AZ ArtWorker

DITD 2020 is a series of professional development workshops, master classes, and showings of works-in-progress. DITD addresses systemic deficits in dance in the Southwest by providing a space that redresses geographic isolation and centers local expertise.

Latinx dancemakers, arts administrators, and scholars from throughout the region and across the country will gather in Phoenix from April 26-28, 2018, for the inaugural convening of Dance in the Desert, a unique opportunity for the Latinx dance community to come together, deepen relationships, and expand research for the field.

Latinx dancemakers, arts administrators, and scholars from throughout the region and across the country will gather in Phoenix from April 26-28, 2018, for the inaugural convening of Dance in the Desert, a unique opportunity for the Latinx dance community to come together, deepen relationships, and expand research for the field.

Join us at Palabras Bilingual Bookstore in downtown Phoenix, on First Friday, December 1, 2017, for a public reception featuring participants of a Spanish-language creative writing workshop series led by local writer Ofelia Montelongo and sponsored by the Arts Commission's AZ ArtWorker initiative.

Join us on Saturday, September 23, 2017, for a free, interactive workshop on crafting a theatrical structure while working with community. The workshop will be led by Tucson playwright and theatre artist Milta Ortiz. 

CALA Alliance and AZ ArtWorker, a program of the Arizona Commission on the Arts, are pleased to welcome renowned contemporary Mexican artist Betsabeé Romero for an artist residency in Phoenix, Arizona.

Join us for a daylong professional development workshop with content crafted to serve Native American artists led by Linda Essig, Jake Meders, and First Peoples Fund.

CALA Alliance and AZ ArtWorker, a program of the Arizona Commission on the Arts, are pleased to welcome renowned contemporary Mexican artist Betsabeé Romero for an artist residency in Phoenix, Arizona.

Join us for a lively roundtable conversation of arts professionals from around the country, moderated by Adriana Gallego, artist and Deputy Director of the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture.

In November 2016, AZ ArtWorker partnered with Xico, El Instituto Sonorense de Cultura, and the Arizona-Mexico Commission to present a Free one-time-only workshop with Internationally renowned Artista Angel Luzanilla Beltrán from Cocórit , Cajeme, Sonora.

In November 2016, AZ ArtWorker will partner with Teatro Bravo to present a writing and acting workshop with Richard Montoya, co-founder of Chicano theatre group, Culture Clash. Participants will focus on the use of satire and humor to address social and culturally relevant content.

In October 2016, AZ ArtWorker partnered with Tohono O’odham Community College, Shining Soul, and Red Ink Magazine to present a workshop and a performance led by visiting artist Yadira De La Riva. At a community event workshop participants presented original short dramatic works on the theme of reclaiming community narratives. Special guests included Ofelia Zepeda and Shining Soul.

In October 2016, AZ ArtWorker partnered with Spoken Futures, a youth-centered literary arts and community engagement organization, to present a workshop with visiting theatre artist and educator Yadira De La Riva in Tucson, Arizona. Workshop participants practiced the incorporation of physical, theatrical movement into spoken word performance.

Transborder Hermanx: Regalos was developed by visiting theatre artist and educator Yadira De La Riva and high school students from both sides of the border fence that separates Douglas and Agua Prieta, Sonora. On October 22, 2016, during a public presentation, the two groups of students performed self-composed reflections on border life and transborder friendship from their respective sides of the fence.

On Saturday, Septmber 17, 2016, Join Macarthur “Genius Grant” recipient Liz Lerman for an introductory workshop on her Critical Response Process (CRP), a facilitated structure for giving and getting feedback on artistic works in progress.

On June 25, 2016, join AZ ArtWorker and visual artist Claudio Dicochea for a workshop that will provide you with an understanding of paint as a material for artistic expression and painting as an activity that explores our sense of self and our sense of place.

On June 24, 2016, join us for a conversation with visual artist Claudio Dicochea about the personal creative journey of artmaking as well as the social process of placing one's work out in the world.

On June 11, 2016, join us for a meet and greet with Margarita Cabrera, a Mexican-American artist whose objects and activities address timely issues related to border relations, labor practices and immigration. Margarita will talk about her latest project Space in Between, a collaboration with ASU Art Museum, Desert Botanical Gardens and various community organizations.

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.

On May 21, 2016, join us for an interactive, hands-on workshop with Southwest Folklife Alliance. At Who Tells the Best Jokes? Who Makes the Best Tortillas? Asset Mapping as a Tool for Community Empowerment participants will gain a deeper understanding of the field of "place making" and its potential benefits for community prosperity.

On May 19, 2016, Jorge Merced, Associate Artistic Dirctor of New York's Pregones Theatre, will present a workshop on using literary and non-literary texts as inspiration and raw material for theater. The workshop will be presented in partnership with Tucson's Borderlands Theater and feature an introduction by Milta Ortiz.

In February 2016, Dr. Linda Essig, Director of Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Programs in the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts and founder of the Pave Program in Arts Entrepreneurship at ASU, presented a two-day interactive workshop based on the Arizona Arts Entrepreneur Toolkit–a comprehensive collection of digital tools designed to help artists support the business side of their practice.

On Wednesday, February 24, 2016, AZ ArtWorker, in partner ship with ASU Performance in the Borderlands and Black Theatre Troupe, will present a thought-provoking workshop with Asantewa Sunni-Ali--Solo Performance: Pathway to Radical Self and Community Reimagination.

On November 4, 2015, AZ ArtWorker presented a workshop with actor and playwright Anu Yadav in Phoenix. At this intimate workshop, participants learned about theatre as a tool for community organizing and used techniques based on Theatre of the Oppressed to explore how personal story can be used to engage social issues. 

AZ ArtWorker launched in Douglas, AZ, during the weekend of October 10-11, 2015, presenting community events and artists workshops coordinated with the border community's first bi-national art walk, a visit from internationally renowned artist Ana Teresa Fernández, and the debut of Repellent Fence, the largest bi-national land art installation ever exhibited at the US/Mexico border.