8 Arizona Artists Provide Awards for 2017 Governor's Arts Awards Honorees

Eight Arizona artists representing a range of mediums from Flagstaff, Gold Canyon, the Hopi reservation, Phoenix, Prescott and Tucson will provide awards for recipients of 2017 Governor's Arts Awards.

The awards will be presented at the 36th annual Governor's Arts Awards dinner and celebration on May 4 at the Phoenician Resort, 6000 E. Camelback Road in Scottsdale. The Governor's Arts Awards are presented by Arizona Citizens for the Arts in partnership with the Office of the Governor.

"Each year, we engage with artists from around the state to design awards that reflect Arizona's incredible diversity in both individual talent and creativity," said Catherine "Rusty" Foley, executive director, Arizona Citizens for the Arts.

Artists selected for the 2017 awards are:

• Bryan David Griffith, Flagstaff explores contemporary issues through painting, photography, sculpture and installation, often by using simple materials in unconventional ways. His work is held in public collections including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; University of Michigan Museum of Art; Center for Creative Photography; and Fort Wayne Museum of Art. He has exhibited extensively throughout the U.S.

• Travis Ivey, Phoenix, is an artist whose artistic practice is comprised of two bodies of work. Under his alter ego, "HANK," Ivey creates paintings of the vast western landscape with an emphasis on human ecology and the environment. Alternately, his other work originates in the imaginative and introspective, and is created using found and collected by-products from society and his personal life.

• Ramson Lomatewana, Hotevilla, is an award-winning glass artist, Kachina doll carver, and poet. Born into the eagle clan, his life on the Hopi reservation is clearly the heart of his art and poetry. His way of experiencing the world through the arts is a clear reflection of his rich heritage and the timeless culture of the Hopi people.

• Bobbi McMurry, Phoenix, incorporates techniques from photography, painting, drawing and collage to create images that are layered, textured narratives. Her primary imaging and processing tools are mobile applications. Her work has been shown in the Mira Mobile Exhibit, at the Mira Forum Gallery in Porto, Portugal, and the Abstractions of the Ordinary Show at Jan Kossens Contemporary in New York City.

• Mary Meyer, Gold Canyon, explores the shapes, patterns, and symmetries that connect our bodies with the natural world. Driven by materiality and process, her work is strongly influenced by a background in traditional stone carving and foundry casting methods. Meyer's wall panels and installations are comprised of various media - wood, paper, wax, ceramic, sand - with an emphasis on reflective components such as metal castings, found objects, and graphite surface treatments.

• Alysa Phiel,Tucson, is a third-generation glass artist with over 20 years of experience in glass, teaching classes and creating custom work for private collections. Her creativity knows no limits, ranging from intricate staiNed Glass projects to Southwest- and ocean-themed mosaics and fused pieces. Her range of knowledge makes her a fantastic instructor for students looking to create any type of glass art in our Warm Shop.

• Bonnie Stauffer, Prescott, has been a working artist for 40 years. As a full-time studio artist, she spends long periods of time drawing and meditating in nature as a process for exploring creative expressions of her love for the earth. Her work consists of constructed paintings, watercolors, drawings, and digital paintings, all based on the ever-changing process of life in the universe.

• Janet Towbin, Phoenix, is an award-winning artist whose paintings, drawings, prints, and photographs are exhibited regionally, nationally and internationally. Her current work focuses on obsessively drawn patterns. The complex drawings begin as simple motifs that are reworked into intricate, repeating images drawn with graphite on paper. Many of Janet's drawings are subsequently translated into relief prints, taking them in a completely new direction through the addition of color.

Finalists for 2017 Governor's Arts Awards are:

• Artist: Liliana Gomez, Phoenix; Katherine Josten, Tucson; Dennis Rowland, Phoenix.

• Arts in Education, Individual: David Andres, Tucson; Dr. Mary Erickson, Tempe; Dennis Ott, Sedona.

• Arts in Education, Organization: Children's Museum of Phoenix; Osborn School District, Phoenix; University of Arizona Museum of Art.

• Individual: Lin Ling Lee, Phoenix; Hope H. Ozer, Paradise Valley; Dr. Ruth Tan Lim, Mesa.

• Community: Del E. Webb Center for the Performing Arts, Wickenburg; Mesa Arts Center, Mesa; Phoenix Center for the Arts, Phoenix.

• Small Business: Arizona Copper Art Museum, Clarkdale; Galiano's Café, Douglas; Partridge and Associates, CPAs, Scottsdale.

• Large Business: Alliance Bank of Arizona, Phoenix; Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, Phoenix; Casino Del Sol Resort, Tucson.

At the event, Mary Way of Paradise Valley will receive as the inaugural Philanthropy Award to recognize extraordinary philanthropic leadership through the contribution of financial resources to non-profit arts and culture organizations, and by encouraging the philanthropic support of others.

Ten Pioneers of Advocacy also will be honored with Shelley Awards for their dedicated work on behalf of arts and culture during the formative years of arts advocacy in Arizona that helped create the vibrant arts and culture environment we enjoy today, and in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Arizona Commission on the Arts.

They are:

• Dino DeConcini and Beth Murfee DeConcini, Tucson - Arts, philanthropy and advocacy leaders

• Katie Dusenberry, Tucson, Corporate philanthropy and arts leader

• Shirley Estes, Tucson, Corporate philanthropy and arts leader

• Terry Goddard, Phoenix, Former Mayor of Phoenix

• Myra Millinger, Phoenix, Foundation leader and arts advocate

• Gene Polk, Prescott, Foundation leader and arts advocate

• Kim Sterling-Heflin, Phoenix, Corporate philanthropy and arts leader

• Richard and Linda Whitney, Phoenix, Arts, philanthropy and advocacy leaders

Since 1981, more than 200 artists, individuals, arts and cultural organizations, educators and businesses have received Governor's Arts Awards. For registration information and to purchase tickets, visit www.azcitizensforthearts.org.

To post a comment, you must register and login.