Adios, Tucson

Friday, November 9, 2012 – Adios, Tucson

As we prepare to depart from Tucson, I’ll take advantage of the flight delay to write up a summary of yesterday, the final full day of our Road Scholar program.  The city has grown and spread out in recent years.  The DeGrazia Gallery, which we visited Thursday morning, was once far from town, but is now surrounded by housing developments.  Ted DeGrazia was a artist born in Arizona to an Italian immigrant family early in the 20^th century.  He grew up playing in the Catalina Mountains with Apache kids for friends and became fluent in their language.  When he couldn’t interest any established art galleries in Tucson in showing his art, he purchased some land and built several adobe buildings – a house, a studio, and a large art gallery.  None of the buildings had electricity or running water.  One of the most interesting buildings on the property is a church that DeGrazia built with his own hands.  He decorated the church with flowers he made out of tin cans.  For the paintings on the walls, he mixed crushed minerals to obtain the colors (a trick he learned from his Apache friends).  Today, the site, called the Gallery of the Sun, is on the National Registry of Historic Places.  DeGrazia died in 1928 and his partner in his later years, a Cherokee Indian woman, was our guide. 

A mosaic by DeGrazia (originally in a Tucson church)

Inside DeGrazia's adobe home

Photo of Ted DeGrazia

The adobe church and surrounding cactus fields

Inside the adobe church DeGrazia built and decorated

Another view of the church

DeGrazia is buried on the property.

One of DeGrazia's paintings

I should mention that Elliott decided to forgo Friday’s activities due to his continued back pain.  However, he didn’t spend the day just lying around.  Around 11 a.m., he took a walk from the hotel to a nearby shopping center, sat outside at Starbucks for coffee and conversation (he’s very social), and picked up some Brie and crackers at Trader Joe’s. 

Speaking of food, I’m developing a real appreciation for Mexican cuisine.  Our Thursday lunch at El Charro Café was another tasty meal.  The veggie burrito I ordered was stuffed with masa, beans, and an assortment of grilled vegetables.  Once again, the salsa was fantastic.  In fact, I bought a jar to bring home.  After lunch, a short drive brought us to Sabino Canyon for a close-up encounter with the Catalina Mountains.  Following a tram ride about 4 miles up and 2 miles down, several of us hiked the remaining distance back to the Visitors’ Center.  On the way, I saw a coati and a couple of roadrunners.  This monumental landscape still seems to unreal to me.  When I come back to Tucson (which I’ll definitely do), I hope to hike Sabino Canyon early in the morning rather than in the middle of the afternoon.  I could pack a picnic lunch and see how the light changes throughout the day.  

In Sabino Canyon

Saguaros growing up the side of the mountains

Roadrunner

These feet hiked Sabino Canyon (socks from Sonoran Desert Museum)

Maybe the next time I come to the Southwest, I’ll bring a drawing pad in addition to my camera.  Trying to capture the contours of the mountains, the shapes of the plants, and the brilliant colors in the clear air could easily keep me busy.  I’m interested in seeing how the desert environment influences Gale’s paintings, too.  Thank you, Gale, for sharing this Arizona adventure with Elliott and me.