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For the Love of the Land
By MONICA McLELLAN
Arizona Daily Sun Staff Reporter
07/25/2004
Out on the Bar T Bar ranch in May, John Heyl found the perfect spot, with red rocks all around, where the San Francisco Peaks looked "like a little etching on the horizon." He set up his tripod and took pictures 360 degrees around, and picked up a few rocks, a piece of a 50-gallon tin drum, and some scraps of barbed wire.
The result of Heyl's trip to the Bar T Bar will be on display along with work from more than 70 artists in the Diablo Trust's "Reflections of the Land" art show at the NAU Art Museum. The show begins Monday, running through Aug. 25.
Heyl is an English teacher at Sinagua High School, and the "cyclorama" he made from the photos and items he collected will be his first piece in a gallery show. The nonjuried show was open to anyone, the only requirements being that the artist visit the Diablo Trust lands and make a piece of art that responded to the experience. Some of the artists are first-timers like Heyl, but others are established professionals.
"It's really kind of eclectic," said Kathleen Battali, program coordinator at the NAU Art Museum. The pieces include sculpture, photography, watercolors, oils, quilts, metalwork and installations.
Musicians and writers who visited the land will present their work at the opening reception Friday at 7 p.m.
The Diablo Trust is a group of northern Arizona ranchers and conservationists dedicated to preserving open spaces. Rachel Wilson, chairman of the Trust's art committee, said "Reflections of the Land" was conceived as a way to get the word out about the Diablo Trust mission.
"It really draws attention to something that should be important to everyone in Flagstaff," Heyl said.
The artists receive all the money for the sale of their art, but some choose to donate a portion to the Trust, Wilson said.
The Flagstaff Cultural Partners gave the Trust a grant to provide for operating expenses, and the NAU art department paid the gallery bill.
The Trust invited artists to participate by sending out mailings to the members of the Artist's Coalition of Flagstaff, the Flagstaff Friends of Traditional Music and similar groups. Most of the artists participating are from Flagstaff and northern Arizona, but there are a few from Sedona and Phoenix as well, Wilson said.
"It's exciting to be able to participate," Heyl said.
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© 2004 Arizona Daily Sun
Learning from the land and sharing our knowledge...
So there will always be a West.