June 29 - July 5, 1995

City Week

Thursday 29

BERO GALLERY. Bero Gallery, 41 S. Sixth Ave., takes an innovative turn with this latest exhibit, opening tonight with a reception from 6 to 9 p.m. The Poetry Gallery at Bero is the brainchild of co-curators Annie Guthrie and Jennifer Till. According to gallery owner Beth Watchel, Guthrie, a jewelry artist herself, had envisioned a "poet's gallery" as an experiment aimed at pushing poets beyond the confines of the two-dimensional page. But their call to artists for "visual poetry" submissions turned out a range of content and media none had imagined. "There are strong visuals by poet-artists and poet/artist teams," says Watchel, easing carefully into her description of the exhibit. Among the participants are Gregory Sale, Karen Falkenstrom, Bisbee poet Colleen Estrada, Etherton Gallery's Jerre Johnston and Lisa Bowden, whose Tucson-based Kore Press has revived the craft and artistry of book-making. From relatively straight-forward pieces including a mobile, books and Bowden's poem printed on handmade paper, Watchel moves into a description of Estrada's piece: "a handmade rifle adorned with bottles, with a message shooting out of the muzzle, like those old (vaudeville) guns"; to a piece by UA photography student Rene Lillie, which Watchel describes as a "sculptural photographic piece" made of plexiglass columns filled with water "with her poem etched on the columns, with electrically projected images." There is also an "installation with a bedroom setting" by Richard Siken.

The Poetry Gallery at Bero continues through July 27. Visit tonight's reception from 6 to 9 p.m. during Art Walk, or stop by Downtown Saturday Night, 7:30 to 10 p.m. July 1, for readings by Jami Mcarty, Karen Falkenstrom, Colleen Estrada, Brenda Todaro and Dennis Prieto. Call 792-0313 for information.

Friday 30

GET MERRIED. As we head into the scorching summer months, take these final opportunities to spend time outside before the evenings cease to cool down to a comfortable temperature. Pack a picnic, your favorite blanket or lawn chair and scurry over to the Reid Park DeMeester Outdoor Performing Center for Tucson Parks and Recreation Community Theatre's performance of Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor. This isn't the Shakespeare you struggled over (or avoided altogether) in high school--it's the 17th-century playwright at his comic best, with the antics of Sir John Falstaff and his "band of ne'r-do-wells" certain to appeal to audiences of all ages. Performances continue at 8 p.m. through July 2. Admission is free.

Saturday 1

SONORAN SUMMER NIGHTS. Every Saturday evening through September 30, the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, 2021 N. Kinney Road, will extend its hours until 10 p.m. Out on the west side, the city lights are sufficiently dimmed to enjoy the night sky and get a new view of Sonoran desert night life. For a little sustenance before your evening adventure, stop by the Ironwood Terraces Restaurant for dinner, dessert or a light snack. Admission to the museum is free for members, $8.95 for adults ages 13 and over and $1.75 for children 6 to 12. Call 883-2702 for information.

DOWNTOWN SATURDAY NIGHT. See all the things that go bump in the night in the Old Pueblo as the downtown arts district gears up for another wild selection of arts in the streets. A "Gecko Feats" parade will wind from Armory Park, through downtown and back to the park, at South Sixth Avenue and 13th Street, beginning at 7 p.m. The celebration concludes with a sunset performance featuring movement, live music, spoken word and visual art. Find the Tragidiots, "the infamous troupe of Shakespearean groundlings," expounding the wit and wisdom of Shakespeare at 8 and 9 p.m. in the Arizona Alley; and the sweet sounds of the Desert Wing jazz and blues band will float above the Ronstadt Transit Center, Sixth Avenue and Congress Street, from 7 to 10 p.m. Night owls can catch the late show at The Screening Room, 127 E. Congress St., with TheCreature from the Black Lagoon screening in 3-D at 10 p.m. Call 622-2262 for ticket information. For more information on Downtown SaturDay and Downtown Saturday Night events, call 624-9977.

Sunday 2

CREATIVE IMPULSE. "Out of the dust of a Tucson summer springs The Creation," reads the unusually dramatic opening on the UA press release for this three-part work by Joseph Haydn, featuring chorus, chamber players and three vocal soloists. Both choir and orchestra are comprised of UA faculty and staff, students and community singers and players. Soloists include doctoral voice candidate Deborah Wilke, UA professor of voice Grayson Hirst and professional opera singer and Tucson resident David Majorof. This concerted effort to make the performance a true University-community partnership was an integral part of conductor Josef Knott's plan. "There needs to be more of that (collaboration)," he says, "and what better way to do that than with a piece entitled 'Creation' ?"

The work itself, a year-long effort completed by Haydn in 1798, is a descriptive musical journey through the Bible's six days of creation. "The first part," says Knott, "deals with the creation of sea, earth and trees, with the music reflecting a more chaotic theme. Then the second begins with creation of whales and beasts, and an underground kind of music emerges. The second half of part two is a little more sublime as we enter into creation of Adam and Eve." He calls the third part a celebration of the creation as a whole.

Tickets to see the world anew range from $3 to $6 at the door. Performance begins at 3 p.m. in the recently renovated Crowder Hall on the UA campus. Call 621-2998 for information.

Monday 3

INDEPENDENCE EVE. The real question today is whether it's a holiday. The Spaniards have an enlightened solution the rest of the world should adopt to avoid all confusion in calendar years where a national holiday falls on a Tuesday or Thursday: It's called a puente, or "bridge," and it mandates that the holiday be extended to include the in-between day, thus bridging the gap between work week and weekend. You gotta love a nation that collectively believes no one should work the day before or after a holiday. If you're one of the lucky ones free to play today, review the Declaration of Independence while flipping burgers, dress up as your favorite forefather and lose yourself among the Touchable Sculpture exhibit at the Arizona Historical Society, or recite the Bill of Rights while discharging your firearm in the sanctity of a remote desert locale.

Those of you slaving away to ensure our status as the most productive nation in the world might take some office time to draft a letter to your favorite elected representative, proposing a puente initiative.

BATTER UP. Slip into an all-American spirit by heading out to Hi Corbett Field to enjoy our national pastime. Not only will you get to see the formidable Tucson Toros knock the stuffing out of the Phoenix Firebirds (we hope), you'll also get a head start on your Fourth of July fireworks celebration. Following tonight's game, those bullheaded folks at the ballpark will launch their well-stocked arsenal of red, white and blue rockets. Game time is 7 p.m. Tickets are $3 to $5. For information on other Toros games this weekend, call 325-2621.

Tuesday 4

STAR-SPANGLED BANDWAGON. Here's a selective guide to Old Pueblo entertainment for those wanting to paint the town red, white and blue: Celebrate indoors all day in the air-conditioned TCC Exhibition Hall, 260 S. Church Ave., with traditional contests like pie- and watermelon-eating, a cakewalk, rides, balloon artists and face painters, live music and displays of military and Tucson Fire Department equipment. Outdoor activities include a dunking tank, food booths, a drop-in visit from the Marana Skydivers and a DMAFB fly-by. And of course, no Fourth of July would be complete without setting A-Mountain ablaze with the "Fire In the Sky" (if only it would remain there) fireworks display, scheduled for 8:30 p.m. For more information on City of Tucson events, call 791-2549.

For those on the northwest side, Sportspark, I-10 west near Ina Road, offers a full afternoon of BBQ, tug-of-war, sack races, hayrides, live music, carnival games and more beginning at 4 p.m. The Marana Skydivers will chute over for a special show prior to the main fireworks presentation at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $2.50 for patriots 8 years and older. Call 744-9496 for information and a parking pass.

CAN'T BEAT THE HEAT. If family picnics hold as much appeal for you as a greased pig, don't despair. Your faithful friends at Club Congress bring you one of the best events you'll attend this summer. The esteemed Reverend Horton Heat blazes from his Texas home to Tucson for some feverish "psychobilly" guitar and upright bass play on the outdoor stage. These guys are amazing, totally dominating the stage at Mesa Amphitheater last year when they opened for Soundgarden (in our admittedly anti-grunge opinion), with the Revs deadpan drawl and Jimbo Wallace's full-frontal attack on that fire-engine red bass. Other musical guests include Chick Cashman, Gila Bend and a host of local bands. Tickets are $7 in advance, $9 at the door.

Wednesday 5

THE CONTACT ZONE. This summer's UA visiting writers' series, Arts of the Contact Zone, borrows its title from the phrase coined by literary scholar Mary Louise Pratt to describe the phenomenon of several distinct cultural groups coming together to create new narrative forms. The series continues tonight at 7 p.m. at the UA Modern Languages Building auditorium, with a free reading by Demetria Martinez, Tucsonan, journalist and author of the Western States Book Award-winning novel, Mother Tongue. She reads tonight from works addressing the plight of Salvadoran immigrants. Call 621-1836 for information.

Cutline 1: "Untitled," by Joseph A. Rheaume, is part of a show of photographic works by various artists, continuing through July 31 at Eclectic Gallery, 69 E. Pennington St.

Cutline 2: "Winds of Change," by Lynn Rae Lowe, highlights the mixed-media, three-artist show opening with a reception from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, July 9, at the Tucson Jewish Community Center Fine Art Gallery, 3800 E. River Road.

Cutline 3: Other-worldly adventure: Capt. James P. Trek of the Starship Entrepreneur battles evil (Cameron Martin) in Space Trek: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone, continuing through August 19 at the Gaslight Theatre, 7010 E. Broadway.

Cutline 4: God and country: Ricky Skaggs joins local choirs in the Tucson Toros' "Celebrate America" post-game concert Sunday, July 2, at Hi Corbett.


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June 29 - July 5, 1995


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