Huge crowds attend statewide Festival Showcases
By Curtis Riggs | July 2, 2008
CAVE CREEK – The Cave Creek Film & Arts Festival reached a major goal when six students from Globe-Miami entered their artwork in the three-year festival, which this year reached out to artists, writers and photographers statewide.
“We hoped to receive participation from throughout the state,” said long-term mayor Francia, who again headed up this year’s festival along with Cave Creek painter and festival chairwoman Judy Bruce.
Miami High School student Vanessa Guadiana was one of several students from the mining towns who attended the Coyote Showcase for youth visual arts, film, choreography and original song at the Cactus Shadows High School Fine Art Center on Saturday. A crowd of about two hundred received a special treat when a group of physically challenged people from Tucson performed a dance in their wheelchairs. They received a standing ovation for their entry in the festival choreography division.
Guadiana, 17, entered a micrograph, an ink-pen drawing consisting of words to a song, story or poem, in the art contest. She created a drawing of a girl’s face by using the words to Good Enough by the band, Evanescence. Several of the Globe-Miami students entered micrographs.
“It was different, I had never done it before,” Guadiana said about her festival experience, which was encouraged by her art teacher Mary Yazzi.
This was the first time Vanessa had ever entered an art contest, let alone one that would bring her to Cave Creek. She enjoyed the experience a great deal. She attended the festival showcase with her mother, Suzanne Mojica, and several other globe-Miami students.
“Having her art on display gives her an idea of what art is and helps her appreciate it more,”
Mojica said about how the festival helped her daughter step toward a career as an artist.
Festival chairwoman Bruce said that another festival goal was achieved this year with the entry of the Globe-Miami students.
“Mayor Francia wanted to reach out to the native population,” she said. Art teacher Yazzi contacted other schools on the San Carlos Indian Reservation.
While the trip to the Desert Foothills may have been long for the Globe-Miami students on Saturday, it was no longer than the trip their festival entries made to Cave Creek. These entries sat in a box against a wall in the Cave Creel Post Office for a week or better after the festival entry deadline had expired.
An estimated crowd of 350 attended the photography/adult art showcase at the Desert Foothills Library on Friday. The paintings of Cave Creek painters Linda Budge and Randy Galloway were chosen as finalists for the adult art award, as was a painting by former Cactus Shadows student Kyle Hobratch.
“It’s working,” Bruce said, referring to the large numbers of people in attendance, especially Friday at the library.
Francia said he knew something special was happening when entries nearly doubled and then on Friday when he had to park at the Center of Cave Creek to get to the library.
“It has exceeded everyone’s expectations,” he said.
Photos by Curtis Riggs
Vanessa Guadiana, right, and her mother, Suzanne Mojica traveled from the Globe-Miami area to attend the festival showcase on Saturday. Vanessa, 17, a student at Miami High School, entered a micrograph in the festival. Festival organizers placed more focus on getting students to enter this year’s contest.
Dog Days contest goes non-profit, statewide
By Curtis Riggs | July 2, 2008
CAVE CREEK – Acclaimed wildlife artist Linda Budge will again be helping local animal charities through her Dog Days of August animal contest later this summer.
Budge recently received a non-profit status for her annual charity event and has now opened it to residents throughout the state. She began her Dog Days contest in 2006 and has delighted pet owners and animal lovers alike since then with her portraits of each year’s winners. This year’s winner will also receive a Linda Budge original oil painting of their dog, valued at $2,700.
There are more chances to win prizes in several categories in this year’s contest, which will run from August 1 through 31.
Applicants will need to submit a color photograph of their dog along with a 500- to 700-word essay about their dog. This year’s five contest categories are: My Hero; A Laughable Moment; How We Met; Something to Bark About and In the Dog House.
Applicants should make the check for the $20 contest entry fee out to the animal charity of their choice. This money will be delivered to the charities after the contest. Cash entry fees will go to the Arizona Humane Society.
For contest entry forms, or information, visit the web site www.DogDaysofAugust.org. For further information call 480-595-9985.
