MISSION: The Tucson Pima Arts Council fosters artistic expression, educational development and the economic growth of our diverse community by supporting, promoting and advocating for arts and culture.
Music
WHO WE ARE: As the designated local arts agency for the City of Tucson and Pima County, the Tucson Pima Arts Council provides arts and cultural development services through direct funding, technical assistance, commissions and contracts to artists and arts organizations, and generates cultural projects and cultural development studies. Through Grants, Community Arts Development, and Public Art Programs, the Arts Council encourages neighborhood, youth and community involvement in the arts. It provides employment opportunities for artists, crucial support for arts organizations, and it enhances education and promotes heritage-based artistic traditions. Other services include support for International Exchange and Marketing and Organizational Development assistance for artists and arts organizations. In addition, the Arts Council's advocacy efforts increase awareness of the importance of the arts and culture to our quality of life, making Tucson and Pima County a better place to visit and live, and contributing to the economic development of the region.
Movies
HISTORY: The Tucson Pima Arts Council celebrates its 25th anniversary this year with the knowledge that this distinction is really only part of a thirty-three year continuum of community commitment and support for the arts and cultural development of our region.
In 1971 a group of citizens came together to form the Tucson Council on the Arts, whose purpose included promotion, advocacy, funding, education and serving as a catalyst and information resource for cultural development. In 1974, the Tucson Council on the Arts, along with the Chamber of Commerce's Culture and Arts Committee recommended that the city establish the Tucson Commission of Arts and Culture, TCAC. Among the Commission's goals were the reinforcement and enhancement of Tucson's image as the cultural corridor of the Southwest, the allocation of public dollars through a fair and equitable grant process, the provision of free workshops and education programs throughout the city, and the coordination of a central calendar.
The City of Tucson joined the ranks of hundreds of cities across the country on June 1, 1975 with the passage of Ordinance 4357, formally recognizing the arts as an essential city service to be funded annually. In 1976, $35,000 was allocated to fund 16 arts groups through the TCAC's grant allocation process. In 1977, Tucson's first Arts advocacy group was formed. In 1979, the first TCAC director, Ralph Kohlhoff was hired. Kohlhoff was a professional arts administrator with experience in forming local arts councils in three other communities.
1984 marked the establishment and designation of the Tucson Pima Arts Council as the local arts council of the City of Tucson and Pima County, "the principal mechanism through which arts and cultural activities will be planned and carried out within the metropolitan area." Our programs now provide $446,275 in direct funding to artists, arts organizations, community groups and neighborhoods; and our technical support, advocacy and promotion of arts and culture help to deliver arts and cultural programming to thousands of people who live and visit our region each year.
About me: TUCSON PIMA ARTS COUNCIL AWARDS Capacity Building Grants for Culturally Diverse Organizations to support culturally diverse and culturally specific artistic practices. Organizations will strengthen internal operations and systems; support internal governance and leadership development; develop strategic fiscal and human resources; or create innovative strategies for community engagement and support. This years recipients are Barbea Williams Performing Company, Iskash'taa Refugee Harvesting Network, Raices Taller 222 Art Gallery and Workshop, and Safos Dance Theater. ************* LUMIES 2009 A HUGE HIT! The Tucson Pima Arts Council honored the area's artistically finest on May 7 with the annual Lumie Awards.C eremonies were held at the Temple of Music and Art. Performing were Odaiko Sonora, the cast from HAIR, Funhouse Movement Theater, and Jeffrey Haskell. Those honored: *Emerging Arts Organization: The four-year-old Rogue Theatre, praised for drawing in new audiences from all over Southern Arizona and its various educational programs. * Established Arts Organization: The venerable Tohono Chul Park on the Northwest Side, which "exhibits . . . art as a mirror to reveal the beauty of our region and the diversity of our peoples and our history, co-mingling the aesthetic values of the natural world and our reflections on it as its human inhabitants and stewards". * Arts volunteer: Frank M. Lopez, a longtime Sahuarita Elementary School volunteer who teaches students doll-making. TPAC officials wrote that Lopez's "enthusiasm is contagious, and his encouragement and critiques of the student work is honest but positive; his patience and care with students is extraordinary." * Arts supporter: Ruth Baron, who founded and financially supports two theaters — Live Theatre Workshop and Beowulf Alley Theatre Company. Both have their own space, and each has a commitment to bring the arts to children through strong children's programming. * Arts educator: Renee Blakeley, director of the Pistor Middle School dance program. A trained ballet and modern dancer, Blakeley teaches hundreds of students dance and offers them performance opportunities. In addition to their dance skills, the kids walk away with leadership skills and "immeasurable boosts of self-esteem," awards organizers said. * Arts education organization: The Symphony Women's Association. It's been the association's mission since its founding in 1952 to keep music alive in the desert, and it has done it through a variety of outreach programs that include offering free weekly lessons on seven instruments, including piano, at its Music Education Center. It also provides loaner instruments and materials to 148 students. * Business partner: Ventana Medical Systems in Oro Valley. For the past six years, Ventana has housed one of the region's largest free community gallery spaces and supports local art and artists. For the last eight years, it has sponsored a noteworthy two-dimensional art competition and exhibition. * Individual achievement/ emerging artist: Louis David Valenzuela. It took him 36 years to find himself artistically, and when he did come into his own, he created sculptures, masks and paintings that were both an homage to his Yoeme culture and a gift to Tucson. * Lifetime achievement: Eva Zorilla Tessler. The dancer, choreographer, actor, director and playwright creates art that delivers aesthetically and socially on an international level. In addition to training young and emerging artists, she teaches dance at Tucson High Magnet School and is an associate artistic director of Borderlands Theater, as well as co-founder of the Latina Dancer project. TPAC officials said her body of work "delivers a much-needed dose of social responsibility for the promotion and progression of opportunities for Latinos as a whole. ... (It) entertains audiences from an artistic standpoint, but also challenges them to think about social justice and other issues affecting the Latino community." CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNERS! And thank you all for your support of this spectacular event. ************* TUCSON PIMA ARTS COUNCIL AWARDS FAMILY ARTS GRANTS TO SUPPORT FAMILY ARTS ACTIVITIES THROUGHOUT METRO AREA TUCSON, AZ (March 11, 2009) – The Tucson Pima Arts Council announces more than $9750 in family arts activities grants awarded to 7 arts organizations throughout the greater Tucson community. TPAC is the designated local arts agency for the City of Tucson and Pima County. The grant recipients – Batucaxe, City High School, El Centro Cultural de las Americas, Raices Taller, Tucson Folk Festival, Tucson Children’s Museum and Tucson Museum of Art – span the creative spectrum with projects ranging from Carnaval 2009, Pennington Street Block Party, and the 24th Annual Folk Festival to Family Arts Day and Cesar Chavez and Dia de los Muertos Workshops. These grants support new and ongoing creative arts projects. “Our goal is to use this government funding to support a broad diversity of family arts activities and strengthen the cultural fabric of our community,” said Reuben Roqueñi, Grants Program Manager. Earlier this year, in response to the troubled economy, TPAC suspended this year’s Family Art Festival. Nevertheless, they remain committed to supporting family arts experiences in our community. To that end, the 2009 Family Arts Grants will support developing arts organizations to create new arts experiences with burgeoning festivals and cross cultural food experiences. These grants also help sustain established traditions like the Folk Festival and the Tucson Museum of Art’s Picture This! Art for Families project. *************
Who I'd like to meet: .......................................................................................................
CONGRATS to Adam Cooper Teran - winner of last years LUMIE for Individual Achievement/Emerging Artist - click on the link below to view his acceptance speech! Cuz we just dig it.
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Our next performance is JULY 2nd with Devil Doll and Dread Crew of Oddwood! This is going to be an amazing show! Dress like a pirate for a cover charge discount, it's going to be so much fun!
