WHAT HAPPENED AT THE ARIZONA CONSORTIUM, 2010?
December 2010
CENTER FOR THE ARTS - ANNUAL ARTS FESTIVAL
Our Consortium had a booth at the Phoenix Center for the Arts – Annual Arts Festival December 3 and 4. Many thanks to Stacia Holmes and Carmela Ramirez, Phoenix Center for the Arts and the Phoenix Center Association for donating the vendor booth/space to us. The Festival was a great time for all! There were great artists showing their works and the food vendor's treats were delicious. There were many wonderful performances by children and adults throughout the two day festival, including, Gabriel Bey - Spooky Kool and friends music group performed and Groupo Folklorico I'naru Colorful Dance group performed. Everyone was thrilled to see the children's performance of the Classical Ballet Company under the artistic Direction of Cecilia Fisher. It is a program of the Maryvale Community Center. Thank you to Jorn P. Bates for helping to set up for the event and thank you to Cynthia Bowers of Phoenix Volunteers for helping recruit the wonderful and caring volunteers to help with the tear down and clean up.
November 2010
THE BLUE GUITAR MAGAZINE - 2010 FALL ISSUE
We are proud to present the Fall 2010 issue of The Blue Guitar Magazine. A huge thank you to Editor in Chief, Rebecca Dyer; Production Editor, Richard H. Dyer Jr., all the talented poets and artists, and Marjory Boyer for artwork front and back covers.
Click here to read Editor’s note and to read the magazine.
September 2010
ARTFALL BENEFIT
Davin Lavikka graciously provided his new spacious gallery, Method, for an ArtFall Benefit to benefit our consortium. Visit the gallery: www.methodart.com. Artist's reception for the Los Angeles photographer Jonathan Brandstein and his project, Sultans of Sand. Michael E. Singer performed beautiful melodies. Dare to Cook's Donna Dante and Samosa Hut's Julie and Rick Mukherjee offered tastings of their special delicacies. Senorita Limonita provided tastings of her fabulous (modified for the event) new frozen virgin margaritas. Olivia provided tastings of the ionized alkaline water. Many thanks to Crystal Achey for organizing this event. Our sincere appreciation to Davin and Michelle Lavikka, all the participants and sponsors. Jonathan Brandstein's TV Interview: Art Photo Exhibit
August 2010
THE BLUE GUITAR MAGAZINE - 2010 SUMMER ISSUE
We are proud to present the Summer 2010 Issue of The Blue Guitar Magazine. A huge Thank - You to Editor in Chief, Rebecca Dyer; Production Editor, Richard H. Dyer Jr. Welcome to the inaugural summer edition of The Blue Guitar! www.theblueguitarmagazine.org
This edition represents so many firsts for us — our first summer issue — stemming from the need to showcase so many great submissions that came to us for spring, so many that our cup literally ranneth over. Also, after featuring in our first three issues the work of the winning artist in our cover design contest, as well as the work of the two runnersup, for the first time we have opened up the magazine to juried art — for this issue, the works reflect the theme “Images of Summer.” Distinctive writers, poets and artists — all Arizona residents — have contributed to our first summer issue. At a time when our society’s one-size-fits-all mentality threatens to overwhelm, our individual voices struggle to be heard. We at The Blue Guitar magazine remain dedicated to these unique voices and are committed to bringing to you our readers their unique reflections of the human heart. As always, thank you for submitting and thank you for reading!
April 2010
2ND ANNUAL BLUE GUITAR FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS
On April 18th, the Arizona Consortium for the Arts held its 2nd Annual Festival of music, arts, cultures. Additionally, the inaugural of the The Blue Guitar Jr. magazine and the Spring 2010 edition of The Blue Guitar magazine was celebrated at the ASU West campus in Glendale. The all-volunteer event was free and was attended by many people from the community throughout the day. They were welcomed by Rebecca Dyer, the Editor in Chief of the magazine, Elena Thornton, president of The Arizona Consortium for the Arts, and the sponsor of the event, Nuha Sarraj, president of the ASU Kurdish Youth Club. The community was treated to a robust sampling of music, opera, ballet and readings by writers in The Blue Guitar magazine and The Blue Guitar Jr. magazine. It was truly a history-making day, made possible through the planning and organizing of the consortium’s cadre of hardworking volunteers.
The event began with musical performances by the Consortium’s talented Arizona Classical Kids under the tutelage of Maestro Zhanna Tevan. They played a variety of music from Russian to Italian to classical. The Arizona School of Classical Ballet students under the direction of the school’s director, Nadya Zubkov, shined as Nika Kocharov performed a variation from The Nightingale; Sasha Zapalova performed a Russian dance from Swan Lake and Danielle Williams performed Havanola. Some of the pieces are from their upcoming performances at the Herberger Theatre on May 15 and May 16.
The audience enjoyed Jonathan Gabriel’s music and songs of the '60s and '70s. Opera singer Maria Restivo filled the room with her exquisite and powerful soprano and entranced the audience, performing a few selections from Madame Butterfly. The community enjoyed a Filipino martial arts presentation by two sisters, Nikki, 10, and Grace Tordil, 9. Both are sixth-graders at Luke Elementary School. Their father, Leo Tordil, played the drum. Maureen Thorpe, wearing a beautiful, traditional, gold-trimmed sari introduced her mom, singer Edna Elizabeth Abeyasundra, who was wearing a colorful sari. Edna is from Malaysia and sang traditional as well as American songs. She was accompanied by local musician-songwriter John Calvert. Folk singer, acoustic guitarist and harmonica player Neil Dicks entertained the audience with his wonderful repertoire of folk songs and music. The audience also enjoyed the hard-rock sounds of Vincent Alexander Chavez and his group.
Arizona writers and poets who are published in the Spring 2010 Issue of The Blue Guitar magazine also read their work. Rebecca Dyer, the magazine's Editor in Chief, led the introductions of the readers. They read from their poetry, nonfiction essays and short stories. Those writers and poets who read, many of them currently in or alumni of the ASU MFA creative writing program, included: E.A. "Ed" Cervino, Cathy Capozzoli, Eman Hassan, Sean Medlin, Joshua Hunter Hensley and Richard Fenton Sederstrom.
Rebecca Dyer and her husband Richard H. Dyer Jr. worked tirelessly and diligently to bring to the community The Blue Guitar magazine, a brilliant work of art. The pages are filled with carefully chosen themes that colorfully and perfectly flow from page to page. The front cover and back cover were created by longtime local artist, painter and teacher Marjory Boyer; her colorful works are also inside the magazine. The featured artist is our third-place cover contest winner Holly Wagner. The community is grateful to the Dyers for this exquisite gem of a magazine, a gift they have created for our enjoyment, and we are already looking forward to the summer edition. The magazine is published online at www.theblueguitarmagazine.org. Also, to submit for the summer edition, please visit the Web site, where a call for submissions will be posted beginning June 1. The audience also was treated to SMUDD, a local rock and roll band; their repertoire included tunes from the '60s, '70s, '80s and even a current top 10 song. We look forward to many future events by our local performers, artists and writers.
The Arizona Consortium for the Arts is a nonprofit, 501c3 tax-exempt organization. The Consortium's vision is to establish a multicultural arts center, including offering programs to help nurture and support underserved and underprivileged populations through the promotion of the arts. To learn more about The Arizona Consortium for the Arts, how you can join, help and to support future programs, please visit www.artizona.org or call 602-263-5373
