- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
De Grazia Gallery In the Sun
Categories: Arts & Entertainment Museums Arts & Entertainment Art Galleries Shopping Art Galleries Museums, Art Galleries [Edit]
6300 N Swan RdTucson, AZ 85718
(520) 299-9191
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
10 reviews for De Grazia Gallery In the Sun
10 reviews in English
-
Review from Karl L.
Carson City, NV
2/2/2012
This was an absolute highlight of our visit to Tucson. And it is free! Located on ten acres of rolling terrain with cactus and desert vegetation. The buildings which were constructed by De Grazia are very fascinating spaces. His art works are beautifully displayed. No hard sell here! Listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The chapel on the grounds was bathed in sunlight and was a wonderful photo opportunity. De Grazia was apparently a man of faith - it is presented in a low key manner.
We also liked the guest artist studio where a local artist displayed excellent work. -
Review from Peg P.
Fellow Yelper Toni M.'s review describes this gallery perfectly.
If you love art, love Tucson history, and love visiting a gorgeous desert oasis that's listed on the NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES, head on out Swan and visit the De Grazia Gallery. Delightful, quirky, peaceful, and filled with beautiful light that photographers and artists will appreciate, the gallery is free and open to all with much of his art displayed in various settings. One special room I especially like is his studio with all the accoutrements he last used in painting. And yes, the light falling on the canvases is stunning.
A true Tucson and Arizona Treasure. -
Review from Heidi C.
New York, NY
8/26/2009
The greatest work DeGrazia created, in my opinion, was his home. Never finished, always changing, the artist built his combination work space/gallery/home from materials found in the desert and continued to build and improve on it until his death.
The main buildings now house a free museum of DeGrazia's work, including a "for-sale" room of art as well as a gift shop.
Nestled in the upper desert of Tucson, the property feels like sacred ground. DeGrazia was very devout and built a chapel near the house which can also be viewed and which has become a sort of shrine to the artist.
This is well worth a visit, from the soda cans turned into flowers to the hand made detailing including cactus inlays and shell borders of the rooms to the rambling gardens. Truly a unique experience. -
Review from P J.
San Mateo, CA
2/12/2008
Really an amazing place! I visited last weekend. The museum and galleries are free, and open to the public. You get to see an extensive collection of De Grazia's work, some of his wife's work, their home, the chapel that De Grazia built, and marvel at the gallery buildings themselves (also built by De Grazia). The courtyards are decorated in a whimsical fashion, also all built by De Grazia. Some pieces in one of the galleries are for sale, however, the artist passed away in 1982, so they are relatively pricey.
The Gallery in the Sun is on the National Register of Historical places. You should plan on spending a couple of hours. Don' t miss the "Cactus Corral." -
Review from Rachael J.
Portland, OR
8/13/2010
What an amazing place! I was great to see so much artwork of a native Tucsonian all in one gallery. But what was even better was to see it in De Grazia's own home! The property is truly beautiful. Great way to spend a few hours for free while experiencing some local culture and history at the same time.
Listed in: My Tucson Faves
-
Review from Toni M.
11/13/2008
Walking up the path we were struck by the sight of potted prickly pear cacti in a shade of purple neither of us had ever seen before. Entering the gallery, the first impressions are the the metalwork doors and the walls of large, color-splashed rocks held back by timbers. To the right is the gift shop, which is predominated by inexpensive reproductions of his paintings of children. I was frankly underwhelmed by these, which seemed a Southwest version of the big-eyed Keane paintings of the 60s, but fortunately there is more to his work than that. Walking out into the garden I was charmed by the quirky statuary and I walked into the gallery at the back of the garden where bullfighting paintings were displayed. When I walked into the main gallery building I became aware of the evolution of his painting from decade to decade, that of the 40s more representational w/ sharp, clear outlines, the 50s to 60s w/ more use of the palette knife, adding texture and blurring outlines a bit. I think that was the style that drew me most. There are originals from all periods for sale in one room and the prices go from $2,000 to $65,000 and more. In another room was showing a locally made NPR program about DeGrazia, following him around to various activities and allowing him to expound on his inspirations, thoughts and feelings. That was very enlightening and made me understand and appreciate his work more, which was the point of it: information for the uninitiated. Interestingly, when discussing his paintings of children, he was pretty offhand, essentially saying, "People like them, they buy them, I paint them.". That's what I was responding to in the gift shop.
In 1976, in anger at the Uof A declining his proffered donation of his paintings and at the IRS which would have taxed his heirs at the assessed value of his paintings upon his death, he publicly burned 100 of the paintings. According to the newspaper article on one of the gallery walls, there was an outcry and he declared if he burned any more of them it would be privately. He never painted again after that.
The gallery is very extensive and seemed to go on forever. The architecture was fascinating, w/ varied textures including areas of the floors made of 4" pieces of jumping cholla cactus set on end in concrete w/ the ends highly polished and some stained, some inlaid w/ stones. It's well worth a wander and I'm glad I went beyond the gift shop. His work is not restricted to painting and drawing, but extends to stained glass and sculpture and ceramics and even some firescreens decorated w/ beads. I'm sure I didn't see everything, but what I saw engaged me.Listed in: My Arizona List, Galleries I Have Known and…
-
Review from Jeremy C.
New York, NY
1/27/2010
If you visit Tucson, The De Grazia Gallery In the Sun is a must visit--especially if you are an art enthusiast. Set aside about at least an hour and a half or two, so you can check out his temple and get enough time to observe all of the work in his gallery.
-
Review from Carrie B.
10/15/2009
Take your family and go here instead of Tucson Studios. An honest cultural experience at the home of a reigning Tucson cultural icon.
-
Review from Chris E.
Phoenix, AZ
12/30/2009 14 photos
12/29/2009
Tweet: Iconic Arizona Artwork, A Good Tucson Art Visit
The ladies are headed out on a one day Tucson road trip tomorrow. Sweet D mentioned De Grazia's. I never met Ted Degrazia, but I've known several people who knew him. From the Clifton/Morenci mining district, he was a product of Arizona and his Spanish/Southwest heritage. His brushwork is instantly recognizable. It iconically defined the Arizona Highways-style Arizona of the 1960's and '70's.
He was talented, hungry, and prolific. He built this gallery and property reflecting his soul, drive, and marketing genius. The gift store has it all. Cute cards, prints of all sizes; mass market, numbered editions, originals. There are sculptures, castings and things for sale from every medium he worked in.
The store is not the most important part of this very personal gallery. I don't know what the future will do with Ted De Grazia, but he may end up being a defining southwest/Arizona artist as centuries pass. He traveled all places rural and indigenous in Arizona. He captured in his style, the look and life of American Indian people in the age between deeply traditional lives and the modern life of HUD homes, indoor plumbing, and youth adopting the look and values of MTV.
He built rooms to exhibit series of his theme work. For example, Yaqui Pascua ceremonies mixing Christian Easter tradition with ancient deer dances. His depictions of Apache, O'odham, Hopi, Navajo and other southwest peoples are found throughout the gallery.
Another room is a Southwest arboretum, light streaming through the ceiling, lighting the colorful walls. Surviving plants line shelves and one leopard-leaved sprouter has its bulblets plucked and taken home to grow by those wanting a little of what Degrazia, or one of his women, liked.
DeGrazia captured his connection to his Spaniard ancestors. A passage guides you to a gallery devoted to the epic journey of that tough Spaniard Cabeza de Vaca and his equally tough companion Esteban on their shipwreck-caused journey from the Gulf of Mexico to Zuni Pueblo searching for Cibola's cities of gold. The Zunis have a kachina figure for Esteban. When Esteban arrives in a ceremony, greed and lust have come to play their part in the night dance dramas. The story says Esteban's dark skin and nappy headed uniqueness made him a favorite among women wherever he walked. He demanded the wrong Zuni woman or women and wanted to be king. His journey ended at Zuni pueblo. Cabeza de Vaca wandered down the Rio Grande to the Gulf and back to Spain alone. That body of work, in it's own gallery, isn't on greeting cards, calendars, or cello-wrapped mattes. It was non-commercial, straight from the heart.
A lot of DeGrazia's finer details are weathering away. Entering his home and gallery was entering his art. The colorful scrap aluminum flowers at the front gate of his saguaro-rib and ocotillo fence fade and fall. Years ago, Sweet D and I found a crippled wind chime/mobile providing sound and movement near a small gallery that was probably his original home. Chimes were on the ground, the aluminium chains and connectors disconnected and dangling. Somebody cared a lot for the big stuff, but didn't see the details that tell about the guy who took his wispy, colorful brush-streaked art, raised it to a form that let him live where and how he wished on a few acres that used to be a long way from anywhere.
Sweet D is taking Mom and the sisters there today. I hope they fix the mobile. If you're in Tucson, go to De Grazia's Gallery in the Sun on a quiet spring weekday. I think it's worth the trip. -
Review from Mike E.
Tucson, AZ
5/12/2007
For out of town guests or for Tucsonans, a nice place to visit. It is the artist's studio and home in his later years. The grounds are a fun place to walk and you can get a sense of the man that went into the superstition mountains and burned his art to save his family from taxes.
