#‪Nonprofit‬

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Ash Wednesday represents the first day of Lent. If you visit any Yaqui village in Northern Mexico or Southern Arizona during the forty days of Lent you will see this is their biggest celebration of the year. The devout Yaquis adapted the stories that Catholic priests told them and made them their own. They mark Easter with costumes, masks, paper flowers, and forty days and nights of Lenten observance and dancing. DeGrazia captures this celebration in his 1967 collection of forty paintings depicting the pageant of the Yaquis.

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In the 1950s DeGrazia made a big change in his style, he traded in his paintbrush for a palette knife. DeGrazia said this allowed “sways and bends on command”. “It swirls like a dancer and stops in a flash when you tell it. It takes a long time to learn how to use a palette knife without scrapping your knuckles against the canvas.”

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Artist Ettore “Ted" DeGrazia created hundreds of oil paintings, watercolors, and drawings of vendors, goods, and stalls of the public markets based on his numerous trips to Mexico.

"Songbird for Lucia��, oil on canvas, 1952.

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Built in 1952, DeGrazia built the Mission in the Sun in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe calling the mission his most durable and important piece of art. “The mission will have no functional purpose. It will be a place of beauty where I can go and hide.”

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Riders on horseback are featured in “On the Trail with Ted DeGrazia”, a new exhibit of oil paintings at the Gallery in the Sun Museum. Dating from 1948 to 1972, the riders in these paintings include cowboys, Native Americans, and Mexican revolutionaries. The exhibit will be on display through August 30th, 2023.

DeGrazia’s “Untitled-Rider with Packhorse”, oil on canvas, no date.

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Give the gift of membership! For only $25.00 you get a yearly individual pass or for $55.00 a yearly family membership to the Gallery in the Sun Museum. Support a local non-profit as well as the arts!

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The Yaqui Deer Dance is most prominent during the Easter season. The deer dancer wears a shawl wrapped as a skirt with a belt traditionally made of deer hooves. He carries a gourd in each hand and ties rattles to his ankles. A real or imitation deer head is fastened to his head. Red ribbons wind around the horns to represent flowers. This ceremony inspired DeGrazia to create several works of art including the seven-foot bronze statue of the "Deer Dancer" in the gallery’s cactus courtyard. Happy Throwback Thursday!

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“A wall out of mud is beautiful and satisfying,” said DeGrazia, “but a wall of mud and straw is a union of materials that are in complete harmony and produce an aesthetic feeling, long to be remembered. To me this is the great Southwest.”

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DeGrazia said the "Superstition Mountains have quite a personality. She is alive. Her mood is ever changing. You can be close to her and yet feel so very far away. She bathes in rainbow colors. Her desert shadows are long and purple; they look like long eyelashes...Once you see her you can’t help but wonder about her and admire her beauty. You too will fall in love with her.”

This is available as a reproduction, please go to https://degrazia.org/shop/superstition-mountains/ for more information.

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Like most of DeGrazia’s oil paintings, they were done with a palette knife using very bold strokes. 🎨

DeGrazia’s "Cowboy and Packhorse", oil on canvas, 1962.

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DeGrazia loved when critics referred to his artistic style as rebellious. He said he would get “scolded. To hell with that. If I want to stretch the neck of a horse, I’ll stretch it. If I want to paint a pink horse, I’ll paint it. That is what it’s all about––not doing it the way they want you to do it, but doing it your way.”

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“You see, sketches are the very soul of an artist. They are fresh, they are meaningful and often more beautiful than the painting.” 🌵

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With the temperatures rising in the Old Pueblo, stay cool with a visit to the Gallery in the Sun Museum! We are open daily from 10:00am-4:00pm. DeGrazia’s “Red Umbrella”, oil on canvas, nd.

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While living in Bisbee, Arizona in the 1930’s DeGrazia started creating art as a social statement about class struggle. “Mining” is a triptych depicting mining companies and the indispensable role of the workers who operate the machinery. Happy Throwback Thursday!

“Mining”, oil on canvas, from 1936 will be on display in our new exhibit “DeGrazia Underground: Miners and Prospectors of the Old West”. Please join us tomorrow evening, from 5-7pm, for our opening reception. The event is free and open to the public.

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This month is National Guitar Month, DeGrazia shared dual passions for both art and music. 🎸

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Tucson’s annual International Mariachi Conference is now underway! In honor of mariachi music here is a DeGrazia painting depicting this cultural celebration of music. For a list of events visit https://www.tucsonmariachi.org, it’s a wonderful event filled with talented musicians! 🎻🎺