For Immediate Release
September 15, 2015
Contact: Steve Wilcox
602-771-6536
[email protected]
Arizona Commission on the Arts Brings Artist-to-Artist Professional Development Program to Douglas
AZ ArtWorker will offer a series of artist workshops and artist-led community conversations in Douglas, Arizona, on October 10 and 11, 2015
Phoenix (September 15, 2015): The Arizona Commission on the Arts, an agency of the State of Arizona, will present a series of artist workshops and artist-led community conversations in Douglas, Arizona, on October 10 and 11, 2015, as part of its AZ ArtWorker initiative. Featured artists will include Douglas-based intermedia artist M. Jenea Sanchez, internationally-renowned visual artist Ana Teresa Fernández, and the interdisciplinary indigenous art collective Postcommodity.
First announced in August 2015, AZ ArtWorker aims to increase access to high-quality and culturally-relevant professional development opportunities by facilitating dialogue and knowledge-sharing between Arizona artists, their national and international artist peers, and residents of Arizona communities. The program is supported by a grant from the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation of New Haven, Connecticut.
The October 10 and 11 AZ ArtWorker programming in Douglas is produced in partnership with two Arizona State University arts initiatives:
Video and performance artist Ana Teresa Fernández will visit Douglas as part of her residency with ASU Performance in the Borderlands. Born and raised in Tampico, Mexico, Fernández is best known for her conceptual work Borrando la Frontera, which used a trompe l’oeil effect to “erase” a section of fence along the Tijuana/San Diego border.
In collaboration with ASU Art Museum International Artist Residency Program, interdisciplinary indigenous art collective Postcommodity will present  Repellent Fence, the largest bi-national land art installation ever exhibited at the US/Mexico border. The two-mile long sculpture will comprise twenty-six tethered “scare eye” balloons, ten feet in diameter, floating fifty feet above the border.
“AZ ArtWorker partner organizations share the Arts Commission’s belief that artists play a crucial role in investigating and animating questions of culture and meaning in Arizona today,” said Casandra Hernandez, the Arts Commission’s Artist Programs Coordinator. “By coordinating our efforts and leveraging our resources, we are able to bring Arizona residents and artists together to create significant new opportunities for community dialogue and engagement.”
Douglas-based partners include the organizers of ArtWalk on G and the Mexican Consulate.
AZ ArtWorker events in Douglas will include the following:
- October 10, 7:00pm. Public conversation with Postcommodity, Ana Teresa Fernández and M. Jenea Sanchez about artistic and cultural work in the borderlands.
- October 11, 10:00am – 12:00pm. Artist training with Ana Teresa Fernández and M. Jenea Sanchez to explore the creation of site-specific artworks through interactive projects. Arizona artists interested in participating can register at www.azarts.gov/azartworker.
The rural border town of Douglas is the first of three communities chosen as focal points in AZ ArtWorker’s pilot year. Future programming will be presented in Tucson and Phoenix.
“There’s been a surge of creative momentum this past year in Douglas as local artists explore ways to build community within our city and strengthen the relationship with our sister city, Agua Prieta, Sonora,” reported Douglas artist M. Jenea Sanchez. “We are using our skills as artists to reestablish what previously existed here: an interconnected borderlands culture where we share ideas, art, music, creativity and relationships.”
For more information about these events, featured artists, partnering organizations and the Arizona Commission on the Arts, please visit www.azarts.gov/azartworker or contact Casandra Hernandez, Artist Programs Coordinator, at [email protected].
About the Arizona Commission on the Arts
One of 56 state and jurisdictional arts agencies across the United States, the Arizona Commission on the Arts is a 49-year-old agency of the State of Arizona and a leading force in the creative and professional development of Arizona’s arts sector. Through robust programs, research initiatives and strategic grantmaking, the Arts Commission catalyzes arts-based partnerships that strengthen Arizona communities through the arts.
For more information about the grants, services and programs of the Arizona Commission on the Arts, visit www.azarts.gov.
We imagine an Arizona where everyone can participate in and experience the arts.
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To request this or any other agency publication in an alternative format, contact the Arts Commission offices at (602) 771-6502. Images available upon request.
