Arts & Culture

Sylvia Chan is a writer, educator, a foster youth advocate, and author of We Remain Traditional (Center for Literary Publishing, 2018). Chan has received fellowships from the Poetry Foundation, Zoeglossia, Bolt Cutters, and The Center for Art and Advocacy’s Right of Return. Her poem “Monster in Martyr” explores both the violence and possibilities of renewal in foster youth experiences. This piece is part of a collaboration with the University of Arizona Poetry Center.

There’s probably no person alive who knows the songs, history, and myths of Arizona better than Dolan Ellis – because it’s likely, he’s the one that wrote them. Ellis has been serving as Arizona’s first and only Official State Balladeer, a unique governor-appointed position, since 1966. He has dedicated his life to traveling around the state, writing and collecting stories and songs about Arizona’s most colorful characters, landmarks, and legends. In 1996, Dolan founded the Arizona Folklore Preserve in Ramsey Canyon, a charming venue that continues Dolan’s dream of celebrating the folk songs and cowboy legacies of our state. The theater there still hosts weekly performances by visiting artists.

Edward “Eddie” Goodman is the Associate Professor of Saxophone at the University of Arizona’s Fred Fox School of Music. In this riveting performance, he discusses how his relationship with the saxophone has contributed to his own personal development, as well as life lessons that can be gleaned from learning the instrument.

Splinter Collective is a housing and community gathering space located in the Barrio Anita and Dunbar Spring neighborhoods in Tucson. It's also adjacent to Estevan Park, which in recent years has become a nexus for a local encampment for people experiencing homelessness and a symbol for Tucson's growing housing crisis. While the city has regularly responded to the challenges of managing the park with a top-down approach that manifests as regular sweeps of the encampment, Splinter Collective is trying out a different, bottom-up strategy: by envisioning what a community-based response might look like; by building relationships, offering humane services, conducting beautification projects in the park, and treating community members experiencing homelessness as fellow neighbors rather than trespassers.

Fictional storytelling is an important and pervasive part of how human cultures transmit knowledge and values across generations. But there are many philosophical questions that arise from this human act of fiction-making. For instance, what does it mean for a work of fiction — that is, a made-up story — to say something about what’s true? Hannah H. Kim, a professor of Philosophy at the University of Arizona, argues that by examining questions like this, philosophy of fiction can help us better navigate a media landscape rife with misinformation, bots, and propaganda — and in doing so, teach us something about what it means to live a good life.

Ana Maria Iordache is a performing graduate student in guitar at the University of Arizona’s Fred Fox School of Music. In this intimate performance, she showcases her love of the guitar and discusses how the instrument has shaped her life.

Carla Fabris is the Harp Instructor at the University of Arizona’s Fred Fox School of Music. In this delicate performance, she explains what makes the harp such a unique and versatile instrument, as well as what she hopes audiences might glean from one of her performances.

Fanya Lin is the Associate Professor of Practice in Piano at the University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music. In this evocative performance of a piece composed by Alberto Ginastera, she explains her process and philosophy of playing classical music and how it applies to life.

Poet Gabriel Dozal reads his poem “No Pares, Sigue, Sigue” from his larger collection of poems, titled "The Border Simulator." The collection tells stories of a brother and sister, named Primitivo and Primitiva, who are attempting to cross the US-Mexico border in search of a better life. The poems are all written in both English and Spanish and explore the idea of the border as both a real place and a living simulation. This was done as part of a video poetry series in collaboration with the University of Arizona Poetry Center.

Theodore Buchholz is the Associate Professor of Cello at University of Arizona’s Fred Fox School of Music. In this elegant performance of a piece composed by Johann Sebastian Bach, he explains his intimate relationship with the cello and what life lessons can be found in learning to play an instrument.

When thinking of premiere wine grape-growing regions around the world, Arizona rarely comes to mind. That’s because grape farming in Arizona sits right on the edge of what’s possible with viticulture. There are heat waves, vine-cracking winter frosts, and most extreme of all: monsoons during the harvest season that can transform the chemistry of wine grapes overnight. But Arizona winemakers are resilient, and the state’s wine industry is booming. There’s a unique terroir you can taste, with a palate unlike any other.

Think chemistry is boring? Think again! A class with University of Arizona Chemistry instructor, Colleen Kelley, is filled with colorful characters and exciting storylines that translate complex chemistry into comic books. Yes — comic books. About chemistry. Her comics and unique imagination have turned the periodic table into a playground of chemical adventure, and have allowed elementary school students to master concepts often taught at the college level.

Archaeologists have recently uncovered ancient human footprints beneath the windswept landscape of White Sands National Park in New Mexico that date to as far back as 23,000 years. That makes these footprints the earliest unequivocal evidence for human habitation in the Americas, pushing back our understanding of the date of arrival by as much as 10,000 years. The history-shaking find also helps to validate Native American claims of a deep time connection to this continent, and could forever alter our theories about the peopling of the Americas.

As a viola professor with a background in neuroscience, Molly Gebrian balances on the nexus between art and science. Her unique insight into how the brain works has allowed her to develop innovative educational tools that elevate her students in the practice room, and in life.

A women-only oyster farming cooperative along Mexico's Gulf of California demonstrates the importance of community if we want to protect our natural resources. Produced in collaboration with Hakai Magazine.

Kyle Bert finds serenity and self-acceptance while crafting unique didgeridoos out of agave flowers that he harvests in southern Arizona.

Niqi Cavanaugh is a transgender ballet dancer who has faced many personal challenges, both in her internal struggle to self-identify and as a professional in an artistic medium that has traditionally placed a premium on defined gender roles and body form. Her journey to transcend gender norms and artistic convention is a testimony of self-affirmation, one which she has emerged from with an inspirational embrace for life. This was completed as collaboration with NW Documentary.