GLOW

Further proof that Tucson is home to an extremely creative and active artist community is the annual performance art celebration called GLOW.

What makes GLOW such a unique experience is the fact that it is held in an outdoor field, at night, with several of the pieces being inter-active. How can you see artwork outdoors at night? Simple. Every piece incorporates light of one type or another. LEDs, flashlights, computer projectors, Christmas tree lights, etc. Just about anything that gives off illumination was used to light up the various pieces of art.


GLOW is held each year at the Triangle L Ranch in Oracle, a small town just north of Tucson. This year the event was held on September 12 and 13 from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Admission was $10 for adults, $5 for kids.

Fun is the best way to describe the event. Attendees are encouraged to wear lighted clothing, and a glow-stick wrist band is handed out to everyone as they enter the gate.

Miniature lights are used to light the path that winds through the grounds to take you to the various presentations. Our first stop was in front of an ‘alien’ that lit up when he spoke to the earthlings gathered in front of him. Whenever he wanted to emphasize a particular point in his speech, bubbles would burst forth from metallic openings in his body.

A short walk into a valley revealed a miniature solar system, complete with a flying saucer.

One of my favorites was an area set up with a computer projector and sound system that broadcast eerie voices and sounds choreographed with ever-morphing images projected on a large white sheet. Kind of like an other worldly screen saver.

Even more cool technology was used to create an interactive heart monitor. Two large tom-tom drums were lit from inside, and connected to wired handles. When you grabbed the handle, sensors on it translated your heartbeats into drumbeats.

Further down the path was a shadow puppet theater that, while not driven with lots of technology, was just as much fun as any of the high tech presentations.

If you missed The Glow this year, you’ll have to wait approximately 364 nights for the next one. It’s worth the wait. The experience is sure to leave you with a warm, um, glow inside.

There Once Was a Poet From Tucson…

What do you get when you combine a group of poets with no holds barred competition? The Poetry Slam! Whoever thought of this competition is a genius. What could be better than to listen to some the areas best poets recite original poetry knowing that the audience is free to cheer, boo, hiss, or snap their fingers while the poets are on stage baring their innermost, heartfelt feelings?

This was another great event I discovered through the Tucson Single Professionals. It was not only a competition, but a fundraiser for Team Tucson to help them go to the national competition in Milwaukee. Yes, there is a national Poetry Slam competition.

This night’s competition was between Team Tucson and a team from the University of Arizona. It was held at the Poetry Center at 1508 E. Helen street. I haven’t been inside the Poetry Center yet, but the emcee for the night explained that it contains one of the largest collections of poetry available. Literary heaven, figuratively speaking.

The rules Poetry Slam were simple enough. There were ten rounds, each team allowed one poem per round. At the end of each round the audience applauded for the team they thought won the round. At the end of the ten rounds the team winning the most rounds won the competition.

The emcee’s name was Matthew, and was also the coach for Team Tucson. His other duties included organizer and rule maker. One of the first things he did as rule maker was to throw out the rules he sent to the poets before the event. At the last minute the teams found out they: had to improvise a poem from a word suggested by the audience, had to give one of their poems to the other team to perform, and write a limerick about the other team. (This rule produced grimaces and groans from the teams. Limericks must not be held in high regard by poets.)

The competition began with a piece recited by Team Tucson. Three team members got onstage and performed with lines spoken alternately by one, two or all three of the poets in perfect staccato. It was beautiful to hear, and made it clear that presentation would be almost as important as the poetry itself.

With a name like “Poetry Slam” I had expected the poetry to be light-hearted. The second recital of the night from Team Tucson dashed those expectations quickly as the poet told a heart wrenching story of her sister, an abusive father, and an uncaring mother. It was brilliantly performed, but somehow seemed out of place given the night’s format.

One of the best performances of the night was from the U of A team. Team Tucson used the give-the-other-team-one-of-your-poems rule to hand the all male U of A team a poem about female sexuality. The artist took the poem and ran with it, totally embracing his feminine side and performed the piece with attitude. You go girl!

The winner of the evening’s competition turned out to be Team Tucson, even though Matthew gave one of the Team Tucson rounds to U of A to even the score before the final round.

When it was all said and done there were lots of laughs, lots of applause, a few hisses, and a few "boo’s (mostly aimed at Matthew).

I discovered that poetry slam competition is held every second and fourth Saturdays during the school year at Bentley's House of Coffee and Tea, 1730 East Speedway. Very cool.

Here’s another bonus: one of the poets for Team Tucson has his own blog and will be blogging every day from the national competition. He is known as Faldwin the Bard, and you can visit his blog at: faldwin.blogspot.com.

Busy in Bisbee

Ask around for fun things to do around Tucson and sooner or later you’re bound to hear “You should check out Bisbee!” Bisbee, as it turns out, is a small ‘artist’s community’ located about a two hour drive south of Tucson.

The term ‘artist’s community’ is bandied about so frequently that it’s come to mean just about any community that doesn’t fit neatly into any other category. Sedona is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of ‘artist’s community’ even though it has long been too expensive to live for any artist I’ve ever known.


But while Sedona probably attracted artists mainly because of its natural beauty, Bisbee had another draw: cheap housing. Incorporated in 1902, Bisbee was initially a copper rich boom town with its population reaching a high of over 9,000 by 1910. In 1917, open pit mining was successfully introduced to meet the heavy copper demand due to World War I. ^[1] In the photo above I circled and enlarged an earth mover to give you an idea of the size of this pit.

There is only so much copper you can strip from any mine and by 1975 the copper industry left Bisbee. What was bad news for copper miners turned out to be good news for starving artists and they grabbed up housing as the home prices of the fleeing miners plummeted.


Drive into Bisbee and one of the first things you’ll notice is how the houses are stuck into the side of the mountains. Almost as if a huge canon loaded with cute little chateaus was haphazardly fired against the picturesque rocks. Once safely parked and outside of your car, the narrow, hilly streets are unlike almost any other town in the U.S. This is one of Bisbee’s most attractive qualities in my opinion. Many beautiful photo opportunities can be found, so be sure to bring your camera.

I was fortunate enough to be traveling with a friend from the area that was kind enough to take me on a tour of Bisbee. As we walked up and down main street I noticed a familiar pattern: antique shop, diner, jewelry shop. Every so often an art gallery would show up. OK, so maybe I’m exaggerating a little bit. But I’m willing to bet the antique shops outnumber the art galleries two to one. This is fine if you’ve come to town to shop for antiques. Not so much if you’re expecting a town full of beatniks and hippies, as I was. Bummer, dude.


Ah, well. The weather was beautiful and my friend and I enjoyed exploring the local shops. She discovered some valuable jewelry information regarding items in her collection, and I came away with some killer honey. Literally. Killer Bee Honey to be exact. Tasty stuff. Another one of my discoveries was Old Bisbee Roasters coffee. This was worth the trip alone, for me. And who’s to say a perfectly brewed cup of joe doesn’t qualify as a work of art. Hey, you won’t get any argument from me.


I'm sure there is a fascinating story to go along with the photo above. I was too scared to ask.

Bisbee is a fun day trip if you’re looking for a beautiful setting with unique architecture, and a fun day of food, jewelry, and antique shopping. They even have some art there.


Source: [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisbee,_Arizona