University of Arizona Logo
  • Programs
  • Apply
  • Give
  • College of Fine Arts Home
  • Prospective Students
    • Why UofA School of Art
    • Tour the School!
    • Areas of Study
    • Degrees
    • Admissions
    • Scholarships & Financial Aid
    • Careers in Art
  • Current Students
    • Advising
    • Student Resources
    • Opportunities
  • People
    • Directory
    • Graduate Directory
    • Advisory Board
    • Faculty Portfolio
    • Faculty Catalogs
    • Student Portfolio
    • MFA Catalogs
    • Faculty Stories
    • Student Stories
  • News & Events
    • News
    • Events
  • Resources & Facilities
    • Facilities Overview
    • Galleries
    • Visiting Lecture Series
    • Visual Resource Center
    • Digital Print Studio
    • Book Art & Letterpress Lab
    • Studios & Classrooms
    • Graduate Studios
  • Visit
    • About The School
    • Tour the School!
    • Outreach Activities
    • Art Days
    • Contact Us
  • Donate
    • Support the School of Art
    • Projects
  • Facebook
  • Join Our E-Club
  • College of Fine Arts Home
Home › News & Events › Events › Tucson Tête-à-Tête

Tucson Tête-à-Tête

September 20, 2019 - 10:00am to 9:00pmSeptember 9, 2019 - 10:00am to 9:00pm

Venue: Veinte de Agosto Park • 123 W. Congress Street • Tucson AZ 85701

University of Arizona School of Art Visiting Artist Andres L. Hernandez presents Tucson Tête-à-Tête

A free, pop-up art event at Veinte de Agosto Park in downtown Tucson, AZ

TUCSON, AZ (September 6, 2019) — Tucson Tête-à-Tête is a free, pop-up art event occurring Friday, September 20 through Saturday, September 21, 2019 at Veinte de Agosto Park in Downtown Tucson. Conceived and produced by University of Arizona School of Art visiting artist Andres L. Hernandez in collaboration with local Tucson organizations Downtown Streets Alliance and Veteran Rescue Mission, Tucson Tête-à-Tête will utilize the sidewalk and parking spaces fronting the Church Avenue side of Veinte de Agosto Park as temporary sites for art activities and public programming.

Tucson Tête-à-Tête directly references the existing tête-à-tête bench created by sculptor-designer Jim Miller-Melberg in Veinte de Agosto Park, as well as histories of protest occupation in the park and its surrounding neighborhood leading up to its eventual closure in 2015. Tucson Tête-à-Tête will explore multiple meanings of the term “tête-à-tête” (translated literally from French as “head to head”) to creatively engage Tucson citizens in dialogue around public parks and plazas in Downtown Tucson, and gather imaginative proposals for re-opening Veinte de Agosto Park for public access and use.

Over the course of two days, Tucson Tête-à-Tête will engage the public in three participatory activities: We’re PARK(ing) Here!, Sit On, Sit In, Sit And…, and Sidewalk Sessions. We’re PARK(ing) Here! is developed in solidarity with PARK(ing) Day*, an annual, international event on the third Friday in September that encourages community members, students, and designers to transform metered parking spaces into temporary parklets. As part of We’re PARK(ing) Here!, the parking spaces on the Church Avenue side of Veinte de Agosto Park will be temporarily reclaimed and transformed into an outdoor workshop for the creation of 100 portable parks using recycled wood pallets and artificial grass. Each “pallet park” will be officially dedicated and registered, used as a soapbox for public speeches and debate, and subsequently “gifted” to the City of Tucson and its citizens. Sit On, Sit In, Sit And… is a participatory performance activated by the public using an artist-developed prompt inspired by sit-ins as a nonviolent direct action tactic, and sitting as an act of meditative practice. Lastly, Sidewalk Sessions will utilize the Church Avenue sidewalk of Veinte de Agosto Park as a site for both intimate and public dialogues around the current status and possible futures of public parks and plazas in Downtown Tucson. Tucson citizens are invited to “BYOS” (Bring Your Own Seat) in order to participate in these activities.

Tucson Tête-à-Tête is produced as part of the University of Arizona School of Art’s two-year series STOP. LOOK. LISTEN: Art and Social Justice, which gives voice to displaced, marginalized, and excluded groups, and demonstrates the particular power of art to create civil engagements and meaningful connections. A total of eight internationally recognized artists and scholars will present public lectures and conduct workshops and seminars addressing race, ethnicity, citizenship, faith, environment, economic status, sexual orientation, and gender identity. One artist each year will work with a local justice organization throughout the academic year on a socially engaged public art project.

Andres L. Hernandez is a Chicago-based artist, designer and educator who re-imagines the environments we inhabit, and explores the potential of spaces for public dialogue and social action. In addition to Tucson Tête-à-Tête, his recent projects include Thrival Geographies (In My Mind I See A Line), a commissioned installation with artists Amanda Williams and Shani Crowe for the U.S. Pavilion at the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale, and A Way, Away (Listen While I Say), a design-build commission with Amanda Williams for PXSTL, organized by the Pulitzer Arts Foundation and the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis.

Hernandez is co-founder of the Revival Arts Collective, founder and director of the Urban Vacancy Research Institute, and member of the performance collective Dark Adaptive. Hernandez received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Cornell University and a Master of Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he is an Associate Professor.

Tucson Tête-à-Tête is made possible with the support of the University of Arizona School of Art Advisory Board Visiting Artists and Scholars Endowment, the National Endowment for the Arts, the School of Art, the College of Fine Arts Dean’s Fund for Excellence, and the Center for Creative Photography.

Additional support for visiting artist Andres L. Hernandez is provided by the Efroymson Family Fund, Downtown Streets Alliance, Veteran Rescue Mission, and the Urban Vacancy Research Institute. Special thanks to the City of Tucson and Tucson Parks and Recreation for helping make this event possible.

###

For more information, visit the Tucson Tête-à-Tête website: https://tucsonteteatete.tumblr.com

Follow Tucson Tête-à-Tête on Instagram and Twitter for updates: @tucsonteteatete

*Original PARK(ing) Day concept by Rebar. www.rebargroup.org

Photo Gallery

News & Events

  • News
  • Events

Facebook

Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons
University of Arizona School of Art with Arizona Arts at University of Arizona School of Art.
1 day ago
University of Arizona School of Art

We're so proud of all of our 2022 graduates! This one holds a special spot in our hearts. ❤️

Lauren Paun is graduating with her BFA in Art & Visual Culture Education (emphasis on Community and Museums) and 3D Art. She has been a student employee in the School of Art for two years, working with our social media accounts. You might have talked to her about being featured here! Lauren has been an integral part of our team, doing a lot of heavy lifting to find the fabulous work y'all are creating and sharing it here.

"I would just like to say how grateful I am for the opportunity to have had such an incredible position within the School of Art; I loved supporting and promoting the amazing artists that attend this school and feel so lucky to be able to learn and create beside them. I have loved every minute working here for the past two years and we'll miss it terribly-- but I am so excited to continue my journey and pursue my career in museums. A special thank you to my friends, family, professors, and supervisors for the constant love and support!!"

We could fill encyclopedias with praise for Lauren but hopefully this small note of gratitude can be enough. Good luck!! 🥺😭
... See MoreSee Less

Were so proud of all of our 2022 graduates! This one holds a special spot in our hearts. ❤️

Lauren Paun is graduating with her BFA in Art & Visual Culture Education (emphasis on Community and Museums) and 3D Art. She has been a student employee in the School of Art for two years, working with our social media accounts. You might have talked to her about being featured here! Lauren has been an integral part of our team, doing a lot of heavy lifting to find the fabulous work yall are creating and sharing it here. 

I would just like to say how grateful I am for the opportunity to have had such an incredible position within the School of Art; I loved supporting and promoting the amazing artists that attend this school and feel so lucky to be able to learn and create beside them. I have loved every minute working here for the past two years and well miss it terribly-- but I am so excited to continue my journey and pursue my career in museums. A special thank you to my friends, family, professors, and supervisors for the constant love and support!!

We could fill encyclopedias with praise for Lauren but hopefully this small note of gratitude can be enough. Good luck!! 🥺😭Image attachmentImage attachment+4Image attachment
View on Facebook
· Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
View Comments
  • Likes: 13
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 1

Comment on Facebook

Congrats, Lauren!! 🙌💐

View more comments

University of Arizona School of Art with Arizona Arts at University of Arizona School of Art.
1 week ago
University of Arizona School of Art

Graduation celebrations continue! Let's hear it for one of our newest PhDs, Kasey Stuart! 🎓

"I'm Kasey Stuart and I am graduating with my PhD in Art History and Education. My research explores and questions preservice teachers' reliance upon social media as a resource for lesson plans. Currently, I am developing a program to help art educators critically analyze and amend lesson plans found online before they have brought into K-12 classrooms."

Thank you for doing this critical work that keeps teachers relevant to their students, while also making sure they are intentional and accurate!
... See MoreSee Less

Graduation celebrations continue! Lets hear it for one of our newest PhDs, Kasey Stuart! 🎓

Im Kasey Stuart and I am graduating with my PhD in Art History and Education. My research explores and questions preservice teachers reliance upon social media as a resource for lesson plans. Currently, I am developing a program to help art educators critically analyze and amend lesson plans found online before they have brought into K-12 classrooms.

Thank you for doing this critical work that keeps teachers relevant to their students, while also making sure they are intentional and accurate!Image attachment
View on Facebook
· Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
View Comments
  • Likes: 12
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 1

Comment on Facebook

Congrats to Kasey!

View more comments

University of Arizona School of Art is at University of Arizona School of Art.
1 week ago
University of Arizona School of Art

We are so glad to see everyone enjoying the incredible work done by our MFA graduates in the 2022 MFA Show! Featured in the @uazmuseumofart is Venessa Ball and her intricate project titled Crosscut: Mining and domesticity, creating a life in spite of and because of the mine.

“As a mining state, Arizona is among the leading producers of copper in the United States.
These large operations required an extensive workforce, from laborers, to geologists, engineers, and company representatives. The mine would often provide housing, schoolhouses and
gathering spaces in the surrounding area, creating an entire town owned by the company itself. Like so many other small communities in America these “boomtown” economies were built on what they believed to be stable and consistent growth. Should the ore deposit run out or the company no longer have the funds to dig any deeper, what then happens to the community? What should also happen if the very commodity the mine needs to keep going just happens to be right under the ground on which they built the town? If you ask the former townspeople of Ray-Sonora, AZ… there is no more town. In 1966, their town was demolished to continue the mine operations.
Thirty years after Ray-Sonora was removed from the map, in 1996, the Magma Copper mine where my father and grandfather worked for decades—and that had provided so much stability for my family—officially closed, because it was deemed too costly to continue operations.
The only way my father could continue his career in mining was to relocate his family to another mining town. This wouldn’t be the last time this happened in my childhood. Chasing the ore was my father’s way of ensuring our family always had a stable and comfortable life.
The delicate patterns cut from family and historical photographs highlight the tension often felt by my family and so many mining families as they attempted to build a life in the shadow of a brutal and unstable industry, dependent on an unsympathetic capitalist economy.” - @venessaball
... See MoreSee Less

We are so glad to see everyone enjoying the incredible work done by our MFA graduates in the 2022 MFA Show! Featured in the @uazmuseumofart is Venessa Ball and her intricate project titled Crosscut: Mining and domesticity, creating a life in spite of and because of the mine.

“As a mining state, Arizona is among the leading producers of copper in the United States. 
These large operations required an extensive workforce, from laborers, to geologists, engineers, and company representatives. The mine would often provide housing, schoolhouses and
gathering spaces in the surrounding area, creating an entire town owned by the company itself. Like so many other small communities in America these “boomtown” economies were built on what they believed to be stable and consistent growth. Should the ore deposit run out or the company no longer have the funds to dig any deeper, what then happens to the community? What should also happen if the very commodity the mine needs to keep going just happens to be right under the ground on which they built the town? If you ask the former townspeople of Ray-Sonora, AZ… there is no more town. In 1966, their town was demolished to continue the mine operations. 
Thirty years after Ray-Sonora was removed from the map, in 1996, the Magma Copper mine where my father and grandfather worked for decades—and that had provided so much stability for my family—officially closed, because it was deemed too costly to continue operations. 
The only way my father could continue his career in mining was to relocate his family to another mining town. This wouldn’t be the last time this happened in my childhood. Chasing the ore was my father’s way of ensuring our family always had a stable and comfortable life.
The delicate patterns cut from family and historical photographs highlight the tension often felt by my family and so many mining families as they attempted to build a life in the shadow of a brutal and unstable industry, dependent on an unsympathetic capitalist economy.” - @venessaballImage attachmentImage attachment+6Image attachment
View on Facebook
· Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
View Comments
  • Likes: 18
  • Shares: 3
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

University of Arizona School of Art is at University of Arizona School of Art.
3 weeks ago
University of Arizona School of Art

“Small. Confused. And in Awe.”

In case you haven’t had the chance to see it yet, the 2022 MFA Exhibition is featuring this incredible body of work created by Florence Von Grote! The illustrations are based on treasured memories from the places Florence has lived. The little animals are stand-in protagonists inhabiting, exploring and experiencing dream-based worlds.

“Small. Confused. And in Awe. is based on memories of the places I have lived. Events, people, and places are contorted and blended together into a half-imagined/half-remembered architecture. The nod to children’s book illustration invites the viewer to blur the boundaries between animal and human, reality and imagination.” - @flovong

Featured images are:
Traveler
Progress photo
Cartographer
Gardener
Loiterer
Collector

We urge you to check out Florence’s amazing work in the @uazmuseumofart before the show ends on May 14!
... See MoreSee Less

“Small. Confused. And in Awe.” 

In case you haven’t had the chance to see it yet, the 2022 MFA Exhibition is featuring this incredible body of work created by Florence Von Grote! The illustrations are based on treasured memories from the places Florence has lived. The little animals are stand-in protagonists inhabiting, exploring and experiencing dream-based worlds. 

“Small. Confused. And in Awe. is based on memories of the places I have lived. Events, people, and places are contorted and blended together into a half-imagined/half-remembered architecture. The nod to children’s book illustration invites the viewer to blur the boundaries between animal and human, reality and imagination.” - @flovong 

Featured images are:
Traveler
Progress photo
Cartographer
Gardener
Loiterer
Collector

We urge you to check out Florence’s amazing work in the @uazmuseumofart before the show ends on May 14!Image attachmentImage attachment+3Image attachment
View on Facebook
· Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
View Comments
  • Likes: 4
  • Shares: 1
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

University of Arizona School of Art is at University of Arizona School of Art.
3 weeks ago
University of Arizona School of Art

Need plans for tomorrow? Join us Friday (4/29) from 5-7PM at the Graduate Gallery for The Soft Lines exhibition!

Soft Lines is a class exhibition for Art504 Soft Installation instructed by Angie Zielenski.

See you there!!👋
... See MoreSee Less

Need plans for tomorrow? Join us Friday (4/29) from 5-7PM at the Graduate Gallery for The Soft Lines exhibition! 

Soft Lines is a class exhibition for Art504 Soft Installation instructed by Angie Zielenski. 

See you there!!👋
View on Facebook
· Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
View Comments
  • Likes: 0
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

University of Arizona School of Art is at University of Arizona School of Art.
3 weeks ago
University of Arizona School of Art

Our future Art and Visual Culture educators invite you to join them for the 2022 Wildcat Art Exhibition and Reception this coming Saturday (4/30) from 10AM to 12PM in the Lionel Rombach Gallery!🎉

Wildcat Art is a non-profit, student-led program offered by the Art & Visual Culture Education program at the University of Arizona School of Art. Now in its 27th year, Wildcat Art serves the Tucson community while providing hands-on teaching experience for advanced undergraduate and graduate art education students.

The exhibition features selected works by local K-12 students created during art lessons developed and taught by Art & Visual Culture Education undergraduate students. This year’s theme explored the community of Tucson through environmental and cultural history and identity. The exhibition includes paintings, collages, embroidery, clay works, and drawings.🌵

We hope to see you there!!
... See MoreSee Less

Our future Art and Visual Culture educators invite you to join them for the 2022 Wildcat Art Exhibition and Reception this coming Saturday (4/30) from 10AM to 12PM in the Lionel Rombach Gallery!🎉

Wildcat Art is a non-profit, student-led program offered by the Art & Visual Culture Education program at the University of Arizona School of Art. Now in its 27th year, Wildcat Art serves the Tucson community while providing hands-on teaching experience for advanced undergraduate and graduate art education students.

The exhibition features selected works by local K-12 students created during art lessons developed and taught by Art & Visual Culture Education undergraduate students. This year’s theme explored the community of Tucson through environmental and cultural history and identity. The exhibition includes paintings, collages, embroidery, clay works, and drawings.🌵

We hope to see you there!!Image attachmentImage attachment
View on Facebook
· Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
View Comments
  • Likes: 3
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

Load more
  • Prospective Students
    • Why UofA School of Art
    • Tour the School!
    • Areas of Study
    • Degrees
    • Admissions
    • Scholarships & Financial Aid
    • Careers in Art
  • Current Students
    • Advising
    • Student Resources
    • Opportunities
  • People
    • Directory
    • Graduate Directory
    • Advisory Board
    • Faculty Portfolio
    • Faculty Catalogs
    • Student Portfolio
    • MFA Catalogs
    • Faculty Stories
    • Student Stories
  • News & Events
    • News
    • Events
  • Resources & Facilities
    • Facilities Overview
    • Galleries
    • Visiting Lecture Series
    • Visual Resource Center
    • Digital Print Studio
    • Book Art & Letterpress Lab
    • Studios & Classrooms
    • Graduate Studios
  • Visit
    • About The School
    • Tour the School!
    • Outreach Activities
    • Art Days
    • Contact Us
  • Donate
    • Support the School of Art
    • Projects

School Of Art

P.O. BOX 210002
1031 N. Olive Rd.
J. Gross Gallery Rm 101d
Tucson, AZ 85721-0002

Email: artinfo@cfa.arizona.edu

Phone: 520.621.7570

Fax: 520.621.2955


Console

Copyright © 2022 The Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona

University Privacy Statement

College of Fine Arts

P.O. BOX 210004
1017 N Olive Rd.
Music Bldg, Rm 111
Tucson, AZ 85721-0004

Email: finearts@cfa.arizona.edu

Phone: 520.621.1302

Fax: 520.621.1307

Subscribe for news and announcements from The University of Arizona School of Art!