. If you're dreaming of a white Christmas,
the closest you're likely to get without skipping town is to celebrate
the cultures that flourish in ice and snow. Hard to imagine why
people who live north of the 54th parallel would have any reason
to celebrate, but somehow they've come so far as to cultivate
a reputation for jolliness. And perhaps the jolliest of all Scandinavians
are those lucky enough to be living in the temperate Southwest.
Join them for frickadeller, lefse, krumkake and more from 9 a.m.
to 4:30 p.m. at Tucson Interior Design Center, 3660 E. Fort Lowell
Road. This is a veritable Santa's workshop of live music, folk
dancing and fine handicrafts of embroidery, cast metal, decorative
wood art, wreaths, hand-painted ceramics and more.
THAT'S AFFIRMATIVE. Today we celebrate "Diversity
Day" in the Old Pueblo, a proclamation made in support of
local efforts to strengthen affirmative action. The Civil Rights
Coalition extends an invitation "to celebrate our differences
and organize to fight against recent mean-spirited attacks on
affirmative action" from 1 to 5 p.m. in the Armory Park Bandshell,
Sixth Avenue south of Broadway. In a most excellent example of
cultural harmony, Black Moon Graffiti opens the program with a
free performance. Call 749-1551 for information.
LUMINARIA NIGHTS. It seems our overzealous city has tried
to cram four weeks of celebrating into the first weekend of the
month, but save some energy for tonight's display at the Tucson
Botanical Gardens, 2150 N. Alvernon Way. Luminaria-lined paths
wind throughout the lush desert gardens, with strolling minstrels,
bell-ringers and the Big Red Guy himself tucked behind every bend.
Porter House will be decked from wall to wall with pine and eucalyptus
swags, garlands, topiaries and other colorful arrangements. Peruse
the gift shop and pick up a Christmas cactus.
Luminaria Night shines from 5:30 to 8 tonight and Sunday, December
3. Admission is $3, $1 for children under 12 and members. Call
326-9686 for information.
Sunday 3
ARIZONA REPERTORY SINGERS. These a cappella wonders
under the direction of Dr. Jeffrey A. Jahn give their first holiday
concert at 2:30 p.m. in Tohono Chul Park, 7366 N. Paseo del Norte.
Warm yourself in the sun of the outdoor performance garden with
this lively performance of rarely heard choral music from around
the world. Today's program includes English carols and P.D.Q.
Bach. Call 792-8141 for information on this and upcoming concerts;
or call Tohono Chul Park at 742-6455. Admission is $5, $2 for
members and children under 12.
HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE. Tucson's Bed & Breakfast innkeepers
throw up the sash this weekend for the sixth annual Bed and Breakfast
Holiday Open-House Tour. From the downtown Barrio on out to the
foothills, these humble abodes offer a rich tapestry of architectural
and interior designs. Cost of admission is by donation or non-perishable
food item at each inn. All proceeds will benefit the Community
Food Bank. Pick up a map and list of participating B&Bs at
the Visitor's Center, 130 S. Scott Ave., or at the B&B nearest
you. Self-guided tour hours are noon to 5 p.m. Call 622-7167 for
information.
Monday 4
PEEP SHOW. If you're still wondering what all the hubbub
is about regarding Honeybee Canyon, here's your chance to introduce
yourself. A grass-roots citizen coalition whose main purpose is
to promote sensitive land use and ensure responsible development
has organized the Promote Effective Ecological Preservation
(PEEP) Show, a juried, fine-art exhibition to raise needed
funds for the Oro Valley Neighborhood Coalition, the outspoken
Honeybee Canyon advocates. More than 20 artists present works
celebrating the beauty of the desert and the importance of stewardship
toward our riparian habitats. A portion of all sales will support
continuing efforts to preserve Pima County's vanishing habitats
where, as throughout the Sonoran desert, water means life.
PEEP Show continues through December 31 at the Wolfe Gallery,
9600 N. Oracle Road. Regular gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday through Saturday. Call 742-4222 for information.
Tuesday 5
MOUNTAIN MYSTIQUE. Learn about the history and folklore
of the Tucson Mountains from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Arizona Sonora
Desert Museum, 2021 N. Kinney Road. This journey across time includes
a short uphill hike on an established trail to an historical site
in the Tucson Mountains, guided by an archaeologist and historian.
Cost is $35, $25 for museum members, with pre-registration required.
Call 883-3022 for registration and information.
Wednesday 6
GREAT SCOTT! Darieck Scott, Ph.D. candidate from Stanford
University, will read from his recently published debut novel,
Traitor to the Race, at 7:30 p.m. at Antigone Books, 411
N. Fourth Ave. Traitor to the Race explores racism, homophobia
and political action through a murder mystery involving a bi-racial
gay couple. The reading is a warm-up for Scott's public lecture
at 4:45 p.m. Thursday, December 7, in the UA Modern Languages
Building, Room 350. Call 792-3715 for information on the reading.
For lecture information, contact Dr. Miranda Joseph at 626-4037.
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November 30 - December 6, 1995
