Alexandra Jimenez

Designer and illustrator Alexandra Jimenez is a descendent of the immigrant communities that shaped the culture of Tucson, and, as a current resident, she feels an urgency to document this district where increased urbanization is beginning the erasure of its visual and cultural history. Collaborating with her sister, Sharayah Jimenez, an architect who focuses on historic preservation, Jimenez is crafting Abecedario de Sur—a written and visual narrative that weaves together the histories of buildings with the people, the culture and the geography.

Abecedario de Sur is a geographical alphabet book designed to function as a geographic and cultural tour through two important corridors in Tucson: South Sixth Avenue and South Twelfth Avenue. Abecedario del Sur highlights these streets’ unique typography and historical narratives as relayed by resident business owners, many of which are the Mexican families that have operated on these streets for generations. As the reader advances through the book, they simultaneously travel further south on the streets, collecting letters from the signs on buildings along the route. A corresponding screen-print series by Jimenez will provide another public access point to the work. The culminating art show and book release will be a celebration that brings together both the localized community in the south and the greater community of artists and educators in Tucson.

Arizona native Alexandra Jimenez is an artist and researcher. Her image-making uses a variety of processes—design, illustration, animation, and printmaking—that often involves digitally combining hand-illustrated elements with photography, watercolors and vector images. Currently, she is using these art forms to explore both the personal and collective histories of the Sonoran Desert, including her own heritage and the changing landscape of Tucson, Arizona. Her book of design, history and collected narrative, Abecedario del Sur, will be published this year.

Jimenez began her higher education at Cornell with a degree in Animal Sciences focused in entomology and later went on to study Visual Communications at the University of Arizona. Her background as a scientist informs her perspectives and approach to art-making: a design problem or illustration project becomes a quest for the right question to ask, and the resultant image, the answer.

Alex is documenting the process of creating Abecedario de Sur on her website: www.alexclamation.com.

Perspectives: Alex! Jimenez

In 2015, the Arizona Commission on the Arts awarded designer and illustrator Alex! Jimenez an Artist Research and Development Grant in support of her project Abecedario de Sur, a geographical alphabet book designed to function as a geographic and cultural tour through Tucson's south side.

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Land Tracings

In June 2016, the Arts Commission presented an exhibition at Chartreuse, a contemporary art space on historic Grand Avenue in downtown Phoenix, featuring work by five members of the 2015 cohort of Artist Research & Development Grant recipients. These five artists work in various media and address multiple thematic concerns, but at the core of their artistic practice is a common need to document a passing moment.

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