June 2005

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Public Art • Bravo!

Tucson’s First Public Art: the Freeman Pioneer Memorial

by Steve Renzi

Tucson’s first piece of public art was sculpted by a man who cut off his finger and mailed it to President Woodrow Wilson to protest America’s entry into World War I; designed by an architect who believed in “building with nature,” and because of that, lost much of his work through fire; and was inspired by, and paid for by, a man who never saw it—he died the year before its completion.

Downtown Tucson has an extensive collection of public art: the Diamondback Rattlesnake Bridge, the photographic tile murals along Broadway, “Sonora”—the sculpture in front of the Main Library, and the fountain in El Presidio Park—to name just a few. Even though it’s quite an eclectic assortment, each piece shares one common feature—they all came after the Freeman Pioneer Memorial.

Public art is like an overturned cat litter box in the middle of the kitchen floor; you might not like it, but you shouldn’t ignore it. Unfortunately, until relatively recently, that’s exactly what happened to the Pioneer Memorial.

The Memorial was unveiled in September, 1920. In Tucson, the Rialto Theatre had just opened, and down the street, a Charlie Chaplin film was playing at the Lyric. Nationally, women were preparing to vote in their first presidential election.

Located on 6th Avenue, in front of the former Carnegie Library building that is now home to the Tucson Children’s Museum, the Pioneer Memorial is a graceful 22-foot curved bench, on a circular platform of inlaid stone, designed in a Neoclassical style, and made of marble, granite, and concrete. It is dedicated: “To the memory of those pioneers of Arizona who have given their lives that we may live in peace and unafraid in this sunkissed borderland.”

The piece cost eleven thousand dollars—an impressive sum of money at the time. Inthose days, in Downtown Tucson, you could buy a five-room brick house for $4,500, rent a furnished apartment for $25 a month, and walk over to Steinfeld’s, and pick up a pair of Oxford shoes for $5.

Merrill Pingee Freeman died in 1919. His will contained the idea, and authorization for, a donation to create a public art memorial dedicated to Arizona pioneers. Freeman came to Tucson in 1880, the same year the railroad arrived. As a young boy, he had crossed the southwest desert with an oxen team, helping his father search for gold in California. They found none, but as an adult, Freeman found success, first as a Wells Fargo agent, and after that, as a banker and mining investor.

He watched and helped this town grow. He was a civic-minded businessman, a philanthropist, and a fervent supporter of the University of Arizona. Today, a scholarship is given each year to a deserving university student, under Freeman’s name.

San Francisco architect Bernard Maybeck designed the Memorial. A world-renowned architect, Maybeck was a non-conformist who resembled Walt Whitman with his bushy hair and thick white beard. When uncontrollable fire swept through the hills of Berkeley, California in the early 1920’s, much of his work was destroyed. Today, he is best known as the architect of the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, the building that houses The Exploratorium.

Maybeck chose Beniamino Bufano as the sculptor. Also living in San Francisco, Bufano, only twenty-two years old at the time, was a lifelong pacifist, radical, and serious artist; a giant among sculptors, he stood just five feet tall.

Bufano carved the bas-relief figures which are on the backrest of the Memorial. The figures are a man and a woman, symbolizing day and night; and two young children holding a basin and offering a gift to the dawning day.

The Pioneer Memorial suffered for years from neglect. In the 1970’s, newspaper articles revealed how the back of the memorial was used for recruiting posters, and that parts had broken off and graffiti had been carved in several places. In 1975, the Armory Park Neighborhood Association donated the proceeds of its historic home tour—$5,000—to repair the damage. Then in the late 1990’s, another restoration effort finished the job. The Tucson Pima Arts Council was awarded a “Save Our Sculpture” grant, and in the year 2000, hired a professional arts conservator to repair and restore it under historic preservation guidelines.

Today, the Memorial is completely restored and nicely landscaped. The bench is a comfortable, cool marble, easy to sit on. Parents and children often walk by going into and out of the Tucson Children’s Museum. Across the street, in late fall, the leaves on the trees of Armory Park turn bright yellow and gold and you can watch them as they drop and quietly fall to the ground.

Bravo!

by Gene Armstrong

When the temperatures rise, snowbirds and students flee the Sonoran Desert heat, leaving only the heartiest of cactusheads to stick around Tucson during the summer months. Performing arts events, while not disappearing during this season, can become scarce, but there is always something to enjoy on the stages in and around the Downtown.

For instance, the Mat Bevel Show continues its monthly series of performances featuring “Kinetic Art for the Whole Family” on June 24, 25 and 26 at the Mat Bevel Institute, 520 N. Stone Ave. The title of the coming show is “Host of the Cosmic Toast.”

Ned Schaper, the mad genius behind the Mat Bevel Show, writes artistic manifestos that masquerade as nonsensical verse. He composes off-kilter, out-there jazz, and he performs both with a variety of his amazing kinetic art sculptures.

His shows have been dubbed “surrealistic pop science theater.” And for his current series, he’s presenting a combination of vignettes and screenings of the latest samplings of “Bevelvision” videos as well as guest artists and a cast of regulars. He calls it “the latest step in the evolution of Bevelvision: a webcast video-graphic presentation of Mat Bevel’s unique philosophical format.”

Take our word for it, though, Bevel shows are always entertaining and enlightening. These performances start at 8 p.m., all ages are admitted, and tickets cost $10. Call 622-0192 for more details.

Perhaps Neil Simon is more your speed? Then make sure and check out Simon’s semi-autobiographical “Brighton Beach Memoirs” as performed by Arizona Repertory Theatre, the professional training company of the University of Arizona School of Theatre Arts.

The student performers, under the direction of UA drama instructor Brent Gibbs, will present Simon’s play June 12 through 26 in the Laboratory Theatre at the UA. The annual summertime production, which is presented as part of the UA’s Summer Arts Festival, traditionally marks the official beginning of the Arizona Repertory Theatre’s 2005-2006 season.

So in case you miss “Brighton Beach Memoirs” this month, it will continue with performances Aug. 31 through Sept. 11, once students have returned to campus for the fall semester.

Performances are at 1:30 p.m. on June 12, 19, 25 and 26, and at 7:30 p.m. on June 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24 and 25. Admission is $26 general; $24 for senior citizens and UA employees, $19 for UA students. Tickets for previews (June 12 and 13) are $17. Call 621-1162 to buy tickets.

In case you were wondering, summer is never too hot for refreshing modern dance, as the group NEW ARTiculations Dance Theatre is prepared to demonstrate with its latest concert, “Trickster,” which will be presented at 8 p.m. on June 3 and 4 in the Proscenium Theatre at the Pima Community Center for the Arts, 2202 W. Anklam Road. (If you happen to see this paper in time, be aware that a free matinee for students will be held at 10 a.m. June 2.)

Details were skimpy at press time, but we can tell you that along with the usual suspects, these New Art concerts will feature guest choreography by Charlotte Adams and Randy James, as well as original music by William Campbell.

Tickets cost $10 and $12 in advance at the Antigone Books or the PCC Center for the Arts box office. They’ll be $2 more at the door. Call 206-6986 for more info.

In the mood for some exotica performing arts in an intimate nightclub atmosphere? Don’t miss the acclaimed troupe Tesoro, which specializes in flamenco music and dance. This excellent homegrown example of Tucson’s vibrant art scene will perform at 9 p.m. Saturday, June 4, at Club Congress, 311 E. Congress St. DJ Buttafly will spin flamenco records, too. Admission is only $3, but is limited to those age 21 and over.

Speaking of homegrown treasures, the Southwestern folk-music group Ronstadt, Ramirez and the Santa Cruz River Band will play at 7:30 p.m., also Saturday, June 4, at Raices 222 Art Gallery, 222 E. Sixth St. Celebrating its second CD release, “Volume 2,” the band also is performing its last gig in Tucson for a while, as it is heading off to Europe for a summer tour. Advance tickets will be $8, and are available at www.ronstadtramirez.com. It’ll cost $10 at the door. Signed copies of the disc will be available at the show.

German guitarist Ottmar Liebert, who has long been at the forefront of the “nouveau flamenco” movement with bring his band to the recently refurbished Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress St., on Thursday, June 9. This all-ages concert features reserved seating ($25 on the floor, $20 in the balcony), and it starts at 8 p.m. Call 740-1000 for the lowdown.

Finally, for the ninth year in a row, the Arizona Theatre Company is presenting its Summer on Stage program for young people July 5 through August 6. The deadline for applications is June 10. The program’s cost is $575, and full and partial scholarships are available. Call 884-8210 or check out the company’s website, www.aztheatreco.org, for more details.

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