Earlier this month, inclement weather forced Sedona Arts Center to postpone Celebrate Sedona. Our sincerest apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused.
With the rain and snow behind us, we can’t wait to present this event on its new date Sunday, Feb. 25, from 1 to 3 p.m. Please join us for an unforgettable afternoon of music and art.
Enjoy Blues music by the Tommy Dukes Band, check out our Gallery Shop which features dozens of new artworks by local artists and peruse and purchase unique ceramics made by our talented students in our Ceramics Studio.
Food, beer and wine will be available as well. This Celebrate Sedona event is extra special! It is programmed especially for Vision & Sound: An African American Experience and it opens the Vision & Sound Symposium.
Vision & Sound is an immersive arts program that broadens the understanding and appreciation of Black artists, musicians and scholars. The exhibition and related events amplify Black voices and provide an opportunity for expansive thinking about Arizona’s Black artists and their achievements. The symposium is the culmination of Vision & Sound. Held Feb. 25 and 26 at Sedona Arts Center, it explores race, arts and understanding and features an inspiring and thought-provoking keynote, workshops, artist talks, performances and reflections.
The event is presented in partnership with Arizona State University Center for the Study of Race & Democracy. A panel discussion featuring Vision & Sound artists is scheduled at 5 p.m. on Sunday followed by a reception from 6 to 7 p.m. A full day of engaging and interactive programming resumes on Monday.
Chip Thomas, our keynote speaker will present “The Intersection of Art & Medicine” Monday, February 26, at 9:30 a.m. Before pursuing a full-time career as a public artist, Thomas spent more than 30 years as a doctor on the Navajo Nation.
There, he coordinated the Painted Desert Project – a large-scale public art initiative of arresting black and white images pasted onto the sides of abandoned buildings and roadside stands. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the photo murals communicated critical health messages across the Navajo Nation, advocating for community health and well-being in an area disproportionately affected by COVID-19, uranium mining and health issues. The project has received world-wide attention.
Founded in 2014 by Norma and Michael Cunningham, Vision & Sound began as a week-long exhibition in the West Valley of Phoenix programmed during Black History Month. Over the last decade, the event has expanded in scope, duration, artists and audiences, finding a permanent home at Sedona Arts Center in 2022 with satellite events in Goodyear and Peoria.
Vision & Sound is one of many ways Sedona Arts Center has expanded its programming to ensure diversity, equity, accessibility and inclusivity. We are committed to addressing unfamiliar narratives and encouraging cross cultural perspectives. Vision & Sound is presented in partnership with the Arizona State University Center for the Study of Race and Democracy and is sponsored by the Arizona Community Foundation, city of Goodyear and city of Peoria.
Artworks featured in the Vision & Sound exhibition—paintings, photography, sculptures and mixed-media—push the boundaries of creativity and facilitate an undiluted dialogue between artist and audience that demands and deserves attention. While the artists’ backgrounds and approaches vary, their artworks illuminate the powerful connections that art makes possible between individuals and communities through an exploration of identity, agency, beauty, shared histories and cultural experiences.
When one engages with the arts—visual, literary, or performing—a profound shift occurs. This emotional engagement is deeply personal and highly individualistic, and Vision & Sound is no exception. The exhibition and accompanying programs leave the observer changed. There is a strengthening of social bonds and a deeper understanding and tolerance of one’s identity and shared history. Simply put, Vision & Sound makes our community stronger.
We hope you can join us at one or more events. Join us at Celebrate Sedona, stop in to view the exhibition through February 29, or register to partake in the symposium. For more information about Vision & Sound, visit visionandsound.org.
See you soon!
Julie Richard
CEO, Sedona Arts Center
