BEST Things To Do In Tucson
Saturday, June 29, 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

• Birds of Tohono Chul Walking Tour

  Tohono Chul Park
  7366 Paseo del Norte
  Tucson, AZ 85704
  

  Tohono Chul hosts several docent-led and self-guided walking tours of its grounds. Learn to identify birds that are local residents and those just passing through, plus information on habits and habitat during the Birds of Tohono Chul tour. Tours are included in the admission price; reservations are not necessary.

• Robert J. Wick: Earth, Life, Man

  Tucson Botanical Gardens
  2150 N. Alvernon Way
  Tucson, AZ 85712
  

  When we first heard artist Robert J. Wick speak the words, “Until you can grow a tree from your own heart, you'll never understand the oneness of all things,” we knew that Robert's monumental sculptures, each of which carry a living plant or tree, belonged at the Tucson Botanical Gardens. According to Robert, “The flora are not decorations; but are an integral part of the art defining its character by quality, shape and nature of the plants used… My works of art are a union of art, man, and nature.” Roberts’s sculptures have been exhibited throughout the country including the Denver Botanic Garden, Cleveland Museum of Art, Clark Gardens in Fort Worth and Kent State University. This exhibit will be on display throughout the Gardens.

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

  Tucson Botanical Gardens
  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.

• Farmers' Market at Steam Pump Ranch-Saturdays

  Steam Pump Ranch
  10901 North Oracle Road
  Oro Valley, AZ 85737
  

  Steam Pump Ranch provides a picturesque backdrop for Oro Valley's Heirloom Farmers Market. Regional farmers, ranchers, and artisan food producers average over 30 vendor stalls and over 700 customers, each week, offering high quality farm products, and diverse local products. Several fun events are planned each year to introduce more customers to this neighborhood gem. 

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

  University of Arizona
  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.

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

  Center for Creative Photography University of Arizona
  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.

• Borrowed Time/Borrowed Books

  The Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures
  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.

• Farmers' Market at Steam Pump Ranch-Saturdays

  Steam Pump Ranch
  10901 North Oracle Road,
  Oro Valley, AZ 85737
  

  Steam Pump Ranch provides a picturesque backdrop for Oro Valley's Heirloom Farmers Market. Regional farmers, ranchers, and artisan food producers average over 30 vendor stalls and over 700 customers, each week, offering high quality farm products, and diverse local products. Several fun events are planned each year to introduce more customers to this neighborhood gem. 

• Watercolors from the Art of the American West Collection

  Tucson Museum Of Art
  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.

• Cool Summer Nights at Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

  Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
  2021 N. Kinney Rd.
  Tucson, AZ 85743
  

  Beat the Arizona heat and enjoy a family-friendly outing during popular Cool Summer Nights at Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum every Saturday evening, May 18-August 31, 2019.  Enjoy clear views of stunning sunsets, star-specked skies, night-blooming plants, and animals reappearing from their daytime naps. The Sonoran Desert comes alive at night as nocturnal animals awake. Bats perform aerial acrobatics in pursuit of dinner, beavers splash around in their pond, and scorpions glow green under black light. Bring your flashlight and explore, experience a live animal encounter, or participate in special nightly activities. See the schedule on desertmuseum.org for weekly themes and activities.

• Arthur Lazar Photographs

  Tucson Museum Of Art
  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

  Tucson Museum Of Art
  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.

• Evolution of a Modelmaker: John A. Ackerman's Fire Apparatus and Fire Stations

  The Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures
  4455 E. Camp Lowell Dr.
  Tucson, AZ 85712
  

  Sparked by a childhood passion for firetrucks and scratch-building, and encouraged by family and friends, John A. Ackerman turned his playtime interest in firefighting into a professional career as a scale replica modelmaker. Along the way, several mentors taught him what materials and tools to use to best replicate real-world objects on a small scale. With support and the regular practice of his art, Ackerman learned to create handsome, accurate fire apparatus and stations that have found their way into public and private collections across the country. This exhibit illustrates Ackerman's development from youthful hobbyist to professional scale modelmaker. Exhibit at the Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures, a Blue Star Museum that offers free admission to active-duty military and their family, Memorial Day-Labor Day.

• The Resiliency of Hopi Agriculture: 2000 Years of Planting

  The University of Arizona
  1013 E. University Boulevard
  Tucson, AZ 85721
  

  Arizona State Museum presents this photographic exhibit--guest curated by Michael Kotutwa Johnson, Hopi farmer, photographer, and UA Ph.D. candidate in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment--which illustrates traditional Hopi farming practices, which are based on spiritual beliefs, community values, and ancient, time-tested techniques. Arizona State Museum is closed on Sundays and federal and state holidays.

• The American Southwest and Western Traditions

  Tucson Museum Of Art
  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

  Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block
  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

  DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun
  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.

• Works of Art by Olaf Wieghorst

  Tucson Museum Of Art
  140 N Main Ave
  Tucson, AZ 85701
  

  The Founders’ Gallery is home to the Tucson Museum of Art’s collection of works by Olaf Wieghorst.

  Born in Denmark, Wieghorst was a child acrobat and stunt rider who performed across Europe with the Danish Circus. In 1918, he arrived in the U.S. after time as a sailor, and enlisted in the U.S. Cavalry. At the end of his service, Wieghorst worked as a ranch hand in New Mexico, an experience that would later shape his artistic career.

• Family Brain Boost

  Children’s Museum of Tucson
  200 S. Sixth Ave.
  Tucson, AZ 85701
  

  Join the Children’s Museum of Tucson’s education team each weekend for Family Brain Boost, a chance to jump-start your brain with fun, interactive science activities from bubbles to building blocks. 11:30 a.m. Free with admission: $9; free for infants younger than 1.

• The Dinner Detective Interactive Murder Mystery Show

  Hotel Tucson City Center
  475 N. Granada Ave
  Tucson, AZ 85701
  

  Solve a hilarious murder case while you feast on a fantastic four-course plated dinner at "America's largest interactive murder mystery comedy dinner show" at Hotel Tucson City Center. Over the course of the night, costumed detectives will uncover clues, interrogate audience members that may or may not be part of the show, and help everyone get closer to solving the mystery, which is set during the present day and taking place in real time. Non-costumed actors, including the "killer," are hiding somewhere in the room pretending to be regular guests--you may find yourself as a prime suspect. The audience member that gives the best correct answer of "whodunit?" before the killer is revealed will walk away with a stellar prize package.

• Blind Wine Tasting

  Maynards Market & Kitchen
  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.

• Summer Safari Saturday Nights--Reid Park Zoo

  Reid Park Zoo
  3400 E. Zoo Court
  Tucson, AZ 85716
  

  Enjoy summer's cooler evening temperatures at the Reid Park Zoo's themed nights featuring live music, games and activities and food & drink specials.  Explore the Zoo for keeper chats, animal encounters, sponsor booths, and enjoy a variety of activities including carousel rides, enrichment making, face painting, inflatables and glitter tattoos (some activities are an additional fee).

• Palomino Nights Courtyard Concert Series

  Plaza Palomino
  2960 N Swan Rd
  Tucson, AZ 85712
  

  You can dance ... to surf rock music at Plaza Palomino on March 18 when Palomino Nights presents the Hi-Phonics. Come, listen, and imagine a warm day at the beach, wearing a chill-defying wetsuit, and looking for the next perfect wave. And it's also nice to imagine getting out on a Saturday night for two hours to listen to some vintage 1960's surf music, desert-style -- without having to wade in, and pray for no sharks and get sand in your wetsuit! It's a dry surf at Plaza Palomino -- one of the most popular outdoor concerts series in town. Dine at Vero Amore, La Placita Cafe, or Trident Grill II and make it a dinner-and-a-show night. Shop Maya Palace, Dark Star Leather, La Contessa, or Flying Leap Vineyards Tasting Room; or indulge in the services of Abstrax Hair Salon & Day Spa or Simplicity Laser to enter for free. Concert takes place outdoors, in Plaza Palomino's beautiful courtyard, or inside in case of rain.