BEST Things To Do In Tucson
Thursday, August 22, 2019

The Event Oracle knows ALL the fun things to do in the land of the Tucson sun. Select your date above then scroll down for all the Arts, Entertainment, and Events in my crystal ball...

• Carnival of Illusion

  Scottish Rite Grand Parlour
  160 S Scott Ave.
  Tucson, AZ 85701
  

  Carnival of Illusion is an evening of Old-World Magic in the style of classic entertainers such as Buster Keaton, Mae West, Gypsy Rose Lee, and Harry Houdini. The hosts have performed as house entertainers at the world's top resorts, Fortune 100 CEOs, to the 200 Most Powerful Women in America and operate the longest-running Arizona theater show. Carnival of Illusion is “Magic, Mystery, and OOOH La La.”

  CHECK TICKET AVAILABILITY HERE

• A Small Private Sale of Paintings and Objects from the Manabu Saito and John P. Craig Estate

  2150 N Alvernon Way
  Tucson, AZ 85712
  

  In 2018, The Tucson Botanical Gardens was fortunate to be the recipient of a collection of art and personal items from the estate of botanical artist, Manabu Saito and his partner, Dr. John P. Craig. It was Mr. Saito’s wish that the proceeds from the sale of his works and items further the mission of the Gardens.

  The Gardens is pleased to offer a small selection of paintings and personal items for public sale.  Mr. Saito’s collection is vast and varied.  Works for sale includes watercolors from the New Jersey shoreline, a sea scape of Japan as well as Mr. Saito’s beloved flora paintings (prints and a few select originals) that were created throughout his life. Other items for sale include includes pottery, batik, masks and a few paintings from other artist friends of Manabu.  Personal items such as journals, photographs, Manabu’s brushes and paints will also be on display, but are not for sale.

• The Retablo of Ciudad Rodrigo

  University of Arizona Art Museum
  University of Arizona, 1031 Olive Rd.
  Tucson, AZ 85721
  

  The Altarpiece of Ciudad Rodrigo is a jewel of the University of Arizona Museum of Art's collection and one of the most important works produced in 15th-century Spain. This altarpiece, also called a retablo, was made for the cathedral of the city (Ciudad) Rodrigo in the province of Salamanca, Spain, between the years 1480 and 1488, and after 1493. This exhibit is on permanent display, Tuesday-Sunday, at the University of Arizona Museum of Art.

• A Portrait of Poetry: Photographs and Video by B.A. Van Sise

  1030 N. Olive Rd.
  Tucson, AZ 85721
  

  The Center for Creative Photography and the Poetry Center at the University of Arizona are delighted to collaborate to exhibit a captivating project by B.A. Van Sise in a celebration of the bicentennial of Walt Whitman's birth. Van Sise is a New York–based photographer with a lifelong love of poetry and a family lineage that traces back to seminal American poet Walt Whitman. Van Sise has undertaken an expansive and inventive poetry portraiture project. 
  The exhibition will feature one video portrait (of acclaimed poet Sharon Olds) and about 80 photographs showcasing the breadth of American poetry today, including a who's who of Pulitzer Prize winners, Poet Laureates, and Chancellors of the Academy of American Poetry. In the Center's Heritage Gallery, adjacent to A Portrait of Poetry, related materials from the Center's collection will be shown to complement Van Sise's ambitious project.

• Woven Through Time: American Treasures of Native Basketry & Fiber Art

  1013 E. University Boulevard
  Tucson, AZ 85721
  

  Arizona State Museum's new permanent exhibit features a sampling of the more than 35,000 specimens of basketry and other fiber art in the museum's extensive collection, ranging from millennia-old objects to modern-day masterpieces that celebrate the Southwestern U.S. region's ancient and abiding fiber-weaving traditions. ASM’s total assemblage of basketry and fiber art specimens dating back some 8,000 years represents the major indigenous basket-making cultures from across North America. The museum's unparalleled collection of basketry and pottery has been designated an American Treasure by the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Save America’s Treasures Program.

• Borrowed Time/Borrowed Books

  4455 E. Camp Lowell Dr.
  Tucson, AZ 85712
  

  The Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures, a Blue Star Museum that offers free admission to active-duty military and their family from Memorial Day-Labor Day, unveils Borrowed Time / Borrowed Books featuring six miniature libraries, constructed of steel, which were inspired by iconic libraries featured in the following classic films and shows: All the Presidents Men, Fahrenheit 451, Wings of Desire, The Time Machine, The Breakfast Club, and Time Enough at Last (Twilight Zone, season 1, episode 8).
  The artist is Jill Orlov, a Baltimore-based architect-turned-miniature-metalsmith. Using off-the-shelf steel bars, strips, and tubes, Orlov cuts, welds, and shapes the steel to create these libraries from our cultural collective memory.

• Watercolors from the Art of the American West Collection

  140 N Main Ave
  Tucson, AZ 85701
  

  Watercolors have been in existence since they were used in China around 100CE, and over time have developed into a distinguished artistic medium worldwide. It provides artists with the ability to create images quickly as well as provide different degrees of color transparency and opacity. In  19^th century America, water-soluble pigments were often employed to create studies before making final oil paintings. They also began to be used outside, in plein air, to capture fleeting moments in nature or events. Artists who explored the American West used watercolors while on expeditions, as they were light and transportable; however, by the 20^th century, watercolors became a major medium which showcased stylistic diversity. Many artists who lived in or visited the Southwest applied their knowledge of watercolors to images of the landscape and architecture of the region.

• Arthur Lazar Photographs

  140 N Main Ave
  Tucson, AZ 85701
  

  Arthur Lazar was born and raised in New Mexico where he began his work in photography. He received an MFA degree from Ohio University in 1978, and has taught photography at the University of New Mexico, Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology, and Ohio University. He currently teaches at Columbia College, Chicago and Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, Illinois, and lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Lazar has published several books including Of Earth and Timbers Made, and photographs of native New Mexican architecture, A Garden for All Seasons, and Intimate Landscapes, a monograph published in 1993 by Lake Forest College. He was a past recipient of a NEA grant. His work is included in collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, Philadelphia Museum of Art, International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House, Fogg Museum at Harvard University, and Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

• The Art of East Asia

  140 N Main Ave
  Tucson, AZ 85701
  

  The Asian collection of the Tucson Museum of Art includes major forms and periods from ancient times through the twentieth century. On view are selections from China, Japan, and Korea, dating from 2200 BCE to the mid-1900s, including ritual, burial, domestic, and traded items. Ceramics, stone, and carved materials have left an enduring record of human activity as well as regional diversity in this part of the world. Throughout history, artists and craftsmen looked toward religion for inspiration, and rulers tightly controlled production and exports. Ultimately, Asian art contributed to the development of decorative styles of objects across the globe, influencing art forms in Europe and the rest of the Western Hemisphere.

• The American Southwest and Western Traditions

  140 N Main Ave
  Tucson, AZ 85701
  

  The American Southwest embodies diverse cultures, traditions, and histories that can be understood through art of the past and present. This gallery features regional art of the Southwest from the Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block collection by artists who spent time or were influenced by Arizona and the surrounding area, experiencing the region first hand.

• Travelogue: Grand Destinations and Personal Journeys

  140 N. Main Ave.
  Tucson, AZ 85701
  

  In the United States in the 19th century, artists were drawn to far-flung destinations in the Americas and the West to portray new and fascinating lands and establish their careers through their photography, paintings, and drawings. This exhibition focuses on historical and contemporary artworks from the Tucson Museum of Art's permanent collection that identify specific landmarks created by travelers who encounter them with a new sense of discovery. Each work of art serves as a visual travelogue of the artists' journeys, at the Tucson Museum of Art.

• Desert Blooms

  6300 N. Swan Rd.
  Tucson, AZ 85718
  

  The flora and fauna of the Sonoran Desert in spring are celebrated in an exhibition titled “Desert Blooms”, a selection of 1950’s watercolors by Tucson artist Ted DeGrazia, known around the world for capturing the spirit of the Southwest and its people. These colorful and playful paintings of cactus flowers and desert critters will be on display at the Gallery in the Sun through September 4, 2019.

• Blind Wine Tasting

  400 N. Toole Ave.
  Tucson, AZ 85701
  

  Maynards Market and Kitchen hosts a summertime blind wine tasting on the first Friday of every month. Think you have the skills of a sommelier? Step up and try five wines blindly and guess the varietals.