Inspired by art galleries across the nation, UA sophomore Cammy Stevenson, who studies finance and art history, putt together her own pop-up art show in Tucson. 

Stevenson, along with other UA student and community artists, will display their art at The Elysian Market Grove, a historic bed and breakfast/market that is rented out by the owners.

The artists will feature some of their ‘favorite’ pieces ranging in mediums from photography to canvas print, some of which will be available for purchase at the show.

Stevenson discovered her passion for art and being ‘a fanatic for visiting galleries’ at a young age. Her grandfather, who would fly her out to New York to take her around to galleries and museums, gave her experiences which helped her decide her area of study; art history and finance. 

Stevenson wanted to learn more about the art that she remembers so “fondly going to see” while also learning the financial background it takes to possibly open her own art gallery one day. 

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Taking art classes at the UA from professor Brooke Grucella, who is the curator of the Lionel Rombach and Joseph Gross Galleries on campus, also helped Stevenson learn how to put together and manage a working gallery space.

The “Elysian Market Grove show + sale” is Stevenson’s final project for Grucella’s class, putting together the details, getting into contact with artists and handling the finances gave Stevenson the experience she “hoped to gain.”

“I really wanted to make this show about how Tucson is inspiring in a lot of different ways,” Stevenson said. “Everyone’s practices are heavily rooted in either being from Tucson or living in the desert.”

After renting the space, which encompassed the “perfect desert theme” Stevenson was aiming for, she went on to contact local Tucson artists who would be willing to be a part of this one night showing and sale.

One of the student artists that will be featured in the pop-up show is Eli Giclas, a senior student at the UA currently working on a BFA in design. Giclas was inspired to pursue an art degree after changing major’s multiple times, finally to take a step back and realize that art was his “real calling”. 

“I have always been interested in art and messing around with computer animation,” Giclas said. 

His inspiration was his grandmother, a molecular biologist and artist, who was the one that opened Giclas’ eyes to the world of art and making art into a career. 

“I think the [art] community in a big way is what has helped me along my path,” Giclas said. 

Becoming settled in the art community and taking classes with some of the art faculty UA has ‘pushed’ Giclas to become a “better artist”, getting feedback and constructive criticism from professors in the design program has helped Giclas develop his artwork and “grow as an artist”. 

“One of the things that I really value in taking classes is not only do they push you in a way that makes you feel like what you’re doing is right for yourself and successful,” Giclas said. “But they give you criticism that comes from a perspective of someone who has worked in the design field for a long time.” 

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Stevenson reached out to Giclas through a BFA art show at the UA, where his artwork was being featured and she liked his art style, inviting him to be a part of her final project pop-up show. 

Giclas will be preparing and showing artwork that ranges from paintings on wood panels to charcoal art. His favorite piece going into the pop-up show is a woodblock carving that he has been working on and is ‘very excited to see exhibited’. 

“It’s really validating to see my work get put up in galleries,” Giclas said. 

Giclas hopes to move and explore other spaces to design his artwork in his future, working as a designer to fuel his own personal projects. 

Another local Tucson artist that will be featured in the art exhibition is Adela Antoinette. As an alumni of the UA, Antoinette received a BFA degree in Studio Art – Visual Communications with an emphasis in illustration in 2016. 

Since graduating from UA, Antoinette has worked with many local companies producing illustrations and showing her artwork in several shows/galleries. 

Antoinette has had her work shown in several shows locally in Tucson and working with Edible Baja Arizona Magazine illustrating for their homestead section. One of her favorite moments was having an eleven-piece collection of self-portraits, where she painted on her own body, on displayed in a solo gallery show with a “great turnout”, according to Antoinette.  

Stevenson came into contact with Antoinette through Instagram, which led her to reach out asked her to be a part of this pop-up show.

Antoinette has been working on a ‘Cacti Oasis Series’, one of them being called “Sobre Madera” which is a cacti painted in acrylic and then translated onto wood, that “connects with Tucson and desert inspiration”. 

“It gives me an opportunity to showcase some of the fine art work that I do,” Antoinette said. 

The Elysian Market Grove Pop-Up Show + Sale, free and open to the public, will take place April 13. It will feature six different local and student artists: Adela Antoinette, Valerie Galloway, Eli Giclas, Johanna Robin Hand, Isabel Molla, and Ben Rosethal who will be displaying and selling their artwork in the gallery show, all the pieces inspired by the Arizona desert and Tucson lifestyle, according to Stevenson. 

Bringing different artists together to connect through similar art styles and inspirations is what Stevenson wanted to showcase and by putting together the show all by herself, this exhibition will be something ‘unique to Tucson’ and to the artists that are participating, according to Stevenson. 

“It’s really great, how as an artist you can take any inspiration and display that in a lot of different ways,” Stevenson said. “Entry is free and hopefully we will sell out of everything, but also go home with that connection to artists and art enthusiasts and supporters.”

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