The Briscoe Western Art Museum is kicking off the summer in style with a new exhibition celebrating the work of a woman who advocated for artists in the Southwest.
Southwest Rising features works from artists that worked with the famous gallery director and art dealer, Elaine Horwitch. Lauded for her dedication to championing the works of Indigenous, Latino, folk, and craft artists, Horwitch recognized that Southwestern art was really an amalgam of different cultures — or to quote the phrase she coined, "Southwest pop."
The Southwest Rising exhibition officially opens at the Briscoe on Friday, May 26. Access to the exhibition is included with the price of regular Briscoe museum admission.
If you want to check out the Southwest Rising exhibition a bit earlier, however, you can get a sneak peak at the Briscoe's preview party event. Tickets costs $30 per person (for non-members), and includes complimentary valet, and access to beer, wine, specialty cocktails, and appetizers during the preview party. Guests will have a chance to mingle with two special guests of honor – Michael Duchemin, PhD, President and CEO of the Briscoe, and the curator of Southwest Rising, Dr. Julie Sasse, Chief Curator at the Tucson Museum of Art.
You can purchase tickets to the Southwest Rising preview party here.
But don't fret if you miss out on the preview party: The Briscoe has a whole weekend full of themed events planned, including an educational conversation on Saturday, May 27 involving Dr. Sasse, art critic, writer, and widow of one of the featured Southwest Rising artists, Bob "Daddy-O" Wade, along with Brian Blount, another artists featured in the Southwest Rising exhibition.
The educational talk will take place on May 27 from 1-2 pm and is included with the price of museum admission. That same day, guests can enjoy an interactive program exploring how light is utilized in the pieces featured in the Southwest Rising exhibition. The hands-on activity takes place on May 27 from 11 am to 1 pm.
Dr, Duchemin summed up the importance of the Southwest Rising with an official statement: "Horwitch was responsible for launching the careers of hundreds of artists from the region and she championed Indigenous, Latino, folk, and craft art, exhibiting it alongside international art stars from around the country. She brought national and international art to regions that had been steeped in historic and Western art traditions and fostered the changing definition of contemporary western art.”
Courtesy Briscoe Museum
John Fincher, Monaco, 2014.
