You can’t turn around in this town without bumping into a working artist - one of the main reasons why the spring open studio tour continues to exist after being dropped by two arts organizations.
Originally produced by the now defunct Tucson Arts District Partnership, the event took place twice a year and only featured downtown studios. Tucson Pima Arts Council took over the tours after TADP dissolved, and the scope was expanded to city and county-wide studios. TPAC eventually dropped the spring tour to focus on the fall tour.
Dirk Arnold, who currently organizes the grassroots effort, said that there are several reasons the spring event continues to survive.
“The Tucson art community is too big to fit into one studio tour a year. With two tours a year, artists who can’t participate in one tour for whatever reason can do the other. Similarly, an artist can go see the other studios if they sit out one of the tours... and they don’t have to wait a whole year to participate again.”
As of press time, Arnold said 138 artists were signed up, and “to the best of my reckoning, there are about 40 artists on the tour this spring who have not participated before.” This guide is your gateway to great art in Tucson, March 13-14. Also be sure to visit TucsonOpenStudios.com for complete details.
