Donna Stoner demonstrates how to make clay the correct leather-like consistency and thickness for cutting shapes. The shapes, when finished, will become part of one of Santa Teresa’s colorful mosaics.
Maryellen Farmer
The theme of the day was watching talented artisans work on a recent Made in Tucson tour sponsored by Quail Creek’s TRIPS Committee. Twenty-one residents spent an entire day in early February visiting three notable art venues in Tucson: a tile workshop, a glassblowing studio and a pottery shop.
The group first visited the Santa Teresa Tile Works, which is well known for its colorful handmade decorative tiles and large tile mosaic installations found in homes and businesses across southern Arizona. Visitors spent a few minutes in the shop and then toured the workshop and watched artisans create and glaze pieces that will be used to create a large mosaic installation.
The second stop was at the Philabaum Glass Gallery and Studio, founded over 40 years ago by the award-winning glass artist Tom Philabaum. Here the group visited the gallery, which displays and sells amazing works of blown glass created by Philabaum artisans and other noted glass artists from across the country. Then a visit to the glass studio gave them a good view of artisans as they practiced their ancient craft of glassblowing.
The last stop was the Romero House Potters on the campus of the Tucson Museum of Art in the El Presidio Historic District. The pottery is Tucson’s longest-operating educational ceramics endeavor. Here potters and sculptors share their artistic visions, display their work and create works of art from clay. Instructors showed visitors around the studio and gallery, pointing out some of the more creative and unusual pieces. Before heading home the group walked across the parking lot to enjoy lunch at Café a la C’art.