Meet Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona | Arts Organization

We had the good fortune of connecting with Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Arts Foundation, what is the most important factor behind your success?
There are many factors behind the success of Arts Foundation. Still, one we will emphasize is our committed team of interdisciplinary working artists and culture workers with first-hand knowledge of what it means to make a living as an artist in the Southwest. Our team of 5-full time employees; Adriana Gallego, Executive Director; Yurika Isoe, Grants and Services Manager; Woods Fairchild, Public Art Project Manager; Wylwyn Reyes, Public Art Project Manager; and Jenea Sanchez, Communications Manager, is complemented by consultancies of 7 women-owned small businesses: Momentum Tax LLC (Accounting); Public By Design LLC (Public Art); Kaneen Communications (Public Art); Kerredyn Collaborative (Website); Focus HR (Payroll); La Roux Events LLC (Open Studio Tours); Ammi Robles (Communications).

Together, our board, staff, and consultants are shepherding a new era for the Arts Foundation through our shared commitment to transformative change towards equity.

What should our readers know about your business?
Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona is a local arts agency that proudly serves our region’s creative economy through Grantmaking, Public Art, Advocacy, and Professional Development. Before there was the Arts Foundation, Tucson Pima Arts Council (TPAC) was established in 1984 to serve as the arts council for the City of Tucson and Pima County as “the principal mechanism through which arts and cultural activities will be planned and carried out within the metropolitan area.” In 2016, the Board of Directors voted to change the name of TPAC to the Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona to reflect the vision of the agency as one that serves a broader geographic region rich in culture that sits south of the Gila River between sets of historical, political, and geographic boundaries including 372 miles along the US Mexico international border in the south, and along the 590 mile stretch of the Gila River which flows west from the New Mexico border to the Colorado River.

We are proud to be in the service of artists in this moment of rebuilding as we enter year three of the pandemic. Like the rest of the country, our communities are recovering from the hardships and losses the pandemic has caused. In 2020 Tucson was ranked 3rd in the Brookings Institute among the hardest hit metropolitan areas in the country concerning job losses in the creative workforce during the COVID19 pandemic. Arts Foundation surveyed 53 Pima County organizations and 247 artists reported a loss of $26 million in 7 months. We are proud to share that in twelve months, our brand-new team deployed a record $2.2M to fund 500 artists and organizations by leveraging new funds that reached 66% first-time grantees while demographically representing the local population and successfully reaching underserved communities.

We want the world to know that we are looking toward the future with hope and setting strategies in practice that are intentionally striving to impact the creative workforce, starting with those impacted most by the pandemic. We are proud to share that 75% of BIPOC artists were awarded Project Creosote grants in 2021. We are dedicated to continuing to diversify our outreach so that the beneficiaries of our programs reflect all the communities we serve in Southern Arizona.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We would start the week off with a bang in Tucson. As soon as we pick up our best friend from the airport on a Saturday afternoon, our first stop will be the Mercado del Bario at Galeria Mitotera. Not only will we purchase art from talented local artists and makers of the neighborhood, but we will also sample the culinary works of art by vendors like Nopalida Vegan, Viri Viri Bomb Bomb, and Bolitas Bakery. The day would be perfect for a walk in the neighborhood in City of South Tucson to admire local murals, especially the newly completed street mural right next to Galeria Mitotera, a project that came together through the leadership of Wagon Burner Arts, Avenidas Inc, and Galeria Mitotera. What an inspiring afternoon it will be! Driving downtown, we will be greeted by a reminder that “THIS IS O’ODHAM LAND” on a mural led by Luck Salway from LuXXeArte Collective. Saturday evening is a blast in Tucson, especially in the Downtown area where we will find ourselves among over 50 public art pieces, with sightings of murals by Jessica Gonzales and Rock Martinez. Sunday would be dedicated to spending time checking out museum exhibitions, including MOCA Tucson and Tucson Museum of Art. They are sure to enjoy the contemporary exhibitions that include work by regional and internationally renowned artists.

Our guest will be prepared for a road trip heading south with stops in the historic cities of Benson, Tombstone, and Bisbee to enjoy a series of ghost tours, live reenactments, and some of the best thrift shops in Southern Arizona. We will take time to check out the art galleries in Old Bisbee and make a stop for a drawing workshop at the Central School Project. The following two days will be dedicated to exploring art and history on the border of Douglas and Agua Prieta. We will check out the binational events on the calendar and enjoy some great Sonoran hot dogs on the other side of the border in Agua Prieta. The next two days will be a change of pace as we prepare for two nights camping at the Chiricahua Mountains. We will have a wonderful time decompressing and taking in the gifts of the borderlands with the backdrop of the exquisite Chiricahua Desert landscape. Next, we will make out way west and spend a day in ambos Nogales. We will catch up with our friends at Nogaleria and go on a tour to view the new murals that have been recently completed on both sides of the border that represent the local history of the region.

Our road trip will continue west through Tohono O’odham Nation. We will stop by Sells and admire the majestic cactus forest at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and reflect on the tremendous efforts of the Tohono O’odham Nation people and surrounding communities who have dedicated their lives to protecting the sacred sites and biosphere reserve of the region. Continuing westward, we will stop in Somerton for lunch, then make our way to the Yuma Arts Center to experience one of their signature events like Yuma Rocks or Art in the Park. Back on the road on Interstate 8, we will head towards the San Carlos Apache Reservation to attend a community event hosted by San Carlos Apache Skateboards. We will enjoy live music, mural art, and a skateboard competition. Finally, we will head south again towards Tucson, and on the road, we will reflect on the expansive landscape we have spanned in Southern Arizona. We hope our friend will experience the breadth of land, diversity, and artistic talent we are so fortuitous to steward as the Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
First and foremost, we would like to dedicate our shoutout to the artists and art organizations in our service region. As a regional funder in Southern Arizona, we proudly serve all counties and Tribal Nations south of the Gila River, including Ak-Chin Indian Community, Sovereign Nation of the Cocopahs, Quechan Tribe of the Fort Yuma Indian Reservation, Gila River Indian Community, Pascua Yaqui Tribe, Tohono O’Odham Nation, and San Carlos Apache Nation. We would also like to give a shoutout to Grantmakers in the Arts (GIA) for bringing racial equity to the forefront of philanthropy and for providing our team the opportunity to work in tandem with organizations across the country to center social justice in our work. GIA has worked to build a culture in grantmaking that uplifts our core values of working towards equity, diversity, and inclusion through convening DEI thought leaders and practitioners in the arts. Finally, we would like to give a shoutout to our funders who make it possible for us to serve the creative workforce in Southern Arizona; Pima County, City of Tucson, Arizona Commission on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Website: https://artsfoundtucson.org/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artsfoundtucson/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/arts-foundation-for-tucson-and-southern-arizona/about/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/artsfoundtucson

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArtsFoundTucson

Other: email info@artsfoundtucson.org call 520.624.0595 give https://www.mightycause.com/donate/Artsfoundtucson sign-up https://artsfoundtucson.org/news-opps-signup/

Image Credits
Personal Photo: Arts Foundation Team: Jenea Sanchez, Adriana Gallego, Donna Isaac, Woods Fairchild, and Yurika Isoe. Not pictured, Wylwyn Reyes and Ammi Robles. Photo by Ed Flores Additional Photos: 1. Rebekah Miles 2. Anh-Thuy Nguyen 3. Rebecca Carlton, Photo by Julius Schlosburg 4. Takeover Lounge, Photo by G. Barreda 5. Galeria Mitotera, Photo by Samir Meziab 6. The Drop Dance Studio 7. HONOR Collective 8. Youth Artist, Maya Castle painting during Transportation Art by Youth Program, Photo By Antonio Ramirez