Celebrating Leonard Bernstein on his 100th

The Entertainer!, March 2018

The world is celebrating what would have been the 100th birthday of Leonard Bernstein in 2018. Winner of 16 Grammys, Bernstein (1918–1990) was music director of the New York Philharmonic, 1958–1969, and its laureate director until his death. In this spirit, pianist and teacher Jeffrey Siegel recently appeared at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, continuing his 39 years of Keyboard Conversations® there: “Leonard Bernstein at 100: A Musical Celebration.” In his performances, he plays virtuoso works for the piano by a broad range of composers and briefly discusses the works before playing them. The Chicago Tribune wrote: “Siegel’s programs strengthen the fragile bonds of communication between composer and listener.” And, he continues a Bernstein tradition of teaching. Aaron Stern, the founder and president of the Bernstein-inspired Academy for the Love of Learning in Santa Fe, has said, “Apart from his composing and conducting legacy, Mr. Bernstein has inspired us to affirm his belief in people: to allow each of us to be changed by each other and expand our joy for each other.”

View the whole story
(1.9 MB PDF document opens in new tab)

Painting the Parks

Western Art & Architecture, June/July 2016

In 2016, we celebrated the centenary of the National Park Service (NPS), which was established “to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” Even before those first parks, national monuments and Native American reservation sites were set in 1916, the arts were connected with these special places and, in fact, helped to make the argument for the NPS. Some of these early artists were Thomas Moran, George Catlin, Thomas Cole, Thomas Hill, Thomas Doughty, Asher B. Durand, Frederick Edwin Church, Albert Bierstadt, Gunnar Widforss and John Fery. And, today, a new generation of artists continues that tradition in an increasing variety of media.

View the whole story
(1 MB PDF document opens in new tab)

Connectivity: Celebration of Fine Art

Western Art & Architecture, January/February 2014

Every year in Scottsdale, 50,000 or so visitors view the work of 100 artists from throughout the country at the Celebration of Fine Art (CFA). In 2014, the annual arts event continued through March 23 at the southwest corner of the Loop 101 and Hayden Road. Part gallery, wording studio and juried art show, the event showcases the art beneath 40,000 square feet of signature white tents. Outside is a one-acre landscaped sculpture garden. A major dynamic is its variety of styles and mediums, with bronzes and ceramics, furniture, figurative and representational paintings of artifacts, such as paintings of beaded moccasins and weavings. What’s more, offerings are always changing, as artists create in interactive studios beside their galleries while the CFA continues. So, sketch out some space in your calendar this winter for this colorful arts event.

View the whole story
(3.3 MB PDF document opens in new tab)

Wright Apprentices Celebrate 75 Years of Taliesin West

Arizona Foothills, September 2012

In 1937, 20-plus Frank Lloyd Wright apprentices began construction of Taliesin West in the Sonoran Desert foothills, now Scottsdale. Hundreds of later apprentices would add to the great architect’s winter home and school as part of their learning experience with him until his death in April 1959. The 555-acre campus became a National Historic Landmark in 1982, and this year celebrates 77 years since the groundbreaking. Among these apprentices: Cornelia Brierly, 99, who died a month after this story was written and was on site when Wright decided to build Fallingwater where it now is; her sister, Hulda; John Lautner and his wife, Mary Bud; Arnold Roy; John Rattenbury; Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer; Kamal Amin; Vern Swaback, whose firm is in Scottsdale; and Paolo Soleri, who died in 2013. We celebrate their achievements and that of Taliesin West.

View the whole story
(1.4 MB PDF document opens in new tab)

Shutter to Think: Pedro Guerrero

Desert Living, May-June 2007

Image matters, even for icons: For the last 20 years of Frank Lloyd Wright’s life, Pedro (‘Pete’) Guerrero was the great architect’s personal photographer. The long-time resident of Florence, a small town south of Phoenix, Guerrero took not only some of the last pictures of Wright and his work but also some of the best. Make a quick f-stop and get some new perspectives on America’s greatest architect. And focus a moment on Pete, too, a delightful man, now passed.

View the whole story
(571.5 KB PDF document opens in new tab)