Working Within and Against the System
Activism Workshop Series: “Using and Abusing the Law”
5 p.m., Tuesday, April 14
UA Student Union, Room 404, 1303 E. University Blvd.
union.arizona.edu/socialjustice
If you’re going to break the law, you’d better know your rights.
Social Justice Programs, a UA organization aiming to raise social
awareness on campus, is hosting an Activism Workshop Series, and this
week’s focus is knowing the law—especially if you intend to break
it.
Jessica Risco, an activist and graduate assistant for Social Justice
Programs, says that as a college and border town, Tucson is on the
forefront of social change.
“With the migrant movement from Mexico into the U.S., Tucson is the
epicenter of a lot of civil initiatives,” she says.
The discussion will focus on protesters’ rights and finding
protection when protesting means breaking the law.
“What we’re going toward (with the series) is creating sort of a
handbook, like a ‘How to Create an Activist Movement,'” Risco says.
“Students are really gearing up to do things, but don’t really have the
tools to do it. The “Using and Abusing the Law portion” of it is (meant
to help) them really understand what their rights are, what human
rights mean, and how to navigate within the law.”
On college campuses, there is idealism, motivation and the energy to
change the world, Risco says—but without an understanding of how
the legal system works, activists may harm themselves or their cause.
The laws and system are often unclear, especially regarding immigration
law, she says, and that’s part of the problem.
“There is a potential of being arrested,” she says. “How are you
going to approach that, and what are your strategies of dealing with
that? I want this to be a very sobering experience in terms of going
into things with eyes wide open.”
The hour-long event is free and open to the public.
—H.S.
No Equation for Love
Proof
7:30 p.m., Thursday-Saturday; 1:30 p.m., Sunday, April 11-26; Preview: 7:30 p.m., Friday, April 10
Beowulf Alley Theatre Company, 11 S. Sixth Ave.
882-0555; beowulfalley.org
Proof is not really a play about numbers; it actually focuses
on romantic and family relationships—and what can happen when
they go terribly wrong.
“Math is only used to show the relationship between the character
Catherine, and her father, and (a former student of her father’s named)
Hal,” says director Sheldon Metz.
The story centers around Catherine, who has spent many years caring
for her brilliant yet mentally ill mathematician father, Robert. The
death of her father brings Catherine to a relationship with Hal, whose
love for math drives Catherine to resent the time she spent caring for
her father—even though she misses him.
As the play delves deeper, the audience will find that Catherine has
gained some of her father’s knowledge—and possibly his
volatility.
“I like plays with emotion, where the audience can laugh and cry
with the character,” says Metz, who first saw the David Auburn
production in 2002 and has since wanted to bringing the Pulitzer
Prize-winning play to a local stage. “I love when a play makes an
audience feel. When you can do that, a play has done its job.”
Metz, who has been directing theater for 48 years, says his goal is
for the audience to walk out of the play discussing Catherine’s
uncertain future.
Tickets to Proof are $20 (with a $2 discount for online
purchases); admission to the Friday, April 10, preview is $10. For more
information or tickets, visit beowulfalley.org. —L.A.
Peculiar Images
Well Told Tales
11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday, April 14 to June 16
Reception: 7 to 10 p.m., next Saturday, April 18
Etherton Gallery, 135 S. Sixth Ave.
624-7370; ethertongallery.com
If a picture is worth 1,000 words, then Etherton Gallery’s Well
Told Tales exhibit is good for volumes of prose, dissecting and
exploiting photography’s narrative qualities.
Well Told Tales will feature mixed-media imagery conceived by
artists Laszlo Layton, Holly Roberts and Elizabeth Ernst. The three
artists share an eye for creating peculiar yet beautiful images through
photography, implementing lost practices and new methods to produce
their works.
Layton incorporates 19th-century naturalistic photography and mixed
media to produce zoological photographs that look as if they were
reproduced from an old-world illuminated encyclopedia. Employing an
antique mahogany-cased Deardorff Studio View camera and vintage
soft-focus lenses, Layton produces pictures that pay homage to the
pictorialist and photo-secessionist movements of the late-19th and
early-20th century.
Ernst left a successful advertising career to start her own circus,
finding inspiration through her curiosity of the lives led by carnie
folk. Her ongoing work, The G.E. Circus, is a pictorial tale of
25 different handcrafted figurines that have been photographed. The
photos are printed on synthesized linen paper and painted with acrylic
to add a dark depth to the fictitious lives of her characters.
Roberts also uses photography and painting to produce a dark view of
modern life. The artist starts with black-and-white photos of her
subjects and proceeds to paint, etch and smear the photograph, until
the original work is transformed into a portrait that looks into human
emotion, offering a glimpse of absurdity through insecurity.
Etherton Gallery will host a reception for Well Told Tales on
Saturday, April 18. —A.C.
A Reason to Bail Out the Auto Industry
Eighth Annual Copper Classic Car and Motorcycle Show
8 a.m., Saturday, April 11
Main Street, Bisbee
(520) 432-5421; bisbeearizona.com
While two of the Big Three U.S. automakers vie for position in the
federal bailout line, it’s nice to be reminded of the innovations that
these automotive manufacturers once had to offer.
The Eighth Annual Copper Classic Car and Motorcycle Show will be
rolling down Main Street in historic Bisbee on Saturday, showcasing
vehicles that once upon a time made you long to get your driver’s
license.
Beautiful conglomerations of steel, chrome and rubber—spanning
from the early 1900s to modern modified vehicles—will be on
display for the enjoyment of car enthusiasts. Visitors can expect to
see hot rods, low-riders, antiques, trucks and motorcycles lining Main
Street, all competing for a chance to win the Best in Show category.
Car buffs will also get a chance to vote for their favorites in the
Ladies’ Choice and Men’s Choice categories.
The show will offer DJs, food and a 50-50 raffle for visitors. All
raffle entrants will receive a “goodie” bag, which includes a
commemorative T-shirt and dash plaque.
“We’re hoping to get over 100 cars and motorcycles entered into the
show this year,” said Nancy Jacobsen, executive director of the Greater
Bisbee Chamber of Commerce. “Last year, we had 98 entries total, so I
think we’ll be able to hit that mark”
Got a vehicle that would be perfect for the show? Registration runs
from 8 to 10 a.m. on Main Street, near the Chamber of Commerce. The
cost to register is $25; a trophy ceremony will be held at 2 p.m.
—A.C.
This article appears in Apr 9-15, 2009.