BEST Things To Do In Tucson
Monday, October 21, 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

• 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.

• 12 Months of Madaras: Spirit Animal Month

  3035 N. Swan Rd.
  Tucson, AZ 85712
  

  Madaras Gallery presents 12 Months of Madaras: Spirit Animal Month - The Spirit Animals tell the story of Diana's deep connection to animals, a recurrent passion throughout her life. There will be 20 painted by the year's end to commemorate the Gallery's 20th anniversary. Visit the Gallery any time in the month of October to view a unique Spirit Animal art display. 

• 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.

• 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.