Art & Entertainments

This Tucson neighborhood’s alleyway is home to a secret art gallery | tucson life

By Dorsey Rohweder 3 weeks ago

Quietly tucked away in a Miles Neighborhood alleyway sits an ever-changing art gallery embellished with over 100 pieces of art that gently hang on the residents’ chain-link fences and brick walls.

As you walk through the alley, you can view framed artworks featuring paintings of lush landscapes, imaginative drawings created at schools by local children and a small shrine displaying a portrait of the Virgen de Guadalupe with the words “Bless Miles Neighborhood,” scrawled across the bottom in cut-up magazine letters.

The Miles neighborhood, located near East Broadway Boulevard and South Kino Parkway, has been home to longtime residents, friends, and two of the art alley gallery creators, Josie Zapata and Rossana Lievanos, for over 40 years. They call the neighborhood a tight-knit community, where everybody knows and respects each other. 

But when the COVID-19 pandemic struck Tucson, Zapata, a retired first-grade teacher from Drachman Montessori Magnet School,

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Top Phoenix art exhibitions of 2022. A year of things to see and do

By Dorsey Rohweder 3 weeks ago

Last year finished strong for metro Phoenix museums and galleries and that trend looks to continue in 2022. 

Several exciting art exhibitions are on the calendar for the new year while some significant exhibitions to see in 2022 are already open. “Treasures” at the Musical Instrument Museum, “Legacy of Ceylon: Art and Photography of Sri Lanka” at the Phoenix Art Museum and some art exhibitions are in full swing. 

Others will open as the year goes on like artist Beverly Penn’s “Radical Adaptation” at Lisa Sette Gallery and “Southwest Silverwork” at the Heard. SMoCA and Mesa Arts Center are other galleries that will feature several exhibitions throughout the year.

‘Treasures’ at The Musical Instrument Museum 

The Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix opened its newest exhibition, “Treasures: Legendary Musical Instruments,” on Nov. 12. The showcase — which is scheduled to remain open until September 2023 — features a curated collection of

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Capitol insurrection moved Delaware artist to create unusual images

By Dorsey Rohweder 3 weeks ago

A blue bird flies into the gaping mouth of a large man wearing a red power tie, accompanied by a group of flag-toting rebels.

That man is Donald Trump. The scene is titled “Goodbye,” a painting by inspired by the Capitol riot.

Thursday marks the one-year anniversary of the insurrection.

The tragic event motivated artist Kim Klabe, 57, of Rehoboth Beach, to immortalize it through a series of illustrations featuring her uncanny art style of freely spilling beer and paint onto a canvas.

'Goodbye' by artist Kim Klabe, of Rehoboth Beach, was inspired by the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.

“I was pretty wrecked by that whole insurrection thing,” she said. “It just tore me up.”

Klabe saw the riot while at work. It brought her to tears.

“I think I cried for two days after that. I just couldn’t believe that anything like that could happen in our country,” an emotional Klabe told The News Journal / Delaware Online. “And I still get upset if

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Animal Crossing Player’s Polly Pocket Style Character Art Is Perfect Crossover

By Dorsey Rohweder 4 weeks ago

An Animal Crossing: New Horizons player shared artwork this week depicting ACNH villagers within classic Polly Pocket clamshell dollhouses.

An Animal Crossing: New Horizons player shared an art piece with a brilliant crossover this week, showing Animal Crossing characters within the classic Polly Pocket clamshell dollhouses. One of the core elements of the game is user creativity, and the lush environment and unique characters in Animal Crossing inspire a lot of art from players, both inside and outside the game.

Polly Pocket dolls have been around since 1989, and are famous for their tiny rubber accessories and clamshell-style dollhouses. While the brand has pivoted away from this dollhouse design in recent years, the clamshell style is still very nostalgic for those who know it from childhood. Animal Crossing is a game series centered around player choices and creativity, offering them the opportunity to design an entire island any way they

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