http://www.thezmag.com/blogs-1-1-1-16.html A perfect November Saturday morning in the Dunbar Springs neighborhood north of downtown brought an enthusiastic crowd of hungry pancake seekers and would-be supporters of native food production and promotion to the 8th Annual Desert Harvesters Mesquite Milling Fiesta & Mesquite Pancake Breakfast.--- In addition to the three milling machines set up to process the buckets full of mesquite pods into flour (5 gallons of pods makes 5 lbs of flou]]>   A hot and mostly breeze-deficient first Saturday night in September is not necessarily the optimum occasion for the usual art crowd to assemble at the corner of 6th Street and 6th Avenue, but they did in fact show up. Not throngs, as is sometimes the case when it’s cooler, say January, but a respectable number nonetheless. They packed Conrad Wilde Gallery, where a new elegant and serene exhibit (one bystander pronounced it quite &l]]>   I have been a dedicated museumgoer since childhood, when I was introduced at age eight to the joys of interacting one-on-one with great art at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. I stood enraptured before Renoir’s Girl with a Watering Can and Gauguin’s Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? In each of these situations (and dozens more), what really impressed me was the physicality of the works, not just the colors ]]> I don’t want to repeat myself too much (only as much as is tolerable) but can’t resist writing about the Summer Art Cruise that debuted on June 5th along 6th Street and 6th Avenue, taking the place of the First Saturday Art Walk. Picture a hot summer night, the luminous twilight sky, a shimmer of activity and a babble of enthusiastic, animated conversation among the crowds of art seekers.---  Some changes are afoot at the Firest]]> First Saturdays are a project of the Central Tucson Gallery Association, and typically, throngs of art-minded folks can be found strolling up and down 6th Street in the vicinity of 6th Avenue on those auspicious dates. May 1st was no exception, as dozens of the cognoscenti wandered from place to place, sipping wine, noshing on snacks and not incidentally checking out the varied and highly visible works to be seen at the eight galleries that abide]]>     In the midst of the Fourth Avenue Street Fair bustle in the neighborhood (and its concomitant “no place to park” madness), a gathering of mostly like-minded souls at the Rogue Theatre on University Blvd. Sunday afternoon proved that when given a chance to talk about the arts, about criticism and the media, about building audiences and even what the value of art is, those intrepid folks will not let obstacles deter them f]]> The event title was “The Music of Broadway,” but it could easily have been called something like “New York City Cabaret Comes to Tucson,” straight out of the incomparable Café Carlyle in New York. That’s what it really was, and it’s unfortunate that the University’s Centennial Hall was less than two-thirds full Saturday night, because what was on offer was both extraordinary and rare. I can’]]> Maurice Grossman really exemplified the cliché “a legend in his own time,” not to mention, “larger than life.” And for a variety of different communities in Tucson, he was not just ubiquitous but probably downright irreplaceable. And yet, the arts world, the GLBT world, liberal politics, the world of ideas and theater and culture in general will now have to get along without his megawatt smile and lovingkindness, h]]> The 75-year-old Firestone building that now houses Conrad Wilde Gallery has a rich history that doesn’t necessarily reflect its background. --- Originally built to store goods related to the railroad, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. During the heady days of rehabilitation and renovation in the mid 2000s, developers took advantage of the desire of upscale gallery owners to be part of the Tucson Warehouse A]]> The dedicated art lovers who found their way to Tooley's Coffee Shop in the Lost Barrio (showing through November 30) for the rare, once-a-year opportunity to view and purchase the work of beloved Tucsonan Francisco Franklin were not typical of those who usually attend these kinds of events. --- Instead of gathering in clusters of appetizer nibbling, wine sipping conversationalists dressed in their neo-Bohemian splendor, talking of local politics]]>   With so many high-voltage entertainment options to choose from, going to a poetry reading at an independent bookstore might not seem very appealing, especially when just down the street in either direction on 4th Avenue, music is resounding from various venues like — depending on ones’ taste and possibly age — either a cacophony of noise or sweet, inviting harmonies. ---   However, the fact that about 50 or 60 folks gathered ]]> In Centennial Hall last night, a large, enthusiastic crowd of more than a thousand became enraptured as ten black-clad student actors sat with microphones and music stands holding 3-ring binders that contained their scripts, and brought The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later to vivid and mesmerizing life. Without any fanfare, a set, fancy lighting or sound effects, with only projections of oversized photos of the town and the Wyoming landscape behi]]> Tucson's beloved Wingspan, the nurturing LGBT organization that has been a devastating victim of the economic downturn, was the beneficiary of several opening night theatrical performances this week from Borderlands and Sacred Chicken Productions.--- Both Borderlands Theater and Sacred Chicken Productions donated a portion of opening night proceeds to Wingspan. These play are continuing and deserve support from the Tucson theater-going public. I]]>