NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman will visit Phoenix, Maricopa County, Tucson, and Ajo, Arizona, February 27–29, 2012, as part of his Art Works tour. In each of these cities, the Chairman will visit the recipients of NEA Our Town grants or NEA Mayors' Institute on City Design 25th Anniversary Initiative (MICD 25) grant to learn more about their efforts to use the arts to create vibrant, livable communities.
On Monday, February 27, the Chairman will visit Phoenix and Maricopa County. This visit is hosted by Jim Ballinger, the director of the Phoenix Art Museum and a member of the National Council on the Arts. The Chairman will begin the day by meeting with local arts and culture leaders. He will then travel to Chandler to visit the multidisciplinary arts organization Xico arte y cultura and meet with the mayor of Chandler, Jay Tibshraeny. The Chairman will then visit Phoenix for a brief tour of the Musical Instrument Museum and the Phoenix Art Museum and a meeting with the mayor of Phoenix, Greg Stanton. Following this, the Chairman will tour downtown Phoenix, and in particular, the downtown Phoenix Public Market. In 2010, the city of Phoenix received an NEA
MICD 25 grant to hire an artist-led team to redesign a city block along a key thoroughfare fronting the new market.
In Tuscon on Tuesday, February 28, Chairman Landesman will begin by touring the Historic Warehouse Arts District; the Tucson Pima Arts Council received an NEA
Our Town grant to support cultural asset mapping and community engagement for the district. In addition, the Chairman will participate in a public panel discussion about creative placemaking in Tucson. That evening, he will speak at a reception as part of the
FILM FORWARD events in Arizona and attend a screening of
On the Ice, directed by Andrew Okpeaha MacLean, one of 10 films selected as part of the 2012 FILM FORWARD. FILM FORWARD is an international cultural exchange program designed to enhance cross-cultural understanding, collaboration, and dialogue around the globe by engaging audiences through the exhibition of film and conversation with filmmakers. FILM FORWARD is an initiative of Sundance Institute and the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
The following day, February 29, the Chairman will travel to Ajo to meet with the International Sonoran Desert Alliance, recipient of an NEA
Our Town grant to support the development of a master plan to enhance linkages, wayfinding, and the sense of community ownership of Ajo's 15-acres-large town center, which includes 12 buildings on the historic Curley School Campus and the Spanish Revival style town plaza with a center green and 90,000 square feet of commercial space, including undeveloped indoor and outdoor public spaces.
Please see the full schedule below for more information on all of these events.
MONDAY, FEB. 27: PHOENIX |
| 8:30-10:00 am |
Meeting with local arts and culture leaders
Location: Tempe Center for the Arts, Childsplay Studio, 700 W. Rio Salado, Tempe, AZ 85281
|
| 10:30-11:00 am |
Meeting at Xico arte y cultura
Participants:
NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman
Donna Valdes, executive director, Xico arte y cultura
Jim Ballinger, member, National Council on the Arts
Robert C. Booker, executive director, Arizona Commission on the Arts
Location: 44 S. San Marcos Place, Chandler, AZ 85225
|
| 11:15–11:45 am |
Meeting with Mayor Jay Tibshraeny of Chandler
Participants:
NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman
Mayor Jay Tibshraeny
Eric Faulhaber, visual arts coordinator
Jim Ballinger, member, National Council on the Arts
Robert C. Booker, executive director, Arizona Commission on the Arts
Location: Vision Gallery, Chandler Arts Commission, 10 East Chicago Street, Chandler, AZ 85225
|
| 12:30–2:00 pm |
Tour and Meeting at Musical Instrument Museum
Participants:
NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman
Bill DeWalt, director, Musical Instrument Museum
Jim Ballinger, member, National Council on the Arts
Robert C. Booker, executive director, Arizona Commission on the Arts
Location: 4725 East Mayo Boulevard, Phoenix, AZ 85050
|
| 2:30-3:45 pm |
Tour of the Phoenix Art Museum
Participants:
NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman
Jim Ballinger, member, National Council on the Arts
Robert C. Booker, executive director, Arizona Commission on the Arts
Location: 1625 N. Central Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85004
|
| 4:00-4:15 pm |
Meeting with Mayor Greg Stanton of Phoenix
Participants:
NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman
Mayor Greg Stanton
Jim Ballinger, member, National Council on the Arts
Location: City of Phoenix, Mayor's Office, 200 W. Washington St., Phoenix, AZ 85003 |
| 4:15-5:30 pm |
Tour of downtown Phoenix and discussion about the city of Phoenix's MICD 25 grant. Participants:
NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman
Jim Ballinger, Member, National Council on the Arts
Robert C. Booker, executive director, Arizona Commission on the Arts
Location: Tour will begin at Phoenix Public Market, 14 E Pierce St., Phoenix, AZ 85004
|
TUESDAY, FEB. 28: TUCSON |
| 9:00-10:45 am |
Walking tour of Tucson's Art Warehouse District and discussion about Tucson Pima Arts Council's (TPAC) Our Town project.
Participants:
NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman
Mayor Jonathan Rothschild
Roberto Bedoya, Tucson Pima Arts Council
Elizabeth Burden, Warehouse Arts Management Organization
Location: Steinfeld Warehouse, 101 W 6th, Tucson, AZ 85701
|
| 11:00-
11:45 am |
Discussion with leaders of Tucson's major arts and culture organizations
Participants:
NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman
NACHOS leadership network: NACHOS is comprised of the region's executive directors of nature, arts, culture, and heritage organizations.
Location: MOCA Tucson, 265 South Church Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85701
|
| 12:00-
1:30 pm |
Panel discussion about creative placemaking in Tucson.
Participants:
NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman (panelist)
Dr. Maribel Alvarez (panelist), program director, Tucson Meet Yourself
Gail Brown (panelist), executive director, University of Arizona's Poetry Center
Bill Macky (panelist), artist
Roberto Bedoya (moderator), executive director, Tucson Pima Arts Council
Location: Leo Rich Theatre, 260 S. Church Ave., Tucson, AZ 85701
|
| 5:00-6:00 pm |
Remarks at FILM FORWARD reception
Location: Tucson Museum of Art, 140 North Main Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85701
* This event is free and open to the public. Click here for more information on all FILM FORWARD events.
|
| 7:00-9:00 pm |
Screening of On the Ice followed by Q&A with Writer/Director Andrew Okpeaha MacLean
Location: The Loft Cinema, 3233 East Speedway Boulevard, Tucson, AZ 85716
* This event is free and open to the public. Click here for more information on all FILM FORWARD events.
|
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 29: AJO |
| 10:30 am-
12:00 pm |
Meeting and walking tour with International Sonoran Desert Alliance about Our Town project
Participants:
NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman
Tracy Taft, executive director, International Sonoran Desert
Alliance
Sharon Bronson, Pima County Board of Supervisors
Jim Wilcox, senior project manager, International Sonoran Desert
Alliance
Maria Gmuca, project manager, International Sonoran Desert
Alliance
Location: 401 W Esperanza, Ajo, AZ 85321
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