The UA Art Museum: The UA’s art museum has several exhibitions up right now, including one on the evolution of women printmakers, one filled with art created by local high schoolers, an exploration of light and photography by multidisciplinary artist Richard Slechta and The Altarpiece of Ciudad Rodrigo, one of the most important works to come out of 15th-century Spain. Check them all out, but do try to see the exhibit "X, Y, Z: Art in Three Dimensions" which features art that’s been formed, molded, carved, cast or otherwise arranged. As you take in the art, you can reflect on what it means to take up space, cast a shadow and have texture. "X, Y, Z" is on display through Sunday, June 24. Museum is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday and closed Monday. UA Museum of Art, 1031 N. Olive Road. $8 GA, $6.50 seniors and groups of 10 or more. Free for members, students with ID, faculty, staff, military personnel, AAM members, visitors with a SNAP card or tribal ID and children. Details here.

DeGrazia’s Birthday: As if there weren’t enough of a reason to visit the DeGrazia Gallery and stroll through the gorgeous grounds, they’re giving out free cake and ice cream in honor of Ted DeGrazia’s birthday. He would have been 109 this year, and the weather gods are celebrating his birthday by setting the temperature to just about the same number. Admission to the museum,
where you can check out DeGrazia’s art and architecture, is free as well. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, June 14. DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun, 6300 N. Swan. Free. Details here.

Meet the Artists: Miniatures by Members of SAME: If you’re ever feeling small, there may be no better remedy than to head over to the Mini Time Museum of Miniatures to feel giant for the day. If you check out the museum’s Community Corner, where work by members of the Southern Arizona Miniature Enthusiasts’ club is on display, you may end up feeling a little lousy and untalented, just knowing what sorts of incredible and tiny art your neighbors are capable of making. Once a week, a SAME member is at the museum demonstrating their work and taking questions from the public. This week, it’s Kathy Grissom! 10a.m. to 1p.m. Thursday, June 14. Mini Time Machine Museum of Miniatures, 4455 E. Camp Lowell Drive. $9 GA, $8 military, $6 students and youth 4 to 17, free for kids 3 and under. Details here.

Red, White and Tuna: Live Theatre Workshop is presenting the third in a series of plays that take place in Tuna, the (fictional) “third-smallest” town in Texas. Hey, every town deserves to have some sort of claim to fame. Tuna’s just happens to be more of a claim to lame… Anyway, Keith Wick and Stephen Frankenfield play a cast of more than 20 wacky characters, both male and female, both young and old, Portlandia-style. In this chapter of Tuna’s tale, new town residents crash Tuna’s Fourth of July High School class reunion, and fireworks and funny stuff ensues. Thursday, June 14 to Saturday, July 21. Shows are usually at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 3 p.m. on Sundays. Live Theatre Workshop, 5317 E. Speedway Blvd. $15 to $20. Details here.

Your Weekly guide to keeping busy in the Old Pueblo.

Music

Celebrating the Spectrum 2018. Desert Voices, Tucson’s premier gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and ally chorus, is all about the idea that anyone can sing. And not just anyone on the LGBTQ+ spectrum. Anyone, regardless of creed, age, background, age, race or pizza topping preference. (Even anchovy lovers are welcome here.) For this event, Desert Voices is hosting GALA choruses from throughout Southern Arizona and Southern California to celebrate equality, diversity and the unity found in love of music. 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday, June 10. Arizona Theatre Company, Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave. $25 door, $20 advance, $15 student.

Summer Sizzlers–Cool Hot Jazz for the Summer. Here come the Dixie Cats, the swinging jazz group that’s known for playing the tunes of old NOLA. Their show “A Brief History of Jazz” will play tunes all the way from late 19th-century ragtime to late 20th-century big band swing and trad-jazz. This is the first in the St. Philip’s in the Hills Friends of Music summer concert series, so if you enjoy this, you can look forward to Grupo Riken, the Puerto Rican/Latin Jazz group, playing in July. 2 p.m. Sunday, June 10. St. Philip’s in the Hills Episcopal Church, 4440 N. Campbell Ave. Suggested admission is $15. Students with ID admitted at no charge.

1812 Overture by the Tucson Pops Orchestra. June is upon us, so it’s only natural that, thanks to the Tucson Pops Orchestra, tunes are upon us as well. At this evening event in the park, you’ll hear music from Miss Saigon, a Tchaikovsky piece, “America the Beautiful,” and, in the young conductors’ portion, even “La Bamba.” Grab your blanket or folding chair—heck, bring a picnic if you want—and settle in for an evening of music. 7 p.m. Sunday, June 10. DeMeester Outdoor Performance Center at Reid Park, 900 S. Randolph Way. Free.

Art

Etherton Gallery’s Summer Exhibitions. No matter what kind of art you like, you’ll want to make it a point to head to Etherton this summer. Their photography exhibition, “From the Archive: Masters of 20th Century Photography,” showcases work by American modernist photographers like Ansel Adams, Robert Frank, Annie Leibovitz and Eugene Smith. Hand-colored bird and flower photography by Tucson artist Kate Breakey will be on display in the pop-up gallery. And they’ve also partnered with The Skateroom to display editioned artwork on skateboards (designed to be hung on the wall, but could be used for skating as well) by artists such as Andy Warhol, Shepard Fairey and Ai Wei Wei. A portion of gallery sales of the skateboards will go into a fund for Cushing Street Skate Park, a needed covered skate park for Tucson youth. On display through the end of August. Opening reception 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday, June 9. Etherton Gallery, 135 S. Sixth Ave. Free.

How does Pima County Public Library uphold its values? We celebrate diversity and find strength in recognizing differences. For 20 years, the Library's LGBTQ+ Services Committee has committed to providing welcoming, inclusive opportunities for everyone. Come see what it's all about at these upcoming events, including the brand new Stonewall Series!

The Stonewall Series

Saturday, June 2 (2–4 pm, Joel D. Valdez Main Library)
Fenton Johnson presents "The Future of Queer: A Manifesto"

Wednesday, June 20 (6–8 pm, Murphy-Wilmot Library)
Bill Konigsberg presents "Is Cis Gay White the New Straight"

Saturday, June 30 (2–4 pm, Woods Memorial Library)
Rachell Mindell presents "Bi is Not a Bad Word"

Rainbow Reads: A Positively Queer Reading Circle

Alternating between book chats and book clubs, this reading circle is held on the 3rd Sunday of the month at Exo Roast Co.

The next book club will be held on June 17. The book selection is Virginia Woolf's Orlando.

Rainbow Storytime

Wednesday, June 6 (11–11:45, Woods Memorial Library)
Thursday, June 7 (10–10:45, Santa Rosa Library)
Friday, June 22 (10:30–11:15, Sahuarita Library)

For more information, visit the Library's website or call Infoline at (520) 791-4010.

Tucson City Councilmember Steve Kozachik is taking a new tack in the battle over the future of the midtown Benedictine Monastery.

Kozachik initiated a process that could give the monastery a Historic Landmark designation, which the City Council unanimously approved during a May 22 study session. The Historic Landmark designation would protect it from being torn down and create added guidlines about what types of developments can surround it.

“The building remains one of the last expressions of this architectural style in the Tucson area,” Kozachik wrote in his proposal for the Council. “It has been a cultural, architectural and spiritual landmark in Tucson since 1940.”

Local architect Roy Place developed the monastery for the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration 80 years ago, in his signature Spanish Revival style. The sisters sold the monastery to local developer Ross Rulney in September 2016 for $5.9 million.

Before the sisters sold the monastery, they put it on the National Registry of Historic Places, thinking that would protect it from demolition. The certification is framed, hanging on the wall of the monastery. But the national registry doesn’t protect the historic structure—it’s purely honorific.

The current zoning in that area is for offices and high-density residential—aka student housing. There’s also a maximum 222 living units and a 40-foot height, or about four stories. There’s no restrictions against tearing down historic structures and no requirement for neighborhood participation or design review.

Architects for the project, Poster Frost Mirto, Inc., said at a March community meeting that they were helping Rulney develop the site and making sure the monastery is protected. It would be the seventh Roy Place creation Poster Frost Mirto, Inc. has worked to preserve.

Together, the architects and developer proposed the Historic Landmark designation, but in exchange, the city would have to allow Rulney to build higher than 40 feet around the monastery and expand the number of allowed apartments or condos. As part of the deal, Rulney would agree to prohibit renting by the bedroom—the typical student-rental arrangement—and to hold several reviews for public input.

Closing out the 47th season of that small but mighty gang at the Invisible Theatre is Mr. Goldberg’s Prodigal Son, a new play by John W. Lowell. The press release called this production a premiere, and I have not been able to find mention of a production of it anywhere else. So IT is bringing us a brand spanking new play, which falls in line with the admirable commitment to producing new plays the theatre has made since its humble beginnings.

We’re all for giving new plays an airing. But, as would be expected, letting fly an untested script can bring mixed results. That’s the case here.

The play shows us the gathering of the Goldberg family on the Jewish holiday of Purim. Purim is a celebration lasting several days commemorating the deliverance of the Jews from the extinction intended by Haman, advisor to a Persian king. It’s rather a rowdy holiday, it seems, encouraging Jews to celebrate with food, including with triangular baked goods known as hamantaschen, and the excessive intake of alcohol within a generally rowdy, noise-filled atmosphere. It’s supposed to be a happy time.

But it’s not for the Goldbergs, particularly the patriarch Milton (David Alexander Johnston), who cannot enjoy the holiday because it also marks the anniversary of his elder son’s angrily taking leave of the family. His years of exile have saddened wife Joyce (Susan Cookie Baker) as well, but for the holiday’s sake she tries to tries to soften his bad mood. Younger son Charlie (Andrey Lull), smart and over-achieving, is excited about plans for college, and with Hettie (Susan Claassen), Milton’s rather dotty and over-involved mother, the group gathers for a rather perfunctorily celebrated dinner. But prodigal son Jerry (Christopher Koval) makes a surprise appearance, and his presence, as we might expect, causes a bit of a family kerfuffle.

This is an unmistakenly lightweight piece; that’s clear from the get-go. And it certainly offers provides a hefty dose of grins and laughs. However, several weak aspects of the new play become obvious as these thespians lend their storytelling efforts.

Both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border bustled with activity on a recent Saturday night in Nogales. On the U.S. side of the border wall, youth display their perspectives of the border. In Mexico, people go about their daily lives, yet stop to curiously glance at the teens projecting images on the border wall.

Borderlands Art Exhibition, composed of 14 art pieces created by high school students in the Tucson Unified School District, included images of flags, borders social justice symbols and butterflies—a dominant symbol in the artwork, representing freedom and migration.

“No matter what you create, the border is your canvas,” Ernesto Somoza, a graphic design teacher at Pueblo Magnet High School, told his students.

With the help of a $600 Community Share Grant, Somoza organized the exhibit so the youth could create art that reflects their impression of the border. He hopes the new experience will motivate them to continue sharing their views.

Somoza said the exhibit reminded the students they have a voice and can influence things that affect them. The border is their backyard, and they can soon make a change by choosing who represents them in the political sphere.

“I believe that a lot of these students are gonna become politicians,” Somoza said. “They’re gonna be lawyers. They’re gonna be the people who represent us in political office.”

Calling all teens: The Third Annual Rising Voices Arts Showcase and Youth Summit are this weekend (Friday and Saturday) at Joel D. Valdez Main Library.

Rising Voices was developed by youth, for youth as a safe and fun event to connect, learn, and grow as leaders. This year's theme is Know Yourself! Know Your Rights!

In the midst of the #MarchForOurLives movement, we know the power of young people's words. Rising Voices is designed to help teens deepen their engagement with the community and the issues they're most passionate about—be it gun reform, environmentalism, or LGBTQ+ rights.

Now more than ever, youth voices are being amplified across the nation. Rising Voices is a chance to make yours heard in Tucson!

Questions about this or other Pima County Public Library events and services? Call Infoline at (520) 791-4010 or visit library.pima.gov.

Noam Chomsky presents American Exceptionalism Reconsidered at Joel D. Valdez Main Library (Jácome Plaza) on Friday, April 13 at 7 pm.

Chomsky, considered the founder of modern linguistics, has been called one of the most influential public intellectuals in the world and America’s most useful citizen. He's also authored more than 100 books on topics as wide-ranging as linguistics, war, politics, and mass media.

Now he'll present a free lecture offering a timely and important discussion of how American society has departed from the world, sometimes in extreme and hazardous ways. Included will be a look at gun culture, a topic that has dominated headlines in recent years.

Tickets and RSVPs are not required. Seating will begin at 6 pm, one hour before the event. For your comfort, feel free to bring camp or folding chairs!

Our boss, Jim Nintzel, wasn’t wrong when he wrote in his last blog entry that the there’s lots of good girl power vibes at this year’s SXSW. Today, we saw Luna Lee, in all the way from Korea with her traditional (and insane looking) Korean string instrument, the Gayaegum. She started her set with a traditional Korean tune, but was really in her element playing pieces by the likes of Nirvana and The White Stripes. Between watching her fingers fly across the strings and hearing her announce cheerily “Let’s go!” before every song, it was hard not to love her.

But the guys came through today as well. Two of my favorites? Chihuahua, Mexico’s Coma Pony and Hawthorne, CA’s Cuco.

Coma Pony has been around since 2011, if you include a hiatus of about two years in the middle. Their 2016 breakout hit was “En Doming Las Niñas Van A Jugar al Parque.” If you don’t speak Spanish, no worries—they’re an instrumental band that somehow makes dreamy math rock that’s completely groovy. Audience members were dancing throughout the set, and the guitarist—a guy named Marco with an enviable afro—was rocking out so hard that his glasses flew off at least five times. (He said afterwards that, despite his rocking out with wild abandon, he’s never broken them because he’s very, very careful.)

Cuco, or Omar Banos, is 19, and he’s on the rise. It’s hard to write about him without using the word “heartthrob.” Girls in the front row are losing their minds as he sings “Baby don’t trip, I’m coming home. Kick it with me—I don’t care if the sun is gone.” But he had more to offer than boy band-esque lyricism and charm. His show was fun. There were colorful projections on the wall behind him, he joked around with the audience and he even pulled out a trumpet few times. (What's more fun than a trumpet?) Perhaps his fun, mildly self deprecating humor is best summed up by his Twitter handle: @Icryduringsex

Whereas many outdoor concerts go for being as frantic and in-your-face and attention-grabbing as possible, indie rock outfit Low takes it slow and steady. This was especially clear when they followed-up the electropop freak-out of Superorganism at SXSW.

click to enlarge

Since 1993, Low has reacted to noisy rock shows and rambunctious audiences by turning their volume down. As purveyors of “slowcore,” the three members hardly move on set and their instrumentation progresses minimally, methodically and hypnotically. Sure, it might be melancholy, but this style can also result in powerful jams.

click to enlarge

Awash in reds and purples, Low’s music offered tired festival-goers an auditory break—at least some of the time. Many of their songs started subdued and sad, but grew into greatly layered behemoths of fuzzy guitar, bass and kettle drums.

click to enlarge

Hailing from Duluth, Minnesota, their music is often as bleak and cold as their surroundings. But in a hot, manic Austin night, this could be just what the (witch) doctor ordered.