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Straying off the beaten path to see the Southwestern Invitational

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Featured photo: “Cyclical Patterns 02,” mixed media animation by Chris Johnson. Taken at West Valley Arts HQ.

Yesterday I made a worthwhile trek to Surprise, Arizona, to see the Southwestern Invitational, featuring a potpourri of Arizona artists. The Invitational had been organized in Yuma for many years and traveled around the state under the auspices of the Arizona Commission on the Arts before a fire at its home gallery forced it to take a long hiatus. It’s back on track this year, curated by the Yuma Fine Arts Association and offering work by 100 artists, with a good portion of the work traveling to a handful of galleries around the state in the next two years. The Invitational’s second stop is the West Valley Arts HQ, a pleasant gallery in Surprise’s new Civic Center complex. If you head out there, yes, that is the gallery, adjacent to the Chamber of Commerce — don’t let the surrounding vacant lots and vast agricultural fields fool you. Surprise is still in its growing stages.

Knowing that the far northwest Valley is not exactly on everyone’s art-walking circuit, I’ve put together a slideshow (below), but I do urge you to see the exhibit if you can, before it closes. (Hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday until July 23, with a reception scheduled for 5 p.m. July 24.) In coming months, the Southwestern Invitational will be at:

Prescott College Art Gallery at Sam Hill Warehouse
September 5 — October 17, 2015

Tubac Center of the Arts
October 30 — December 13, 2015

Coconino Center for the Arts
January 12 — February 17, 2016

Phoenix Airport Museum
February 27 — August 15, 2016

I enjoyed the opportunity to admire works by artists who are well-established but whom I don’t normally see in Phoenix shows. On the other hand, a few of the works created by — I assume — part-time artists seem overshadowed by the stronger works. I did take comfort in seeing worthy entrants by several familiar names, including Christine Cassano, Jeff Falk, Sarah Kriehn, Annie Lopez and Larry Willis. Here are a few other favorites:

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8 thoughts on “Straying off the beaten path to see the Southwestern Invitational”

  4. I would have expected a more insightful review. I guess it must have been written by a part-timer.

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    1. Hi Scott — You provided me with an opportunity to reiterate to readers that I run this blog independently, out of my love for local art, and entirely at my own expense, with no expectation of income. Thanks for stopping by the blog — for free!

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  5. Thanks for your gracious response to my rather snarky comment. Let me see if I can clarify my reaction to your blogpost in a more constructive way.

    We all have our favorites and we all have work we recognize (often these happen to be one in the same thing). When you speak of work that overshadows other work in a show, I would like to know more about how you arrived at your opinion. To point out, rightly of course, that some work is stronger than others but not make an effort to explain your taste cheats the reader of your insight and gives them nothing to think about further.

    I bristled at your characterization that work which did not measure up must have been created by “part-timers”. To assume that art made that didn’t suit your taste was made by people who lack a commitment to their work took me aback.

    Thanks again for being a good sport, Debora, and thanks especially for helping to draw attention to this fine show.

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    1. Thanks for clarifying things, Scott. I didn’t mean to minimize part-time work of any kind, but I see how I could have worded that sentence better. Thanks again for checking out my blog.

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