ISDA Commissioned & Supported Art
Art is a disarming vehicle for deep and substantive community development. The International Sonoran Desert Alliance maintains that supporting and curating open artistic expression is one of the most powerful tools in the proverbial community development toolbox. As such, we are committed to supporting local, regional, national and international artists in community-engaged projects.
ANTIGONE AT THE BORDER
Antigone at the Border is a collaboration between theatre artists in Arizona, Oregon, and Denver exploring the immigration crisis through the framework of Sophocles’ Antigone. Marc David Pinate (playwright) and Ricardo Araiza (stage director) - artistic directors of Borderlands Theater (Tucson) and Teatro Bravo (Phoenix) - combine their ensembles and artistic resources to create a contemporary adaptation based on ethnographic interviews with DACA recipients and Border Patrol agents. The work is being commissioned by ISDA, Su Teatro in Denver, CO, Milagro in Portland, OR and the National Performance Network. A virtual production premiered in Fall 2020 with a full stage production slated for Fall 2022.
Amuletos projects: the untitled sonora project
The Untitled Sonora Project (working title) is an essay film set across the Mexican-U.S. border centering a vast collection of stolen migrant belongings recovered from the trash in the small border town of Ajo, Arizona. By exploring key figures connected to the seized belongings, the Untitled Sonora Project reveals a story of recovery, restitution and healing that traverses borders. The International Sonoran Desert Alliance is a fiscal sponsor for this project.
chiago mural
In 2006 renowned Tohono O’odham artist Michael Chiago painted an expansive mural on the Curley School campus building located at 400 Vananda Avenue. This mural is the largest of the public art installations ISDA has planned for the Route 85 Ajo-to-Sonoyta corridor.
triangle park
Located on Pizal Avenue, Triangle Park features the ‘Ajo Memory Project’ mosaics by To-Ree-Nee Wolf Keiser and with the help of other community members. These mosaics capture the history of residents of Indian Village and Mexican Town in artwork that will resonate with you for years to come.
AJO STREET ART HAPPENING
The first Ajo Street Art Happening was held during the ISDA-organized Community Arts Gathering in 2015 and organized by the grassroots Ajo Street Art Project collective and partners. This collaboration of artists from all over the world resulted in Street Art Alley: a unique mural exhibit of Ajo, in the heart of the Sonoran Desert. Since its inception, the Street Art Happening has morphed into a biennial event organized by the Sonoran Community Arts Collective, where local, regional and international muralists transform neglected areas of the community with a series of individual and collaborative murals. Walls are continually transformed as murals continue to be added and expanded over time. ISDA is a committed patron and co-host of these amazing events.