Downtown Tucsonan - December 2007 - (Page 8)

Vital Signs C u l t i va t i n g a C r e a t i v e E c o - s y s t e m Anne-Marie Russell, Executive Director, MOCA by Lee Allen uring a half-century of interviewing newsmakers, I’ve asked questions in fast-flying airplanes at 32,000 feet and in underground copper mines nearly a mile below the earth’s surface. I’ve tried to get honest answers out of saints and sinners, early in the morning and late at night, amidst the most squalid of conditions or in five-star gourmet restaurants. But talking with anne-Marie Russell, Executive director of Moca, the Museum of contemporary art, provided a first as the entire interview in her office took place while she bounced on an exercise ball. For the duration. Reminding me somewhat of the old movie theatre “Follow-thebouncing-ball” sing along without musical accompaniment. to say that the energy-charged 40-year-old former commune dweller is “one-of-a-kind”, “unique”, and “eclectic” in her outlook does disservice to the terms. she doesn’t garner labels…she defines them. “call it a bourgeois/bohemian combination”, she says of her path from rustic desert housing at the base of the tortolita Mountains to a university of arizona podium where she teaches 80,000 years of art history she calls, “From cave art to contemporary art.” “My life keeps getting better and I get happier as I realize how little I actually need and how much I already have,” she says. what she has is a finger on the pulse of tucson’s downtown art community, a $110,000 andy warhol Foundation for the Visual arts grant to expand it further, and a goal of being support staff for local artists, a catalyst, to work with emerging talent. “You have to be invited to apply for this grant and Moca was only one of a dozen organizations, nationwide, to get to the point where we’ve actually met with warhol Foundation consultants and mapped out our needs assessment. we’ll use half the grant to strengthen our own infrastructure, taking care of nuts and bolts stuff and building capacity to better serve our mission. the other half will be put in a working capital reserve as a line of credit to do a variety of things.” (Be warned that Russell would like to raise an additional matching $110,000 to be used for operating and programming needs). “creative talent doesn’t always spend a lot of time in tucson and that’s exactly what we’re working to change. the brain drain here for the creative community is a significant problem; not only the arts world, but the science field and other groups that work on the cutting edge. Moca is an institution that celebrates new ideas in a variety of fields, looking for innovation and the people who will push the envelope. our goal and we’re making strides in this as witnessed by the warhol kudos is to ensure we create a healthy enough eco-system so artists don’t have to leave and creative talent can actually have a life here.” Russell understands community growth and watches it with a wary eye, recognizing that from her perspective, it can be a two- d edged sword. “Growth and development often mean homogenization and the slow growth that tucson has experienced has been beneficial in the context that quality and craftsmanship have not been quickly destroyed in the process. this city is the oldest continuously inhabited place in the continental united states with a rich layer of diversity and history. when we celebrate that diversity, that’s when we’re great. when we play to the strengths and cultivate those things no other cities have, that’s when tucson excels.” Referring to tucson as “a node in the network”, Russell wants artists to turn to Moca for resolution of day-to-day problems. “If we handle some of the ‘administrivia’, they can spend as much time as they need to in their studios making the best art possible, and we all win as a result. artists go through a lot of struggles in a creative life filled with self-doubt. Great artists are constantly pushing themselves. Being an artist is a privilege and a burden all at once and anything we can do to help furthers the cause.” Moca supports local artists by presenting local shows. ninety three percent of the artists shown in the past few years have been those working in tucson. “Being able to cultivate a situation where people come here from elsewhere to see local talent helps tucson gain a reputation as a great place for artists to live and make creative art.” current downtown facilities in a bright orange gallery at 174 E. toole ave. are modest, even spartan, but that long journey that everyone alludes to has to start with some basic steps. when asked to compare tucson’s small Museum of contemporary art with the new Museum of contemporary art in Lower Manhattan (a $65 million, 60,000 square foot edifice), Russell lights up. “this is the best parallel you could bring up,” she says. “all institutions start somewhere and the new York museum started 40 years ago very much like us…with artists whose work was deemed too radical for existing institutions and a curator that championed the cuttingedge approach. they were courageous in their vision and patrons, collectors, and visitors showed they weren’t afraid of the new and it’s all paid off. “I see where they began and how they got where they are today and I don’t see a disparity between them and us (Moca evolved from an artist-run alternative to provide a showcase venue for avant-garde works). I see a commonality in that paradox of wanting both a balance of permanence and cutting-edge revolution and in years to come, I’m confident we’ll be there too.” For special exhibition schedules or further information about the permanent “document and Legacy” collection, log on to www. moca-tucson.org. Moca is open thursday through sunday, noon till 5pm. 8 downtown tucsonan.december.07 http://www.downtowntucson.com http://www.moca-tucson.org http://www.moca-tucson.org

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Downtown Tucsonan Contents From the Editor Downtown Lowdown Vital Signs Holiday Shopping Downtown Live Arts Galleries Performance Events and Film Holiday Events Museums Historic Downtown Billboard Classifieds

Downtown Tucsonan - December 2007

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