Events: Arizona - Phoenix - Scottsdale

From Friday, October 4 through Sunday, October 6, 2019, the 12th Annual Prescott Area Artist Studio Tour will offer attendees the special opportunity to visit many of the Quad-City area’s talented artists as they work in their studios. This celebration of local art will showcase 75 juried artists in 51 private studios, as well as 26 additional artists in three Art Centers, which are organizations that encourage arts practice and provide facilities for ongoing arts education. Attendees of this free, self-guided event may begin at any location, meet the artists, observe their creative processes and purchase unique works of art. The Tour will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily; detailed information and maps are available at www.PrescottStudioTour.com.

Most artists on the Tour — whether appearing at their private studios or the Art Centers — will be actively demonstrating their craft. This will allow attendees to gain insight into the materials, techniques and processes used in creating a work of art. Artists participating in the Tour specialize in a wide variety of mediums, ranging from painting to ceramics to jewelry and textiles. Among many others, the Tour’s diverse selection of artists includes:

• Scott Kemper, photography. As a landscape and location photographer, Scott Kemper enjoys capturing the amazing colors, patterns and grandeur of his surroundings. With a focus on simple compositions and careful attention to detail, Scott strives to provide a fresh perspective that balances the familiar and the new. He then refines the images in his digital darkroom in order to best showcase the way in which the scene presented itself to him as an artist.
• Carol Hettenbach, jewelry. Working with several different mediums, Carol Hettenbach channels her lifelong passion for art into creating unique and beautiful pieces of jewelry, each of which is inspired by its chosen medium.
• Sharon McFeely, textiles/wearables. Having worked with fiber arts for most of her life, Sharon McFeely currently creates two and three-dimensional display art pieces and felted wearables using silk painting and the ancient art of felting. Her works showcase various natural fibers, including wool, fleece, silk and mohair, which often create an impressionistic aesthetic. Sharon is also in the process of developing a line of greeting cards based on her work with fiber.
• Pennie Alexander, mixed media sculpture. Pennie Alexander finds inspiration in everything around her and enjoys working with a vast array of mediums, including stone, clay, felting, bronze, dyeing and silk. She is particularly passionate about showcasing colors and textures in her weaving and transforming gourds into unique artistic creations.

The Tour will launch with a gala reception on Wednesday, October 2 from 5-8 p.m. at the Elks Performing Arts Center in Prescott. This event is free and open to the public, and will provide attendees with an early chance to meet many artists featured on the Tour and view their work while enjoying music and refreshments.

Most artists on the Tour will be raffling one of their works of art. Raffle tickets may be purchased and used at any Tour location. Proceeds from ticket sales will be used to fund next year’s Tour, as well as art programs for children in the Quad-City area.