Fran is also owner of the world’s largest collection of Legendware of Sedona pottery created by Valenty Zaharek, who was a very good sculptor as well as pottery designer and she has the first commercial pottery ever produced by him. That is something many people don’t know. She also is a curator on modish.net, which celebrates all things modern. Fran Elliott’s particular area of expertise as a qualified Fine Arts appraiser is in regional Arizona artwork, especially by early women artists (1900 - 1950). She has been published in the Museum of Northern Arizona “Plateau Journal” in 2003 and has been asked to speak on the subject to many museums and groups throughout the Southwest. She is also the founder and chairperson of the Arizona Chapter of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, (www.aznmwa.org), and her personal collection of early Arizona women artists represents the largest one of its kind. Fran came to Sedona after living with her husband, Ed, in Nairobi, Kenya for five years. People there lived in slums, there were civil wars and Islamic militants. It was a very dangerous place to live. And after Ed’s business partner was murdered they decided to leave. She had only ever been to Phoenix and didn’t really like it but all it took was a drive up Highway 179. Once she saw the red rocks of Sedona they had a house within a week and have never left.
Barbara Litrel l Barbara Litrell, like Martha Mertz and Fran Elliott, has done a lot to advocate women’s issues and promote the importance of empowering women. Most locals in Sedona know Barbara from being on the Sedona City Council where she brings more than forty years of knowledge in education, business, nonprofit and community volunteer experience. She grew up in New York and spent twenty eight years in advertising sales and management with the New York Times and as a publisher of national magazines including McCall’s, Working Woman and Working Mother reaching out to more than fifty eight million women. In 2000 she formed B. Litrell Communications Corp. and had her own business for four years. Barbara came to Sedona after winning a timeshare week at a silent auction during a golf tournament in New York. After trying to figure out where to go with her busy schedule, a girl in her office visited Sedona and brought her back “Vortex in a Can” and said golf was great there. An avid golfer, Barbara decided that was the place to go. So with her husband, Michael, they arrived at 10 pm and when they awoke they did the “Oh My God, look at the red rocks” epiphany so many visitors have and tried to experience everything they could in Sedona by foot, air and car. They bought a time share that first trip and began visiting every six months and by the time they retired, Red Rock fever hit hard and they bought their first house in Verde Santa Fe where Barbara planned to play golf every day. Her dad moved down and lived next door. But she soon found herself wanting to get involved in the community, first getting immersed in water issues which parlayed into other equally important stands such as the aging population, the lack of diversity in businesses and the health care system. She also sold real estate for several years. Barbara has been President of Keep Sedona Beautiful, dedicated to preserving the wonder of Sedona; Executive Director of Verde Valley Caregivers Coalition; a board member of the National Association of Women Business Owners launching the Annual Entrepreneurial Excellence Awards Program spotlighting women business owners in Sedona and the Verde Valley. She has been on the Sedona City Council since 2008. For the past seven years, Barbara has organized and co-chaired Mitzvah (Good Deed) Day- the largest one day of volunteer service activities benefiting organizations and individuals throughout Sedona and the Verde Valley. And for ten years, she has run an annual Mary Magdalene Celebration in Sedona with the goal of empowering women spiritually and socially. One of her inspirations is Sister Joan Chittister, a Benediction nun, author and speaker who writes and speaks on women in the church and society, promoting human rights, peace and justice. People who accomplish and inspire others, like the pioneer women who had the courage to make major moves and Hillary Clinton who as a wife, mother and public figure is smart and competent are an inf luence on Barbara.
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Fran continues to work hard on her two projects. Getting Arizona history to recognize women can paint and continuing her Hairy Angel Foundation are two huge endeavors that some people can only dream about.
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