Closing the Book on Stereotypes
Librarian Wardrobe
5 p.m., Thursday, March 28
Museum of Contemporary Art, 265 S. Church Ave.
624-5019; moca-tucson.org; librarianwardrobe.com
If "sexy" is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of librarians, then Nicole Pagowsky, the creator of the blog Librarian Wardrobe, has some choice words for you.
Pagowsky, an instructional services librarian at the University of Arizona, started Librarian Wardrobe in 2010 as a "catalog" of how librarians across the nation choose to dress for work, based on their own submissions. Three years later, the blog serves as a resource for librarians looking for style inspiration. But it has a primary objective of counteracting gender discrimination and stereotypes as old as the Dewey Decimal System.
"Some people think it's silly to worry about (the stereotypes), that if we just do our jobs well, they will eventually go away," Pagowsky said. "But because it is a female-dominated profession, we have a lot more to contend with."
Extending Librarian Wardrobe's viewership to the general public has a relatively simple goal: to push its visitors to view librarians as real people dedicated to helping the patrons who come through their doors.
Pagowsky's research of these perceptions has been a major focus of her graduate career, and she was able to transition Librarian Wardrobe into interactive lectures. The MOCA event will combine a "scholarly look" at the librarian image with a visual presentation incorporating popular media portrayals.
"The important thing is just understanding a little more about what we do," Pagowsky said. "Everybody uses libraries, so I think it's helpful for people to understand, because their perceptions ... make an impact on how people feel and think about libraries."
Admission is free for MOCA members and $5 for non-members.
— K.N.
Walk of Faith
Los Dorados Orphan League's 44th annual Good Friday Cross Procession
3 p.m., Friday, March 29
Sentinel Peak ("A" Mountain), 1501 W. Sentinel Peak Road
301-1608; kingpina64@gmail.com
In 1969, David Herrera gave a group of orphans in Tucson a sense of belonging by having them build a cross and carry it through the surrounding neighborhood and up Sentinel Peak on Good Friday.
The group, Los Dorados Orphan League, has continued the tradition for 44 years, with community members working together to carry the 16-foot-tall cross up the peak.
"The kids, when they would go to church, they felt more like spectators," said Antonio Pinarosantibanez, 23, currently the youngest member of the league. "They didn't feel like they were participating in anything. They wanted to feel more like they were doing something."
Now in their 50s and 60s, some of the original league members still attend the cross procession and the sunrise Mass at the top of the peak on Easter.
The procession starts at the parking lot at the bottom of Sentinel Peak, where people gather at 3 p.m. Rather than having one group of people carry the cross the entire way, stations are set up where the cross is handed off to other groups as it makes its way to the top of the peak.
Pinarosantibanez said he keeps a vigil at the cross from Good Friday until Easter morning.
Jesus carried his cross "for all walks, all faiths, all religions, all creeds," Pinarosantibanez said. "So that that's the reason why we invite anybody and everybody to be involved."—S.C.
Planning Downtown's Future
Community Vision for the Ronstadt Transit Center
5:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 2
Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St.
624-0312
With Tucson's downtown in the process of revitalization, an investment group has begun to discuss development possibilities for the Ronstadt Transit Center.
City representatives are inviting community members, especially those who use Sun Tran, to join the conversation in a laid-back meeting where people can share their vision for the transit center.
It's part of a series of meetings to gather opinions about possible developments that combine the transit center with retail and housing to further improve downtown.
"Good urban planning has to take into consideration the variety of stakeholders involved," said City Councilman Steve Kozachik. "It's going to be key to making sure that whatever is designed there takes into consideration a real diverse set of interests and nobody's left out of the conversation. That's not to say that everyone's going to get everything they want, but it is to say that everyone deserves a seat at the table while the discussion is going on."
Kozachik said the Ronstadt Transit Center is an asset because of its location and the services it provides. It's near the train station, near where the modern streetcar will run and close to many bike paths.
"Transit is not going to be excluded from a part of the conversation," Kozachik said. "At the same time, it is key to the success of the streetcar to get private sector development along that corridor."
Attendees can enjoy free chile con carne, rice and beans at the meeting.— S.C.
Trapped in the Loft
The 'Trapped in the Closet' Sing-along
9 p.m., Friday, March 29
The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd.
795-0844; loftcinema.com
America's most famous "hip-hopera," R. Kelly's Trapped in the Closet, has reclaimed relevance with a vengeance, and a sing-along version hosted by the Loft is returning for an encore screening.
The sing-along is hardly for the faint of heart: featuring all 33 chapters of the Trapped in the Closet series, it clocks in at about two hours of nonstop singing, dancing and debauchery as the outrageous drama unfolds on screen.
"I assumed it would be exhausting and impossible for anyone to do it," Loft program director Jeff Yanc said of the original event in November 2012. "But lo and behold, people did it and they loved it."
More than 100 people were turned away from the first event, when the enthusiasm for Trapped in the Closet overpowered the available seats. This time, the updated sing-along will be held in the Loft's biggest theater, which holds 500. The show kicks off with a series of R. Kelly music videos to warm up the crowd before the Trapped in the Closet saga begins.
Trapped in the Closet also has Rocky Horror Picture Show-potential as a continuing event. One of the Loft's missions is to make "watching movies an interactive, fun experience" for the Tucson community, according to Yanc, and the no-rules, campy atmosphere of the sing-along seems built to last for even the most casual of R. Kelly fans.
The sing-along is $6 for Loft members and $8 for nonmembers, and the Loft will be handing out official Trapped in the Closet condoms imprinted with a line from the show.
At last year's showing, "I wasn't sure what people would do with them, but everyone ended up blowing them up and batting them around the theater," Yanc said. "It was a really fun, festive vibe."— K.N.
