The Foothills Art District hosts the first Thursday Art Walks each month from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Pictured is Jane Hamilton Fine Art in Plaza Colonial.
Customers continue their art walk at the southwest corner of North Campbell Avenue and East Skyline Drive. The walks feature “great food, music and friendly conversation, all designed to create a welcoming atmosphere for visiting the fabulous art found here,” says Stuart Johnson, owner of Settlers West.
Owner Dara Davis chats with guests in Sunset Interiors and Design Studio’s new space in Plaza Colonial.
Foothills Art Galleries recently partnered with several other arts-related businesses in Plaza Colonial across the street to create the Foothills Art District. Other participating galleries include Jane Hamilton Fine Art, Wilde Meyer Gallery and the two main locations of Sunset Interiors & Design Studio.
Patrons chat and enjoy wine at FoR Fine Art, which opened in October. The gallery offers “a contemporary twist to Western art, including designer jewelry and accessories created by artists from across the West,” according to co-owner Tula Thompson.
Artist and musician Doug Shelton plays guitar for patrons at Plaza Colonial on the southwest corner of Skyline and Campbell.
Barbara Russek Special at the Arizona Daily Star
The long-established but recently named Foothills Art Galleries located at 6420 N. Campbell Ave. just north of East Skyline Drive is one of those rare places in Tucson that offers beauty and tranquility in the middle of a world upside down.
Going off the beaten track, the art lover finds refuge from the cacophony of traffic, the squealing of brakes and horns, and enters a secluded courtyard housing four art galleries; a reminder of the architect’s ability to create something that is both functional and aesthetic.
The surroundings are fascinating. The silence of the courtyard is reinforced by majestic trees that share the space with sculptures and a variety of desert plants, with a view of the Catalinas in the distance. At the center of it all is a self-contained goldfish pond.
Chris Sanders, co-owner of Sanders Galleries, one of the property’s oldest galleries, said they never feed the fish.
“They munch on reeds and other plants and produce more fish,” he said. “Their small ecosystem is amazing. “
Longtime neighbor gallery Settlers West owned by Stuart Johnson FoR Fine Art, which opened on October 1, joins Sanders Galleries and another recent addition, Sunset Interiors & Design Studio.
According to co-owner Tula Thompson, For Fine Art offers “a contemporary twist to Western art, including designer jewelry and accessories created by artists from across the West.”
