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28 Şubat 2013 Perşembe

Arizona Economic Overview

Arizona Economic Overview
INTRODUCTION Arizona Is a Mecca for Retirees Arizona’s economy, second only to New Mexico’s, is the fastest growing in America and is the 61st largest economy in the world. Arizona’s dry and sunny climate brings large numbers of tourists and retirees fleeing their colder native states, while supporting the local economy by encouraging the growth of construction, restaurants, real estate, and local retailing. Although Arizona’s economy was formed around the five "Cs"—cattle, cotton, copper, citrus, and climate—the state now relies on manufacturing as its most important economic sector, producing electrical, communications, and aeronautical items worth some $21 billion. Arizona is home to both Fortune 500 and start-up technology companies. Known for its large cattle ranches, Arizona provides livestock, dairy products, and a wide variety of crops for local use and export. ECONOMIC HISTORY Prospectors passing through the state on their way to California during the Gold Rush of 1848–1859 found not only gold and silver but also copper in Arizona. Mining is still an important part of the state’s economy. When the railroads came to Arizona in the late 1800s, ranching and sheep raising—industries that previously were found only among the Navajos—thrived. Cattle ranching, which brings in $2.8 billion annually, and dairy products still play an important part in Arizona’s economy. During World War II the state’s economy largely switched to defense industries. By the 1960s, manufacturing of electronics surpassed both mining and agriculture in contribution to the economy. Construction of Arizona’s 584 dams boosted the state’s energy supply and tourism. AGRICULTURE The Central Arizona Project Cattle, calves, and dairy goods are Arizona’s most valuable agricultural products. Arizona's family ranchers produce $437 million worth of cattle each year, which generates a total $2.8 billion in economic impact for the state and more than 94,000 jobs. Cattle production accounts for 5 percent of Arizona's gross state product. In many rural areas of the state, cattle production is 75 percent of the GSP. Lettuce is the largest crop and comprises about 20 percent of total crop production for the state. Next is cotton production, where Arizona ranks 10th nationally. Hay, greenhouse, and nursery products comprise 10 percent of crop production. Other important crops are cauliflower, broccoli, sorghum, barley, corn, and citrus. The Central Arizona Project, a 336-mile canal system, diverts water from the Colorado River into central and southern Arizona. At the cost of $4 billion, it is the largest aqueduct system ever constructed in the United States and provides water to nearly one million acres of agricultural land. BANKING AND FINANCIAL SERVICES The financial sector in Arizona provides 181,000 jobs. Close to 60 national banks are represented in Arizona, with branches throughout the state. Large banks and financial institutions serving Arizona include Bank of America, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Armed Forces Bank, First National Bank of Arizona, Stockmen’s Bank, Union Bank of Arizona, and Bank of the West. Annual banking deposits total $78 billion. Consumer lending is valued at $4.7 billion and issuance of credit cards at $952 million. COMMUNICATIONS The information and communications technology sector provides 9.4 percent of the jobs in the private sector and brings in taxable sales of $3.6 billion annually. The Internet service provider sector is valued at $1.5 billion and the broadcasting provider sector at $716 million. Local and wide area networks, email, and e-commerce are in use across the state. The Arizona Telecommunications System is the primary source for wide area networking (WAN). Kitt Peak National Observatory A sophisticated telecommunications infrastructure delivering broadband is readily available in large urban centers, but not yet in rural areas. Arizona is also well known internationally for its world-class observatories, high-powered telescopes, and prominence in the field of space exploration, led by the University of Arizona. A study by researchers at the the university's Eller College of Management found that astronomy, planetary, and space sciences research generate $252 million annually and create 3,300 jobs. CONSTRUCTION Arizona’s mountains in the northern and central regions are home to 3.2 million acres of commercial forests (composed mostly of pondersosa pine and other types of fir trees), which provide essential lumber for the building materials and construction industry. The rate of construction in Arizona is unusually high due to the state’s rapid growth in recent years and the consistent flow of seasonal residents. Close to 220,000 workers are employed in 15,463 construction companies, with annual construction receipts totaling $55 billion. Approximately 10,500 of those companies represent specialty trade contractors, with the remainder being made up of building contractors and heavy and civil engineers. In 2008, over 26,000 building permits were issued. EDUCATION Arizona State University, Tempe Public schools are divided into 220 local districts containing a total of 2,042 schools, all of which are overseen by the Arizona State Board of Education. Arizona spends $7,111 annually per pupil, which is almost $3,000 less than the national average of $9,963 and ranks at or near the bottom compared with the rest of the country. Salaries for teachers average more than $6,500 below the national average. With an annual enrollment of one million students, revenues total $9.6 billion. Enrollment in the 76 higher learning institutions totals 624,147, breaking down as follows: public schools, 331,441; independent (nonprofit), 8,592; undergraduate, 476,547; graduate, 87,386; and first professional, 3,259. Total state and local appropriations amount to $1,704,391. There are three publicly funded universities in Arizona: The University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and Northern Arizona University. Private higher education is dominated mostly by "for-profit" and multi-site universites. ENERGY Arizona has substantial coal deposits, mainly located in the Black Mesa Basin. Coal mining employs more than 700 and contributes in excess of $2 billion to the state economy. Coal is the state’s primary fuel source and is used to produce 46 percent of its electricity. Solar Panel Array Nevertheless, Arizona utilities lead the nation in the research and development of solar technologies for producing electricity. Arizona has some of the world’s largest solar electricity-generating plants. Its vast desert plains provide a high potential for solar power. A study released by the Arizona Department of Commerce projects that by the year 2020, a total of 1,000 megawatts of solar electricity could be in use, reducing emissions for the state by 400,000 tons per year and also creating at least 3,000 new jobs. In addition, the Colorado River provides a tremendous source of hydropower. Arizona’s per capita consumption of electricity is relatively low compared to other states. Total net taxable sales in the energy sector amount to $9.2 billion. The highest energy-consuming sector is transportation. ENTERTAINMENT Spring Training in the Desert The film industry in Arizona continues to grow and contribute both jobs and revenue to the economy, paying out $34 million in talent and crew salaries annually. In addition to film, an extensive range of cultural organizations—including several ballet companies, theaters, opera companies, and symphony orchestras—contributes to local economies. A total of 1,523 arts, entertainment, and recreation establishments bring in approximately $3.5 billion annually. There are private and government funds available to support the arts, but due to the 2008–09 recession, the government’s Art Commision overall budget was reduced by 42 percent. INSURANCE Arizona’s strong insurance industry is one of the largest contributors to the state’s economy, generating more than $438 million in revenue each year. Homeowners pay premiums of more than $1.2 billion annually, and there are a total of 1,860 authorized insurers. The Arizona Department of Insurance monitors insurance companies, issues licenses to insurance providers, and educates consumers in making decisions about insurance. MANUFACTURING Manufacturing is Arizona's leading economic activity, producing everything from electronics to published materials to processed foods. A total of 4,900 manufacturing firms employ about 180,000 workers with an annual payroll of $7.1 billion. Some 54,000 of these workers are engaged in manufacturing high-tech products. The computers and electronics sector contributes $14 billion to the state economy; transportation equipment, $8.6 billion; fabricated metal products, $3.2 billion; and food products, $2.9 billion. The Lunar Rover The state’s aerospace industry manufactures helicopters, turbine engines, space vehicles, and guided missiles, and the metal industry fabricates door and window frames. Other widely manufactured products include pharmaceuticals and medicines; navigational, measuring, electromedical, and control instruments; audio and video equipment; optics; and photocopying and photographic equipment. The manufacturing industry brings in total annual revenues of $42 billion and contributes $20 billion to the gross state product. Arizona manufacturers exported $17.1 billion of goods in 2008. MINING AND EXTRACTION Arizona is a state rich in mineral resources. It is the national leader in copper production, providing two-thirds of America’s copper output from large open pits and mines. It is also an abundant source of gold, lead, zinc, uranium, silver, molybdenum, sand, gravel, and cement. The Arizona mining industry is made up of 186 companies with total annual revenue of $2.2 billion. It employs approximately 8,600 with an annual payroll of $355 million. The coal and metal ores sub-sector generates $2.1 billion, support activities for the industry are worth $70 million, and oil and gas extraction bring in some $10 million. The industry contributes $4.5 billion to Arizona's gross state product. NONPROFIT The Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits was created in 2004 in an attempt to support partnerships among some 40,000 nonprofit organizations in the state. By 2006, the alliance had some $17 billion in revenue and more than $27 billion in assets. Partnering with the National Council of Nonprofits, the alliance tries to fill the gaps when government services are terminated, providing a social safety net for Arizonans. Another nonprofit, the Arizona Community Foundation, is a statewide organization with approximately $450 million in trust and endowment assets. In 2008, the foundation awarded $33.7 million in grants and scholarships to more than 3,500 nonprofit organizations, schools, and government agencies. RETAIL Chandler Fashion Center Mall Sales tax is an important source of revenue to Arizona’s state and local governments. Retail sales in Arizona are taxed at 5.6%, but different counties add on their own percentages to fund local projects. (Food purchased at grocery stores is not subject to sales tax.) Wholesale and retail trade provides 428,400 jobs and adds $55 billion to the annual economy. Many retail jobs are related to the state’s tourism industry, which is estimated to add $12 billion to the state’s economy annually. Walmart is the largest private employer in Arizona, with 17,343 workers on its payroll in the state. The retail pharmacy industry is a quickly growing sector of Arizona’s retail sales. TECHNOLOGY Because high-tech products are mostly exported, this sector is vital to the state’s economy—in 2005 it directly contributed $10.3 billion. Approximately 900 high-tech industries employ 280,000 workers and pay out $20.3 billion in salaries. Once an industry leader, Arizona experienced a decline in high-tech from 1990 through 2001. Still, high-tech products now account for 44 percent of all manufacturing jobs. The state's key technology industries are aerospace, defense products, semiconductors, and computing. The gross contributions of these businesses to the economy are 19 percent of employment and 25 percent of earnings. A Developing Biotechnology Industry Arizona’s high-tech sector also includes software publishers, data processing, telecommunications, hosting, computer systems design, architectural engineering, and scientific research and development. Arizona encourages its developing biotechnology field in an effort to bolster knowledge-based companies that offer high-paying jobs. The Council on Innovation and Technology was created in 2003 to develop strategies to grow the field in the state. TRANSPORTATION Transportation in Arizona is served by a combination of interstate and local highways, rail, and air routes. Public transportation is available via bus systems, and light rail connects Phoenix with nearby cities. Arizona's international airport, Sky Harbor, is a joint military and civilian airport located in Phoenix that serves about 20 million travelers annually and handles 240,000 tons of freight. Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix Regularly scheduled commercial flights are available from the Scottsdale Municipal Airport, and two Amtrak rail lines pass through the state. The transportation sector— including towing, railroads, and aircraft business—accumulates net taxable sales of $48 million. Nevertheless, the Arizona Department of Transportation was facing a $100 million budget shortfall at the end of 2009 that resulted in reductions in services and highway construction, as well as highway maintenance. TRAVEL AND TOURISM Arizona's warm climate, forests, and sunny skies attract millions of tourists each year. Attractions include the Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest, the Painted Desert, Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, Fort Apache, and the rebuilt London Bridge at Lake Havasu City. The Hoover Dam, built in the 1920s, is still considered one of the world’s wonders of civil engineering and has been made a National Historic Landmark. The mountains attract visitors interested in hiking, fishing, or skiing in the winter. Golfing, ancient Native American ruins, Indian reservations, and Spanish colonial ruins also attract a large tourist trade. The hotel and motel industry accumulates some $2.4 billion in net taxable sales. In 2008, total spending on travel in Arizona was $18.5 billion, responsibile for 166,900 direct jobs paying out $5 billion in wages. SPECIAL INDUSTRIES Magnificent Grand Canyon Five major military bases in Arizona impact the economy: Yuma Proving Grounds, Yuma Marine Corps Air Station, Luke Air Force Base, Ft. Huachuca, and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. There are also four National Guard facilities in central and southern Arizona. These bases provide tens of thousands of jobs that generate more than $9 billion in state revenues. In addition, the Arizona State Lottery has generated more than $2 billion for the state since 1981, and annual taxes on state-sponsored bingo operations reach $5.5 million per year. -World Trade Press

INTRODUCTION

Arizona Is a Mecca for Retirees

Arizona’s economy, second only to New Mexico’s, is the fastest growing in America and is the 61st largest economy in the world. Arizona’s dry and sunny climate brings large numbers of tourists and retirees fleeing their colder native states, while supporting the local economy by encouraging the growth of construction, restaurants, real estate, and local retailing.

Although Arizona’s economy was formed around the five "Cs"—cattle, cotton, copper, citrus, and climate—the state now relies on manufacturing as its most important economic sector, producing electrical, communications, and aeronautical items worth some $21 billion. Arizona is home to both Fortune 500 and start-up technology companies. Known for its large cattle ranches, Arizona provides livestock, dairy products, and a wide variety of crops for local use and export.

ECONOMIC HISTORY

Prospectors passing through the state on their way to California during the Gold Rush of 1848–1859 found not only gold and silver but also copper in Arizona. Mining is still an important part of the state’s economy. When the railroads came to Arizona in the late 1800s, ranching and sheep raising—industries that previously were found only among the Navajos—thrived.

Cattle ranching, which brings in $2.8 billion annually, and dairy products still play an important part in Arizona’s economy. During World War II the state’s economy largely switched to defense industries. By the 1960s, manufacturing of electronics surpassed both mining and agriculture in contribution to the economy. Construction of Arizona’s 584 dams boosted the state’s energy supply and tourism.

AGRICULTURE

The Central Arizona Project

Cattle, calves, and dairy goods are Arizona’s most valuable agricultural products. Arizona's family ranchers produce $437 million worth of cattle each year, which generates a total $2.8 billion in economic impact for the state and more than 94,000 jobs. Cattle production accounts for 5 percent of Arizona's gross state product. In many rural areas of the state, cattle production is 75 percent of the GSP.

Lettuce is the largest crop and comprises about 20 percent of total crop production for the state. Next is cotton production, where Arizona ranks 10th nationally. Hay, greenhouse, and nursery products comprise 10 percent of crop production. Other important crops are cauliflower, broccoli, sorghum, barley, corn, and citrus. The Central Arizona Project, a 336-mile canal system, diverts water from the Colorado River into central and southern Arizona. At the cost of $4 billion, it is the largest aqueduct system ever constructed in the United States and provides water to nearly one million acres of agricultural land.

BANKING AND FINANCIAL SERVICES

The financial sector in Arizona provides 181,000 jobs. Close to 60 national banks are represented in Arizona, with branches throughout the state. Large banks and financial institutions serving Arizona include Bank of America, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Armed Forces Bank, First National Bank of Arizona, Stockmen’s Bank, Union Bank of Arizona, and Bank of the West. Annual banking deposits total $78 billion. Consumer lending is valued at $4.7 billion and issuance of credit cards at $952 million.

COMMUNICATIONS

The information and communications technology sector provides 9.4 percent of the jobs in the private sector and brings in taxable sales of $3.6 billion annually. The Internet service provider sector is valued at $1.5 billion and the broadcasting provider sector at $716 million. Local and wide area networks, email, and e-commerce are in use across the state. The Arizona Telecommunications System is the primary source for wide area networking (WAN).

Kitt Peak National Observatory

A sophisticated telecommunications infrastructure delivering broadband is readily available in large urban centers, but not yet in rural areas. Arizona is also well known internationally for its world-class observatories, high-powered telescopes, and prominence in the field of space exploration, led by the University of Arizona. A study by researchers at the the university's Eller College of Management found that astronomy, planetary, and space sciences research generate $252 million annually and create 3,300 jobs.

CONSTRUCTION

Arizona’s mountains in the northern and central regions are home to 3.2 million acres of commercial forests (composed mostly of pondersosa pine and other types of fir trees), which provide essential lumber for the building materials and construction industry. The rate of construction in Arizona is unusually high due to the state’s rapid growth in recent years and the consistent flow of seasonal residents.

Close to 220,000 workers are employed in 15,463 construction companies, with annual construction receipts totaling $55 billion. Approximately 10,500 of those companies represent specialty trade contractors, with the remainder being made up of building contractors and heavy and civil engineers. In 2008, over 26,000 building permits were issued.

EDUCATION

Arizona State University, Tempe

Public schools are divided into 220 local districts containing a total of 2,042 schools, all of which are overseen by the Arizona State Board of Education. Arizona spends $7,111 annually per pupil, which is almost $3,000 less than the national average of $9,963 and ranks at or near the bottom compared with the rest of the country. Salaries for teachers average more than $6,500 below the national average.

With an annual enrollment of one million students, revenues total $9.6 billion. Enrollment in the 76 higher learning institutions totals 624,147, breaking down as follows: public schools, 331,441; independent (nonprofit), 8,592; undergraduate, 476,547; graduate, 87,386; and first professional, 3,259. Total state and local appropriations amount to $1,704,391. There are three publicly funded universities in Arizona: The University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and Northern Arizona University. Private higher education is dominated mostly by "for-profit" and multi-site universites.

ENERGY

Arizona has substantial coal deposits, mainly located in the Black Mesa Basin. Coal mining employs more than 700 and contributes in excess of $2 billion to the state economy. Coal is the state’s primary fuel source and is used to produce 46 percent of its electricity.

Solar Panel Array

Nevertheless, Arizona utilities lead the nation in the research and development of solar technologies for producing electricity. Arizona has some of the world’s largest solar electricity-generating plants. Its vast desert plains provide a high potential for solar power. A study released by the Arizona Department of Commerce projects that by the year 2020, a total of 1,000 megawatts of solar electricity could be in use, reducing emissions for the state by 400,000 tons per year and also creating at least 3,000 new jobs.

In addition, the Colorado River provides a tremendous source of hydropower. Arizona’s per capita consumption of electricity is relatively low compared to other states. Total net taxable sales in the energy sector amount to $9.2 billion. The highest energy-consuming sector is transportation.

ENTERTAINMENT

Spring Training in the Desert

The film industry in Arizona continues to grow and contribute both jobs and revenue to the economy, paying out $34 million in talent and crew salaries annually. In addition to film, an extensive range of cultural organizations—including several ballet companies, theaters, opera companies, and symphony orchestras—contributes to local economies. A total of 1,523 arts, entertainment, and recreation establishments bring in approximately $3.5 billion annually. There are private and government funds available to support the arts, but due to the 2008–09 recession, the government’s Art Commision overall budget was reduced by 42 percent.

INSURANCE

Arizona’s strong insurance industry is one of the largest contributors to the state’s economy, generating more than $438 million in revenue each year. Homeowners pay premiums of more than $1.2 billion annually, and there are a total of 1,860 authorized insurers. The Arizona Department of Insurance monitors insurance companies, issues licenses to insurance providers, and educates consumers in making decisions about insurance.

MANUFACTURING

Manufacturing is Arizona's leading economic activity, producing everything from electronics to published materials to processed foods. A total of 4,900 manufacturing firms employ about 180,000 workers with an annual payroll of $7.1 billion. Some 54,000 of these workers are engaged in manufacturing high-tech products. The computers and electronics sector contributes $14 billion to the state economy; transportation equipment, $8.6 billion; fabricated metal products, $3.2 billion; and food products, $2.9 billion.

The Lunar Rover

The state’s aerospace industry manufactures helicopters, turbine engines, space vehicles, and guided missiles, and the metal industry fabricates door and window frames. Other widely manufactured products include pharmaceuticals and medicines; navigational, measuring, electromedical, and control instruments; audio and video equipment; optics; and photocopying and photographic equipment. The manufacturing industry brings in total annual revenues of $42 billion and contributes $20 billion to the gross state product. Arizona manufacturers exported $17.1 billion of goods in 2008.

MINING AND EXTRACTION

Arizona is a state rich in mineral resources. It is the national leader in copper production, providing two-thirds of America’s copper output from large open pits and mines. It is also an abundant source of gold, lead, zinc, uranium, silver, molybdenum, sand, gravel, and cement. The Arizona mining industry is made up of 186 companies with total annual revenue of $2.2 billion. It employs approximately 8,600 with an annual payroll of $355 million. The coal and metal ores sub-sector generates $2.1 billion, support activities for the industry are worth $70 million, and oil and gas extraction bring in some $10 million. The industry contributes $4.5 billion to Arizona's gross state product.

NONPROFIT

The Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits was created in 2004 in an attempt to support partnerships among some 40,000 nonprofit organizations in the state. By 2006, the alliance had some $17 billion in revenue and more than $27 billion in assets. Partnering with the National Council of Nonprofits, the alliance tries to fill the gaps when government services are terminated, providing a social safety net for Arizonans. Another nonprofit, the Arizona Community Foundation, is a statewide organization with approximately $450 million in trust and endowment assets. In 2008, the foundation awarded $33.7 million in grants and scholarships to more than 3,500 nonprofit organizations, schools, and government agencies.

RETAIL

Chandler Fashion Center Mall

Sales tax is an important source of revenue to Arizona’s state and local governments. Retail sales in Arizona are taxed at 5.6%, but different counties add on their own percentages to fund local projects. (Food purchased at grocery stores is not subject to sales tax.) Wholesale and retail trade provides 428,400 jobs and adds $55 billion to the annual economy. Many retail jobs are related to the state’s tourism industry, which is estimated to add $12 billion to the state’s economy annually. Walmart is the largest private employer in Arizona, with 17,343 workers on its payroll in the state. The retail pharmacy industry is a quickly growing sector of Arizona’s retail sales.

TECHNOLOGY

Because high-tech products are mostly exported, this sector is vital to the state’s economy—in 2005 it directly contributed $10.3 billion. Approximately 900 high-tech industries employ 280,000 workers and pay out $20.3 billion in salaries. Once an industry leader, Arizona experienced a decline in high-tech from 1990 through 2001. Still, high-tech products now account for 44 percent of all manufacturing jobs. The state's key technology industries are aerospace, defense products, semiconductors, and computing. The gross contributions of these businesses to the economy are 19 percent of employment and 25 percent of earnings.

A Developing Biotechnology Industry

Arizona’s high-tech sector also includes software publishers, data processing, telecommunications, hosting, computer systems design, architectural engineering, and scientific research and development. Arizona encourages its developing biotechnology field in an effort to bolster knowledge-based companies that offer high-paying jobs. The Council on Innovation and Technology was created in 2003 to develop strategies to grow the field in the state.

TRANSPORTATION

Transportation in Arizona is served by a combination of interstate and local highways, rail, and air routes. Public transportation is available via bus systems, and light rail connects Phoenix with nearby cities. Arizona's international airport, Sky Harbor, is a joint military and civilian airport located in Phoenix that serves about 20 million travelers annually and handles 240,000 tons of freight.

Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix

Regularly scheduled commercial flights are available from the Scottsdale Municipal Airport, and two Amtrak rail lines pass through the state. The transportation sector— including towing, railroads, and aircraft business—accumulates net taxable sales of $48 million. Nevertheless, the Arizona Department of Transportation was facing a $100 million budget shortfall at the end of 2009 that resulted in reductions in services and highway construction, as well as highway maintenance.

TRAVEL AND TOURISM

Arizona's warm climate, forests, and sunny skies attract millions of tourists each year. Attractions include the Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forest, the Painted Desert, Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, Fort Apache, and the rebuilt London Bridge at Lake Havasu City. The Hoover Dam, built in the 1920s, is still considered one of the world’s wonders of civil engineering and has been made a National Historic Landmark.

The mountains attract visitors interested in hiking, fishing, or skiing in the winter. Golfing, ancient Native American ruins, Indian reservations, and Spanish colonial ruins also attract a large tourist trade. The hotel and motel industry accumulates some $2.4 billion in net taxable sales. In 2008, total spending on travel in Arizona was $18.5 billion, responsibile for 166,900 direct jobs paying out $5 billion in wages.

SPECIAL INDUSTRIES

Magnificent Grand Canyon

Five major military bases in Arizona impact the economy: Yuma Proving Grounds, Yuma Marine Corps Air Station, Luke Air Force Base, Ft. Huachuca, and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. There are also four National Guard facilities in central and southern Arizona. These bases provide tens of thousands of jobs that generate more than $9 billion in state revenues. In addition, the Arizona State Lottery has generated more than $2 billion for the state since 1981, and annual taxes on state-sponsored bingo operations reach $5.5 million per year.

-World Trade Press

Theatres in Arizona

Theatres in Arizona
ASU GAMMAGE Apache Blvd and Mill Avenue Tempe, Arizona 85287 Tel: 480.965.3434 Web: http://www.asugammage.com/ DODGE THEATRE 410 W. Washington Street Phoenix, Arizona Tel: (602) 379-2888 IKEDA THEATER Mesa Arts Center, 1 East Main Street Mesa, Arizona MARICOPA COUNTY EVENTS CENTER 19403 RH Johnson Blvd. Sun City West, Arizona 85375 Tel: (480) 784-4444 MUSIC HALL 260 South Church Avenue Tucson, Arizona Tel: (520) 321-1000 ORPHEUM - PHOENIX 203 W. Adams Street Phoenix, Arizona 85003 Tel: (602) 262-7272

ASU GAMMAGE

Apache Blvd and Mill Avenue
Tempe, Arizona 85287
Tel: 480.965.3434
Web: http://www.asugammage.com/

DODGE THEATRE

410 W. Washington Street
Phoenix, Arizona
Tel: (602) 379-2888

IKEDA THEATER

Mesa Arts Center, 1 East Main Street
Mesa, Arizona

MARICOPA COUNTY EVENTS CENTER

19403 RH Johnson Blvd.
Sun City West, Arizona 85375
Tel: (480) 784-4444

MUSIC HALL

260 South Church Avenue
Tucson, Arizona
Tel: (520) 321-1000

ORPHEUM - PHOENIX

203 W. Adams Street
Phoenix, Arizona 85003
Tel: (602) 262-7272

Symphonies and Orchestras in Arizona

Symphonies and Orchestras in Arizona
CHANDLER SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA P.O. Box 6475 Chandler, Arizona Tel: (480)899-3447 Web: www.chandlersymphony.org CIVIC ORCHESTRA OF TUCSON P.O. Box 42764 Tucson, Arizona Tel: (520)730-3371 Web: www.cotmusic.org FLAGSTAFF SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 113-A East Aspen Avenue Flagstaff, Arizona Tel: (928)774-5107 Web: www.flagstaffsymphony.org METROPOLITAN YOUTH SYMPHONY P.O. Box 41852 Mesa, Arizona Tel: (480)456-9501 Web: www.azmys.org/ PHOENIX SYMPHONY One North First Street Suite 200 Phoenix, Arizona Tel: (602)495-1117 Web: www.phoenixsymphony.org PHOENIX SYMPHONY GUILD YOUTH ORCHESTRA 2057 West Claremont Phoenix, Arizona Tel: (602)785-1252 Web: www.phoenixyouthsymphony.org PROMUSICA ARIZONA ORCHESTRA 3434 West Anthem Way Suite 118, PMB 215 Phoenix, Arizona Tel: (623)680-6024 Web: www.promusicaaz.org SIERRA VISTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA P.O. Box 895 Sierra Vista, Arizona Tel: (520)458-6940 27 Web: www.svsymphony.org/ SOUTHERN ARIZONA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA P.O. Box 43131 Tucson, Arizona Tel: (520)323-7166 Web: www.sasomusic.org SYMPHONY OF THE SOUTHWEST 122 North Macdonald Street Mesa, Arizona Tel: (480)827-2143 Web: www.symphonyofthesouthwest.org TUCSON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 2175 North Sixth Avenue Tucson, Arizona Tel: (520)792-9155 Web: www.tucsonsymphony.org UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA SCHOOL OF MUSIC P.O. Box 210004 Music Building, Room 109 Tucson, Arizona Tel: (520)621-7028 Web: www.cfa.arizona.edu/symphony WEST VALLEY YOUTH ORCHESTRA P.O. Box 206 Litchfield Park, Arizona Tel: (623)547-0373 Web: www.wvyo.org YAVAPAI COLLEGE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 1100 East Sheldon Prescott, Arizona Tel: (928)776-2004 Web: www.yc.edu Data Source: League of American Orchestras

CHANDLER SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

P.O. Box 6475
Chandler, Arizona
Tel: (480)899-3447
Web: www.chandlersymphony.org

CIVIC ORCHESTRA OF TUCSON

P.O. Box 42764
Tucson, Arizona
Tel: (520)730-3371
Web: www.cotmusic.org

FLAGSTAFF SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

113-A East Aspen Avenue
Flagstaff, Arizona
Tel: (928)774-5107
Web: www.flagstaffsymphony.org

METROPOLITAN YOUTH SYMPHONY

P.O. Box 41852
Mesa, Arizona
Tel: (480)456-9501
Web: www.azmys.org/

PHOENIX SYMPHONY

One North First Street
Suite 200
Phoenix, Arizona
Tel: (602)495-1117
Web: www.phoenixsymphony.org

PHOENIX SYMPHONY GUILD YOUTH ORCHESTRA

2057 West Claremont
Phoenix, Arizona
Tel: (602)785-1252
Web: www.phoenixyouthsymphony.org

PROMUSICA ARIZONA ORCHESTRA

3434 West Anthem Way
Suite 118, PMB 215
Phoenix, Arizona
Tel: (623)680-6024
Web: www.promusicaaz.org

SIERRA VISTA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

P.O. Box 895
Sierra Vista, Arizona
Tel: (520)458-6940 27
Web: www.svsymphony.org/

SOUTHERN ARIZONA SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

P.O. Box 43131
Tucson, Arizona
Tel: (520)323-7166
Web: www.sasomusic.org

SYMPHONY OF THE SOUTHWEST

122 North Macdonald Street
Mesa, Arizona
Tel: (480)827-2143
Web: www.symphonyofthesouthwest.org

TUCSON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

2175 North Sixth Avenue
Tucson, Arizona
Tel: (520)792-9155
Web: www.tucsonsymphony.org

UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA SCHOOL OF MUSIC

P.O. Box 210004
Music Building, Room 109
Tucson, Arizona
Tel: (520)621-7028
Web: www.cfa.arizona.edu/symphony

WEST VALLEY YOUTH ORCHESTRA

P.O. Box 206
Litchfield Park, Arizona
Tel: (623)547-0373
Web: www.wvyo.org

YAVAPAI COLLEGE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

1100 East Sheldon
Prescott, Arizona
Tel: (928)776-2004
Web: www.yc.edu

Data Source: League of American Orchestras

Film Festivals in Arizona

Film Festivals in Arizona
ALL SOUL'S FILM FEST 6615 Donna Beatrix Tucson, Arizona 85718 Tel: (520) 954-0527 E-Mail: redscorpion15@hotmail.com Web: http://www.allsoulsprocession.org Contact: Hadji Banjovi Festival Statement: The All Soul's Film Fest seeks films that pertain to celebration and remembrance of the dead - all souls day - dia de los muertos - rituals and traditions. ARIZONA BLACK FILM SHOWCASE 68 West Buffalo Street, Suite #230 Chandler, Arizona 85042 Tel: (602) 304-0830 E-Mail: info@azblackfilm.com Web: http://www.azblackfilm.com Contact: Drisana Stingley ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY ART MUSEUM SHORT FILM & VIDEO FESTIVAL Tenth Street & Mill Avenue Tempe, Arizona 85287-2911 Tel: (602) 965-2787 E-Mail: asuartmuseum@asu.edu Web: http://asuartmuseum.asu.edu/filmfest Contact: John D. Spiak Festival Statement: The festival takes place outside and is free to the public. HEARD MUSEUM INDIGENOUS FILM FESTIVAL 2301 N. Central Phoenix, Arizona 85004 -1323 Tel: (602) 252-8840 E-Mail: filmfestival@heard.org Web: http://www.heard.org Contact: Wendy Weston, Director/Lorinda Simmons, Film/Video Selection Festival Statement: The Festival launches an inovative worldwide indigenous theme of cultural interest with emphasis on creative storytelling whether in drama or docs. Juried selection. INTERNATIONAL HORROR AND SCI-FI FILM FESTIVAL 1700 N. 7th Avenue, Suite 250 Phoenix, Arizona 85007 Tel: (602) 955-6444 E-Mail: jason@phxfilm.com Web: http://www.horrorscifi.com Contact: Jason Carney Festival Statement: Over 4000 attendees came out to the 2007 Festival. Win cash prizes and the opportunity to have your work reviewed by major entertainment companies. LAKE HAVASU INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL PO Box 2517 Lake Havasu City, Arizona 86405 Tel: (928) 453-8283 E-Mail: info@lakehavasufilmfestival.com Web: http://lakehavasufilmfestival.com Contact: Kim Stratford Festival Statement: Submissions can be made through Withoutabox.com. The Casablanca Award sponsored by Casablanca Studios in Palm Desert, CA, is valued at $10,000. and is awarded to the Best Film of the Festival. Various other cash awards are given. PHOENIX FILM FESTIVAL 1700 North 7th Avenue, Suite 250 Phoenix, Arizona 85007 Tel: (602) 955-6444 E-Mail: submissions@phoenixfilmfestival.com Web: http://www.phoenixfilmfestival.com Contact: Jason Carney PINK BUBBLE BATH: THE SEXY FILM FESTIVAL This festival will have screenings in Hollywood, New York City, Detroit and Miami. Tel: n/a E-Mail: o.perez@pinkbubblebath.com Web: http://www.pinkbubblebath.com Contact: Oscar Perez Festival Statement: All screenings are followed by a party for the filmmakers and festival attendees. SAGUARO FILM FESTIVAL P.O. Box 9147 Scottsdale, Arizona 85252 Held at AMC Arizona Center Theatres Tel: (602) 970-8711 E-Mail: filmz@primenet.com Web: http://www.extracheese.com/afs/ Contact: Durrie Parks SCOTTSDALE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL Vision Events Productions, Inc. 619 E. Vista Drive Phoenix, Arizona 85020 Tel: (602) 410-1074 E-Mail: ScottsdaleIFF@aol.com Web: http://www.scottsdalefilmfestival.com Contact: n/a Festival Statement: Our mission is to offer the audience a multinational experience with feature-length films. We seek to entertain, provoke discussion, discover beauty and shine a light on new thoughts. SEDONA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL P.O. Box 2515 Sedona, Arizona 86339 Tel: (520) 282-0747 E-Mail: scp@sedona.net Web: http://www.sedonafilmfestival.com Contact: Nadia Caillou Festival Statement: We are an intimate, friendly festival held in one of the world's most beautiful places - an area with a strong cinema history. WINSLOW INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 303 E. Seocnd St. Winslow, Arizona 86047 Tel: (818) 219-9339 E-Mail: info@winslowfilmfestival.org Web: http://www.winslowfilmfestival.org Contact: Jennifer Lee Festival Statement: This is the first year for this annual festival that celebrates the revival of the historic Route 66 town of Winslow, Arizona. On The Corner', The Route 66, The Lindbergh, Painted Desert and The Clear Creek. All celebrate a distinctly Western Americana theme.

ALL SOUL'S FILM FEST

6615 Donna Beatrix
Tucson, Arizona 85718
Tel: (520) 954-0527
E-Mail: redscorpion15@hotmail.com
Web: http://www.allsoulsprocession.org
Contact: Hadji Banjovi
Festival Statement: The All Soul's Film Fest seeks films that pertain to celebration and remembrance of the dead - all souls day - dia de los muertos - rituals and traditions.

ARIZONA BLACK FILM SHOWCASE

68 West Buffalo Street, Suite #230
Chandler, Arizona 85042
Tel: (602) 304-0830
E-Mail: info@azblackfilm.com
Web: http://www.azblackfilm.com
Contact: Drisana Stingley

ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY ART MUSEUM SHORT FILM & VIDEO FESTIVAL

Tenth Street & Mill Avenue
Tempe, Arizona 85287-2911
Tel: (602) 965-2787
E-Mail: asuartmuseum@asu.edu
Web: http://asuartmuseum.asu.edu/filmfest
Contact: John D. Spiak
Festival Statement: The festival takes place outside and is free to the public.

HEARD MUSEUM INDIGENOUS FILM FESTIVAL

2301 N. Central
Phoenix, Arizona 85004 -1323
Tel: (602) 252-8840
E-Mail: filmfestival@heard.org
Web: http://www.heard.org
Contact: Wendy Weston, Director/Lorinda Simmons, Film/Video Selection
Festival Statement: The Festival launches an inovative worldwide indigenous theme of cultural interest with emphasis on creative storytelling whether in drama or docs. Juried selection.

INTERNATIONAL HORROR AND SCI-FI FILM FESTIVAL

1700 N. 7th Avenue, Suite 250
Phoenix, Arizona 85007
Tel: (602) 955-6444
E-Mail: jason@phxfilm.com
Web: http://www.horrorscifi.com
Contact: Jason Carney
Festival Statement: Over 4000 attendees came out to the 2007 Festival. Win cash prizes and the opportunity to have your work reviewed by major entertainment companies.

LAKE HAVASU INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

PO Box 2517
Lake Havasu City, Arizona 86405
Tel: (928) 453-8283
E-Mail: info@lakehavasufilmfestival.com
Web: http://lakehavasufilmfestival.com
Contact: Kim Stratford
Festival Statement: Submissions can be made through Withoutabox.com. The Casablanca Award sponsored by Casablanca Studios in Palm Desert, CA, is valued at $10,000. and is awarded to the Best Film of the Festival. Various other cash awards are given.

PHOENIX FILM FESTIVAL

1700 North 7th Avenue, Suite 250
Phoenix, Arizona 85007
Tel: (602) 955-6444
E-Mail: submissions@phoenixfilmfestival.com
Web: http://www.phoenixfilmfestival.com
Contact: Jason Carney

PINK BUBBLE BATH: THE SEXY FILM FESTIVAL

This festival will have screenings in Hollywood, New York City, Detroit and Miami.
Tel: n/a
E-Mail: o.perez@pinkbubblebath.com
Web: http://www.pinkbubblebath.com
Contact: Oscar Perez
Festival Statement: All screenings are followed by a party for the filmmakers and festival attendees.

SAGUARO FILM FESTIVAL

P.O. Box 9147
Scottsdale, Arizona 85252
Held at AMC Arizona Center Theatres
Tel: (602) 970-8711
E-Mail: filmz@primenet.com
Web: http://www.extracheese.com/afs/
Contact: Durrie Parks

SCOTTSDALE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Vision Events Productions, Inc.
619 E. Vista Drive
Phoenix, Arizona 85020
Tel: (602) 410-1074
E-Mail: ScottsdaleIFF@aol.com
Web: http://www.scottsdalefilmfestival.com
Contact: n/a
Festival Statement: Our mission is to offer the audience a multinational experience with feature-length films. We seek to entertain, provoke discussion, discover beauty and shine a light on new thoughts.

SEDONA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

P.O. Box 2515
Sedona, Arizona 86339
Tel: (520) 282-0747
E-Mail: scp@sedona.net
Web: http://www.sedonafilmfestival.com
Contact: Nadia Caillou
Festival Statement: We are an intimate, friendly festival held in one of the world's most beautiful places - an area with a strong cinema history.

WINSLOW INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

303 E. Seocnd St.
Winslow, Arizona 86047
Tel: (818) 219-9339
E-Mail: info@winslowfilmfestival.org
Web: http://www.winslowfilmfestival.org
Contact: Jennifer Lee
Festival Statement: This is the first year for this annual festival that celebrates the revival of the historic Route 66 town of Winslow, Arizona. On The Corner', The Route 66, The Lindbergh, Painted Desert and The Clear Creek. All celebrate a distinctly Western Americana theme.

Ballet Companies in Arizona

BALLET ARIZONA

3645 East Indian School Road
Phoenix, Arizona 85018
Tel: 602-381-1096
Web: http://www.balletaz.org/index.taf?mnid=about&smid=1194611436

Lists the company's upcoming events, news/info, dancer profiles, etc.

Arts Associations in Arizona

Arts Associations in Arizona
ARIZONA COMMISSION ON THE ARTS 417 W. Roosevelt Street Phoenix, Arizona 85003 Tel: (602) 771-6501 Web: http://www.azarts.gov/ ARIZONA HUMANITIES COUNCIL 1242 N Central Ave Phoenix, Arizona 85004 Tel: (602) 257-0335 Web: http://www.azhumanities.org/ SCOTTSDALE CULTURAL COUNCIL 7380 East 2nd Street Scottsdale, Arizona 85251 Tel: (480) 874-4610 Web: http://www.sccarts.org/ THE DRAWING STUDIO 33 South 6th Avenue Tucson, Arizona 85701 Tel: (520) 620-0947 Web: http://www.thedrawingstudio.org/ WESTAF - WESTERN STATES ARTS FEDERATION 1743 Wazee Street, Suite 300 Denver, Arizona 80202 Tel: 888-562-7232 Web: http://www.westaf.org/

ARIZONA COMMISSION ON THE ARTS

417 W. Roosevelt Street
Phoenix, Arizona 85003
Tel: (602) 771-6501
Web: http://www.azarts.gov/

ARIZONA HUMANITIES COUNCIL

1242 N Central Ave
Phoenix, Arizona 85004
Tel: (602) 257-0335
Web: http://www.azhumanities.org/

SCOTTSDALE CULTURAL COUNCIL

7380 East 2nd Street
Scottsdale, Arizona 85251
Tel: (480) 874-4610
Web: http://www.sccarts.org/

THE DRAWING STUDIO

33 South 6th Avenue
Tucson, Arizona 85701
Tel: (520) 620-0947
Web: http://www.thedrawingstudio.org/

WESTAF - WESTERN STATES ARTS FEDERATION

1743 Wazee Street, Suite 300
Denver, Arizona 80202
Tel: 888-562-7232
Web: http://www.westaf.org/

Arts and Culture in Arizona

Arts and Culture in Arizona
Now greater than that of Philadelphia, the population of Phoenix barely topped 100,000 60 years ago. Despite its beautiful natural setting, the city’s summer heat and great distance from other major urban centers limited its appeal. But the advent of cheap energy and air conditioning turned Phoenix, as well as its southern neighbor, Tucson, into a magnet for people with allergies, asthma or an aversion to the crowded, muggy cities of the East. Of course those immigrants brought with them a taste for the arts, and over the years both metro areas, as well as other cities around the state, have developed a vibrant cultural scene that includes theater companies, ballet, opera, symphony orchestras, art galleries, museums, and major festivals dedicated to the arts. With more recent immigration the state has taken on a distinctively Hispanic flavor, bringing robust elements of Mexican visual art and music to the state’s cultural scene. But predating both the American and Mexican migrations to Arizona by thousands of years, the arrival of Native Americans—including groups that would later become the Navajos, Hopis, and Apaches—marked the beginning of an artistic tradition that has come down through the centuries in the form of sand painting, jewelry, and textiles. To this day, Native Americans influence the look and feel of almost all Arizona art. HIGH ARTS Symphonic music is thriving in Arizona. The state’s two biggest symphony orchestras, the Phoenix Symphony and the Tucson Symphony (the oldest in the state), are complimented by several smaller symphonies, including the Arizona Symphony Orchestra of the University of Arizona, the Mesa Symphony Orchestra, the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra, the Chandler Symphony Orchestra, the Tempe Symphony Orchestra, and the Scottsdale Symphony Orchestra. Overall, a spirit of voluntarism marks the state’s symphonic scene. Among all the state’s orchestras, only the Phoenix Symphony is a full-time professional organization with the resources to produce an extended season. One of the state’s most important cultural institutions, Phoenix-based Ballet Arizona was created in 1986 when arts patron Allen Rosenberg persuaded three struggling young ballet companies to merge. Today, the company is considered, as the Arizona Republic newspaper recently said, "probably the most consistently excellent arts organization in the state." In 2004 Ballet Arizona took a big step toward assuring its future when the Arizona Ballet School merged with the company. The re-christened School of Ballet Arizona is now the region’s most prestigious school of its kind. Ballet Yuma has positioned itself as a "pre-professional" ballet company that acts as an academy for aspiring dancers and presents a series of exhibition dances designed to hone students’ skills while giving them exposure to an appreciative public and representatives of major U.S. and international ballet companies. The state has several other schools devoted to teaching dance. The School of Dance at the University of Arizona in Tucson offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in ballet, modern and jazz dance. In Cave Creek, a Phoenix suburb, the non-profit AZDance Group teaches ballet, jazz and modern dance techniques to people of all ages. Its distinctive MEM program ("Movement E-Motion") is an outreach to people aged 13 and older who have autism, Down syndrome or other challenging conditions. Arizona Opera, originally the Tucson Opera Company, began in 1971. Within five years it was playing regularly to audiences in both Tucson and Phoenix, and began dividing its time and resources between the two cities—a practice that continues to this day. A large feather in the company’s cap is its twice-successful completion of Wagner’s formidable Ring Cycle, a feat matched by only four other North American opera companies. In 2000, the company created the Arizona Opera Orchestra, with professional musicians drawn from the state’s major symphonies and universities. MUSEUMS Arizona has more than 90 museums, focusing on everything from aviation, police memorabilia, and children to American Indians, cowboys, and science. Thirteen museums are devoted to the fine arts, each with its own distinctive focus. The Phoenix metro area has the Heard Museum (American Indian culture), the Phoenix Art Museum (global art), the Fleischer Museum of American and Russian Impressionism, the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, the Arizona State University Art Museum (regional, contemporary, and the Americas), and the West Valley Art Museum (ethnic dress and textiles). Tucson boasts three major museums, the Tucson Museum of Art (western, Latin American, and contemporary), the University of Arizona Museum of Art (European and American paintings and visual arts), and the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona. Flagstaff is home to two important regional museums, the Museum of Northern Arizona (historic and prehistoric American Indian art and artifacts) and the Northern Arizona University Art Museum (lithographs paintings and etchings). Prescott’s Phippen Art Museum (western and American Indian art) and Wickenburg’s Desert Caballeros Western Museum round up the state’s top fine arts museums. In early 2001, the latter museum paid tribute to the state’s 20^th-century women artists with its landmark exhibition, "In Celebration: A Century of Arizona Women Artists." The exhibit took an in-depth look at paintings, sculptures and photographs produced by more than 50 artists. It was the first show of its kind in state history. MUSIC The state has given country and western music some of its most memorable singers, including Rex Allen ("The Arizona Cowboy"), Marty Robbins, Tanya Tucker, and three Country Music Hall of Famers, Glen Campbell, Buck Owens, and Waylon Jennings (although the latter was Texas-born, he spent much of his formative career in Phoenix). In rock music, Arizona has given the world Stevie Nicks, Fleetwood Mac’s lead female vocalist, and the seminal shock rocker Alice Cooper. Other rockers include guitar maestro Duane Eddy and Megadeth co-founders David Ellefson and Dave Mustaine. Pop notables include Jordin Sparks, winner of the 2007 American Idol competition, and singer/songwriter Michelle Branch. From the world of "lounge," Arizona native Wayne Newton dominated Las Vegas in the 1980s as the city’s biggest singing act, paving the way for later mega-star acts like Celine Dion. Linda Ronstadt, a Tucson native, burst on the pop scene in 1967 as the plaintive lead singer on the Stone Poneys’ only hit single, "Different Drum." Ronstadt went on to several decades of success as she explored a gamut of genres. She returned to her Mexican-American roots in the landmark album,Canciones de Mi Padre, tried torch songs on for size (her version of "What’s New" introduced a new generation to jazz’s ability to render heartache and longing as poignantly as the most earnest aria), sang country and "roots" music, and made duets with an impressive array of vocalists, including Billy Eckstine, Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, Bette Midler, Frank Sinatra—and even Homer Simpson and Kermit the Frog. With 30 percent of its population now of Hispanic origin, Arizona has become a major center for several kinds of Mexican music, including banda (a brass-based, polka-esque genre), corridos (a ballad form), mariachi (string ensembles) and conjunto (small bands often playing norteño or Tejano music). Arizona’s most famous jazz musician was Charles Mingus (1922–1979), one of the best bassists ever to play in the genre. Mingus was a complex man, not only a player but also a bandleader, who impressed his peers with his masterful improvisational abilities. "The Angry Man of Jazz" was also heavily involved in the black struggle for civil rights THEATER AND PERFORMING ARTS Founded in Tucson in 1967 and now dividing its seasons between Tucson and Phoenix, the Arizona Theatre Company is the largest theatrical troupe in the state. ATC usually offers five major productions each year, ranging from such traditional plays as The Glass Menagerie, to more contemporary plays, like The Kite Runner, to original offerings, such as The Second City Does Arizona, or Close, But No Saguaro. Other theater companies include the Arizona Jewish Theatre Company in Phoenix, founded in 1988, which, although it produces Jewish-themed plays, has a tradition of welcoming multiethnic and multi-religious casts, crews, and audiences. Begun in 2004, the Phoenix-based, all-volunteer Arizona Women’s Theatre Company is noted for its Friday and Saturday evenings Playhouse in the Park and its annual Pandora Festival where Arizona women playwrights stage readings of 10-minute one-act and full-length plays. In Tucson, the non-profit Invisible Theatre has been a local icon since 1971. Originally a venue for local playwrights, IT has expanded since to present its own adaptations of classical productions as well as off-Broadway plays and musicals. For a company that presents its plays in an 80-seat converted laundry, IT has some considerable clout, drawing such notables as actress Lynn Redgrave (Rachel and Juliet) and chanteuse Amanda McBroom (April in Paris). Beowulf Alley Theatre Company, founded in 2001 and located in downtown Tucson, is another non-profit theater troupe. The company’s name is intended to evoke the tradition associated with the ancient Anglo-Saxon story Beowulf and the edgy, contemporary vibe associated with an urban alley. FILM AND TELEVISION With Hollywood only a few hundred miles to the west, Arizona was never destined to become a major filmmaking center. But the state’s incredible desert and red rock canyon landscapes have been catnip to numerous Hollywood moviemakers and TV producers who have trekked there over the years, making it a distinctive locale for westerns, comedies, sci-fi films, and thrillers. Perhaps the most famous use of Phoenix as a movie background is the beginning of Alfred Hitchcock’s *Psycho* (1960), in which Janet Leigh’s soon to be utterly horrified character commits the felony that sets the film’s gruesome events in motion. Notable films shot wholly or partially in Arizona have included the counter-culture hit Billy Jack (1971), the slacker delight *Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure* (1989), the slapstick fish-out-of-water comedyRaising Arizona (1987), and the poignant nice-guy alien meets beautiful Earth girl *Starman* (1984). Phoenix shows up again in *The Gauntlet* (1977), a Clint Eastwood film that uses an eerily deserted downtown as the backdrop for its climactic scene. Even a partial listing of other memorable films with Arizona locales is impressive. Among them: *Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore* (1974); *Cannonball Run* (1981); *Easy Rider* (1969); *Forrest Gump(1993); Gunfight at the O.K. Corral* (1957); *Lilies of the Field* (1963); *Little Miss Sunshine(2006); Mars Attacks!* (1996); *Midnight* Run (1988); Natural Born Killers (1994); *Ocean’s 11(1960); Oklahoma!* (1955); *Planet of the Apes* (remake 2001); *Rio Bravo* (1959); *Stagecoach(1939); The Big Country* (1958); *The Exorcist* (1973); *The Grapes of Wrath* (1940); *The Mummy(1999); The Nutty Professor* (1963); *Three Amigos!* (1986); *Three Kings* (1998); *Traffic* (2000);*Transformers* (2007); and *Wayne’s World* (1992). Although filmed in Hollywood, Alice, the TV sitcom version of Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, was set in Phoenix. The New Dick Van Dyke Show was also set in Arizona, as well as various episodes ofCOPS and America’s Most Wanted. Film industry notables who grew up in Arizona include film director Steven Spielberg, comedian David Spade, comedy and dramatic actor Ted Danson, and actress Lynda Carter (Wonder Woman). LITERARY ARTS While Arizona has been home to some famous writers, it has not yet produced a fiction writer with the fame and appeal of a Margaret Mitchell (Gone With the Wind) or the literary merit of a Willa Cather(My Ántonia). The closest the state comes to a "grand writer in residence" is Alan Dean Foster(Starman; the Chronicles of Riddick), whose versatility has gained him enthusiastic readers among fans of science fiction, horror, fantasy, westerns, detective stories, contemporary fiction, and historical novels. Edward Abbey (1927–1989), whose 1975 novel The Monkey Wrench Gang inspired a generation of radical environmentalists, was born in Pennsylvania but spent his later years in Tucson. This graduate philosophy student turned national park ranger turned nature writer also penned Desert Solitaire, a rumination on both the majesty and despoliation of the U.S. Southwest that some people compared to Thoreau’s Walden and the lyrical nature writing of Aldo Leopold. Payson, Arizona, was the home of Zane Grey, the most famous writer of westerns in U.S. history. HisRiders of the Purple Sage was the biggest-selling western of all time. Two of his other novels, The Lone Star Ranger and King of the Royal Mounted, later inspired two TV series, The Lone Ranger and Sgt. Preston of the Yukon. Grey, who wrote 90 books before his death in 1939, not only wrote westerns but also wrote books on baseball, hunting, and fishing, as well as children’s stories. Perhaps the best-loved modern Arizona writer, in terms of her appreciative audience if not her deathless prose, was humorist Erma Bombeck (1927–1996). The Paradise Valley resident’s 4,000 newspaper columns and 15 New York Times bestsellers (including Motherhood: The Second Oldest Profession and When You Look Like Your Passport Photo, It’s Time to Go Home) explored the joys, travails, and humor of motherhood, marriage, family life, and writing. VISUAL ARTS While Arizona hasn't really produced any world-class artists in its own right, many have been inspired by the striking landscapes while spending time in the Grand Canyon State. In the late 1940s, German painter and sculptor Max Ernst and his wife, Dorothea Tanning, lived in Sedona. Ernst was one of the prime movers behind the Dadaist and Surrealist art movements of the early 20^th century. Philip Curtis, who lived in Arizona from 1947 until his death in Scottsdale in 2000, was a noted Surrealist whose casually created, rarely seen watercolors of the state’s outdoors continue to astound art lovers for their brilliant stroke work. Lebanon-born Paul Coze, who settled in Phoenix in 1951, founded an art school and created nine pieces of public art throughout the city, most of them based on Native American themes. The Grand Canyon, as well as Arizona’s other stunning red-rock landscapes, has inspired a tradition of landscape art that extends back to the 19^th century. Noted contemporary landscapists include Tom Murray, Francis Koch, Lynn Baker, Chris Fanning, Tom Haas, landscape impressionist Lois Griffel, and colorist Johnathan Harris. Perhaps the state’s most beloved source of landscape art is its world-famous Arizona Highwaysmagazine, which over the years has employed the services of dozens of illustrators, including Hopi Indian artists and Ettore "Ted" De Grazia, who for a time in the 1940s and 1950s was the most reproduced artist in the world. Illustrator William Ahrendt later succeeded De Grazia as the magazine’s most prolific and best-loved artist. Modern artists have been heavily influenced by the state’s landscapes, producing abstract or Impressionistic paintings that are saturated with vibrant colors. These artists include Myrna Harrisonand Joseph Bellacera. HANDICRAFT AND FOLK ART One powerful folk-art movement, started in the 1970s, was the appearance of Chicano-themed murals in Tucson’s Mexican-American neighborhoods. ("Chicano" is a slang pronunciation of "Mexicano," although it refers to an American of Mexican heritage). The murals, often collaborative efforts among artists and neighbors, celebrate Chicano history and political victories. Among the most active of the early muralists were Antonio Pazos, David Tineo, Luis Gustavo Mena, Martin Moreno and Robert Castillo. To this day, one of the most exquisite art forms in Arizona is Navajo sand painting. Using colored sands for what is essentially a religious ritual, Navajo artists strew the sands within a square patch of ground, creating colorful retellings of creation stories through the juxtapositioning of ceremonial symbols of humans, plants, animals, and the cosmos. By tradition, the paintings cannot be preserved and are destroyed after a short time. One of the best collections of sand painting reproductions, compiled by art collector Morton H. Sachs, can be found online at www.navajosandpainting.org. HISTORIC ART MOVEMENTS An interesting late 20^th-century art movement that had its beginning in late 1960s and early 1970s Arizona and neighboring desert states is Earth art (also called Land art and Earthworks). The genre created ephemeral sculptures from of natural materials, such as leaves, dirt or stones, and placed them on the landscape in out-of-the-way places. Since erosion eventually destroyed them, the only record of their existence is in videos and photographs. -World Trade Press

Now greater than that of Philadelphia, the population of Phoenix barely topped 100,000 60 years ago. Despite its beautiful natural setting, the city’s summer heat and great distance from other major urban centers limited its appeal. But the advent of cheap energy and air conditioning turned Phoenix, as well as its southern neighbor, Tucson, into a magnet for people with allergies, asthma or an aversion to the crowded, muggy cities of the East.

Of course those immigrants brought with them a taste for the arts, and over the years both metro areas, as well as other cities around the state, have developed a vibrant cultural scene that includes theater companies, ballet, opera, symphony orchestras, art galleries, museums, and major festivals dedicated to the arts.

With more recent immigration the state has taken on a distinctively Hispanic flavor, bringing robust elements of Mexican visual art and music to the state’s cultural scene. But predating both the American and Mexican migrations to Arizona by thousands of years, the arrival of Native Americans—including groups that would later become the Navajos, Hopis, and Apaches—marked the beginning of an artistic tradition that has come down through the centuries in the form of sand painting, jewelry, and textiles. To this day, Native Americans influence the look and feel of almost all Arizona art.

HIGH ARTS

Symphonic music is thriving in Arizona. The state’s two biggest symphony orchestras, the Phoenix Symphony and the Tucson Symphony (the oldest in the state), are complimented by several smaller symphonies, including the Arizona Symphony Orchestra of the University of Arizona, the Mesa Symphony Orchestra, the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra, the Chandler Symphony Orchestra, the Tempe Symphony Orchestra, and the Scottsdale Symphony Orchestra. Overall, a spirit of voluntarism marks the state’s symphonic scene. Among all the state’s orchestras, only the Phoenix Symphony is a full-time professional organization with the resources to produce an extended season.

One of the state’s most important cultural institutions, Phoenix-based Ballet Arizona was created in 1986 when arts patron Allen Rosenberg persuaded three struggling young ballet companies to merge. Today, the company is considered, as the Arizona Republic newspaper recently said, "probably the most consistently excellent arts organization in the state." In 2004 Ballet Arizona took a big step toward assuring its future when the Arizona Ballet School merged with the company. The re-christened School of Ballet Arizona is now the region’s most prestigious school of its kind.

Ballet Yuma has positioned itself as a "pre-professional" ballet company that acts as an academy for aspiring dancers and presents a series of exhibition dances designed to hone students’ skills while giving them exposure to an appreciative public and representatives of major U.S. and international ballet companies.

The state has several other schools devoted to teaching dance. The School of Dance at the University of Arizona in Tucson offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in ballet, modern and jazz dance. In Cave Creek, a Phoenix suburb, the non-profit AZDance Group teaches ballet, jazz and modern dance techniques to people of all ages. Its distinctive MEM program ("Movement E-Motion") is an outreach to people aged 13 and older who have autism, Down syndrome or other challenging conditions.

Arizona Opera, originally the Tucson Opera Company, began in 1971. Within five years it was playing regularly to audiences in both Tucson and Phoenix, and began dividing its time and resources between the two cities—a practice that continues to this day. A large feather in the company’s cap is its twice-successful completion of Wagner’s formidable Ring Cycle, a feat matched by only four other North American opera companies. In 2000, the company created the Arizona Opera Orchestra, with professional musicians drawn from the state’s major symphonies and universities.

MUSEUMS

Arizona has more than 90 museums, focusing on everything from aviation, police memorabilia, and children to American Indians, cowboys, and science. Thirteen museums are devoted to the fine arts, each with its own distinctive focus. The Phoenix metro area has the Heard Museum (American Indian culture), the Phoenix Art Museum (global art), the Fleischer Museum of American and Russian Impressionism, the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, the Arizona State University Art Museum (regional, contemporary, and the Americas), and the West Valley Art Museum (ethnic dress and textiles).

Tucson boasts three major museums, the Tucson Museum of Art (western, Latin American, and contemporary), the University of Arizona Museum of Art (European and American paintings and visual arts), and the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona. Flagstaff is home to two important regional museums, the Museum of Northern Arizona (historic and prehistoric American Indian art and artifacts) and the Northern Arizona University Art Museum (lithographs paintings and etchings).

Prescott’s Phippen Art Museum (western and American Indian art) and Wickenburg’s Desert Caballeros Western Museum round up the state’s top fine arts museums. In early 2001, the latter museum paid tribute to the state’s 20^th-century women artists with its landmark exhibition, "In Celebration: A Century of Arizona Women Artists." The exhibit took an in-depth look at paintings, sculptures and photographs produced by more than 50 artists. It was the first show of its kind in state history.

MUSIC

The state has given country and western music some of its most memorable singers, including Rex Allen ("The Arizona Cowboy"), Marty Robbins, Tanya Tucker, and three Country Music Hall of Famers, Glen Campbell, Buck Owens, and Waylon Jennings (although the latter was Texas-born, he spent much of his formative career in Phoenix).

In rock music, Arizona has given the world Stevie Nicks, Fleetwood Mac’s lead female vocalist, and the seminal shock rocker Alice Cooper. Other rockers include guitar maestro Duane Eddy and Megadeth co-founders David Ellefson and Dave Mustaine. Pop notables include Jordin Sparks, winner of the 2007 American Idol competition, and singer/songwriter Michelle Branch. From the world of "lounge," Arizona native Wayne Newton dominated Las Vegas in the 1980s as the city’s biggest singing act, paving the way for later mega-star acts like Celine Dion.

Linda Ronstadt, a Tucson native, burst on the pop scene in 1967 as the plaintive lead singer on the Stone Poneys’ only hit single, "Different Drum." Ronstadt went on to several decades of success as she explored a gamut of genres. She returned to her Mexican-American roots in the landmark album,Canciones de Mi Padre, tried torch songs on for size (her version of "What’s New" introduced a new generation to jazz’s ability to render heartache and longing as poignantly as the most earnest aria), sang country and "roots" music, and made duets with an impressive array of vocalists, including Billy Eckstine, Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, Bette Midler, Frank Sinatra—and even Homer Simpson and Kermit the Frog.

With 30 percent of its population now of Hispanic origin, Arizona has become a major center for several kinds of Mexican music, including banda (a brass-based, polka-esque genre), corridos (a ballad form), mariachi (string ensembles) and conjunto (small bands often playing norteño or Tejano music).

Arizona’s most famous jazz musician was Charles Mingus (1922–1979), one of the best bassists ever to play in the genre. Mingus was a complex man, not only a player but also a bandleader, who impressed his peers with his masterful improvisational abilities. "The Angry Man of Jazz" was also heavily involved in the black struggle for civil rights

THEATER AND PERFORMING ARTS

Founded in Tucson in 1967 and now dividing its seasons between Tucson and Phoenix, the Arizona Theatre Company is the largest theatrical troupe in the state. ATC usually offers five major productions each year, ranging from such traditional plays as The Glass Menagerie, to more contemporary plays, like The Kite Runner, to original offerings, such as The Second City Does Arizona, or Close, But No Saguaro.

Other theater companies include the Arizona Jewish Theatre Company in Phoenix, founded in 1988, which, although it produces Jewish-themed plays, has a tradition of welcoming multiethnic and multi-religious casts, crews, and audiences. Begun in 2004, the Phoenix-based, all-volunteer Arizona Women’s Theatre Company is noted for its Friday and Saturday evenings Playhouse in the Park and its annual Pandora Festival where Arizona women playwrights stage readings of 10-minute one-act and full-length plays.

In Tucson, the non-profit Invisible Theatre has been a local icon since 1971. Originally a venue for local playwrights, IT has expanded since to present its own adaptations of classical productions as well as off-Broadway plays and musicals. For a company that presents its plays in an 80-seat converted laundry, IT has some considerable clout, drawing such notables as actress Lynn Redgrave (Rachel and Juliet) and chanteuse Amanda McBroom (April in Paris).

Beowulf Alley Theatre Company, founded in 2001 and located in downtown Tucson, is another non-profit theater troupe. The company’s name is intended to evoke the tradition associated with the ancient Anglo-Saxon story Beowulf and the edgy, contemporary vibe associated with an urban alley.

FILM AND TELEVISION

With Hollywood only a few hundred miles to the west, Arizona was never destined to become a major filmmaking center. But the state’s incredible desert and red rock canyon landscapes have been catnip to numerous Hollywood moviemakers and TV producers who have trekked there over the years, making it a distinctive locale for westerns, comedies, sci-fi films, and thrillers. Perhaps the most famous use of Phoenix as a movie background is the beginning of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960), in which Janet Leigh’s soon to be utterly horrified character commits the felony that sets the film’s gruesome events in motion.

Notable films shot wholly or partially in Arizona have included the counter-culture hit Billy Jack (1971), the slacker delight Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989), the slapstick fish-out-of-water comedyRaising Arizona (1987), and the poignant nice-guy alien meets beautiful Earth girl Starman (1984). Phoenix shows up again in The Gauntlet (1977), a Clint Eastwood film that uses an eerily deserted downtown as the backdrop for its climactic scene.

Even a partial listing of other memorable films with Arizona locales is impressive. Among them: Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974); Cannonball Run (1981); Easy Rider (1969); Forrest Gump(1993); Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957); Lilies of the Field (1963); Little Miss Sunshine(2006); Mars Attacks! (1996); Midnight Run (1988); Natural Born Killers (1994); Ocean’s 11(1960); Oklahoma! (1955); Planet of the Apes (remake 2001); Rio Bravo (1959); Stagecoach(1939); The Big Country (1958); The Exorcist (1973); The Grapes of Wrath (1940); The Mummy(1999); The Nutty Professor (1963); Three Amigos! (1986); Three Kings (1998); Traffic (2000);Transformers (2007); and Wayne’s World (1992).

Although filmed in Hollywood, Alice, the TV sitcom version of Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, was set in Phoenix. The New Dick Van Dyke Show was also set in Arizona, as well as various episodes ofCOPS and America’s Most Wanted. Film industry notables who grew up in Arizona include film director Steven Spielberg, comedian David Spade, comedy and dramatic actor Ted Danson, and actress Lynda Carter (Wonder Woman).

LITERARY ARTS

While Arizona has been home to some famous writers, it has not yet produced a fiction writer with the fame and appeal of a Margaret Mitchell (Gone With the Wind) or the literary merit of a Willa Cather(My Ántonia). The closest the state comes to a "grand writer in residence" is Alan Dean Foster(Starman; the Chronicles of Riddick), whose versatility has gained him enthusiastic readers among fans of science fiction, horror, fantasy, westerns, detective stories, contemporary fiction, and historical novels.

Edward Abbey (1927–1989), whose 1975 novel The Monkey Wrench Gang inspired a generation of radical environmentalists, was born in Pennsylvania but spent his later years in Tucson. This graduate philosophy student turned national park ranger turned nature writer also penned Desert Solitaire, a rumination on both the majesty and despoliation of the U.S. Southwest that some people compared to Thoreau’s Walden and the lyrical nature writing of Aldo Leopold.

Payson, Arizona, was the home of Zane Grey, the most famous writer of westerns in U.S. history. HisRiders of the Purple Sage was the biggest-selling western of all time. Two of his other novels, The Lone Star Ranger and King of the Royal Mounted, later inspired two TV series, The Lone Ranger and Sgt. Preston of the Yukon. Grey, who wrote 90 books before his death in 1939, not only wrote westerns but also wrote books on baseball, hunting, and fishing, as well as children’s stories.

Perhaps the best-loved modern Arizona writer, in terms of her appreciative audience if not her deathless prose, was humorist Erma Bombeck (1927–1996). The Paradise Valley resident’s 4,000 newspaper columns and 15 New York Times bestsellers (including Motherhood: The Second Oldest Profession and When You Look Like Your Passport Photo, It’s Time to Go Home) explored the joys, travails, and humor of motherhood, marriage, family life, and writing.

VISUAL ARTS

While Arizona hasn't really produced any world-class artists in its own right, many have been inspired by the striking landscapes while spending time in the Grand Canyon State. In the late 1940s, German painter and sculptor Max Ernst and his wife, Dorothea Tanning, lived in Sedona. Ernst was one of the prime movers behind the Dadaist and Surrealist art movements of the early 20^th century.

Philip Curtis, who lived in Arizona from 1947 until his death in Scottsdale in 2000, was a noted Surrealist whose casually created, rarely seen watercolors of the state’s outdoors continue to astound art lovers for their brilliant stroke work. Lebanon-born Paul Coze, who settled in Phoenix in 1951, founded an art school and created nine pieces of public art throughout the city, most of them based on Native American themes.

The Grand Canyon, as well as Arizona’s other stunning red-rock landscapes, has inspired a tradition of landscape art that extends back to the 19^th century. Noted contemporary landscapists include Tom Murray, Francis Koch, Lynn Baker, Chris Fanning, Tom Haas, landscape impressionist Lois Griffel, and colorist Johnathan Harris.

Perhaps the state’s most beloved source of landscape art is its world-famous Arizona Highwaysmagazine, which over the years has employed the services of dozens of illustrators, including Hopi Indian artists and Ettore "Ted" De Grazia, who for a time in the 1940s and 1950s was the most reproduced artist in the world. Illustrator William Ahrendt later succeeded De Grazia as the magazine’s most prolific and best-loved artist.

Modern artists have been heavily influenced by the state’s landscapes, producing abstract or Impressionistic paintings that are saturated with vibrant colors. These artists include Myrna Harrisonand Joseph Bellacera.

HANDICRAFT AND FOLK ART

One powerful folk-art movement, started in the 1970s, was the appearance of Chicano-themed murals in Tucson’s Mexican-American neighborhoods. ("Chicano" is a slang pronunciation of "Mexicano," although it refers to an American of Mexican heritage). The murals, often collaborative efforts among artists and neighbors, celebrate Chicano history and political victories. Among the most active of the early muralists were Antonio Pazos, David Tineo, Luis Gustavo Mena, Martin Moreno and Robert Castillo.

To this day, one of the most exquisite art forms in Arizona is Navajo sand painting. Using colored sands for what is essentially a religious ritual, Navajo artists strew the sands within a square patch of ground, creating colorful retellings of creation stories through the juxtapositioning of ceremonial symbols of humans, plants, animals, and the cosmos. By tradition, the paintings cannot be preserved and are destroyed after a short time. One of the best collections of sand painting reproductions, compiled by art collector Morton H. Sachs, can be found online at www.navajosandpainting.org.

HISTORIC ART MOVEMENTS

An interesting late 20^th-century art movement that had its beginning in late 1960s and early 1970s Arizona and neighboring desert states is Earth art (also called Land art and Earthworks). The genre created ephemeral sculptures from of natural materials, such as leaves, dirt or stones, and placed them on the landscape in out-of-the-way places. Since erosion eventually destroyed them, the only record of their existence is in videos and photographs.

-World Trade Press