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Sage Art Market returns for 7th year

BY ALEX GALLAGHER Progress Staff Writer

Although last year’s Arizona Sage Art Market was scaled down and spread about the Holland Center, a new format evolved that has changed how it will operate moving forward. As social distancing measures forced events to have more between them, the Arizona Sage Art Market had its vendors operate both inside and outside the Holland Center. “Last year was the first year that we did a hybrid of indoor and outdoor where we drastically spaced and limited the number of tables inside and moved quite a few outside,” said Jennifer Rosvall, the center’s executive director. “It was smaller than we had hoped for but everyone loved it and we thought ‘let’s try it again this year to see how it goes.’ So far, we have a lot of interest in it.” Nearly 50 vendors have been juried and agreed to vend and display their craft during the two-day event next Friday and Saturday, March 18-19. “There’s so many vendors that absolutely loved this because of the pandemic and being outside,” Rosvall said. Additionally, most of the artists on hand will be showing and selling their art for the first time at the Sage Art Market. “The neat thing is that we have so many new artists, which I love,” Rosvall said. “Over seven years, we’ve had a lot of the same artists who kept coming back, but this year we have seen a very large number of new artists.” This is partially because of the first Win-

After finding success with hosting the market indoors and outdoors last year, the Arizona Sage Art Market plans to keep the format moving forward. (Special to the Progress)

Sculptor Jim Holbert shows off one the floral sculpture pieces he made for a special exhibit at the Arizona Butterfly Wonderland Conservatory as part of their “Art in seeSAGE page 36

Sculptures and butterflies mingle in exhibit

BY ALEX GALLAGHER Progress Staff Writer

Dee Mangulins, executive director of Butterfly Wonderland, was at a restaurant one evening over the summer and overheard a couple chatting about a sculptor’s works they had just seen.

Intrigued, Mangulins continued to eavesdrop until he caught the artist’s name. It turned out to be Jim Holbert, who works primarily with clay and metal to create visually stunning pieces.

Mangulins googled Holbert and contacted him for an idea that would merge art and nature. The result was “Art in Bloom,” a unique exhibition of handmade floral sculptures displayed among thousands of butterflies in Butterfly Wonderland’s conservatory. Holbert admits the job was easy for him to take as he knew this would be a great opportunity to gain exposure for his art. “For any artist who puts their work out there, the sheer number of people looking at the work is the key,” he said. “Here, I have an automatic audience of people coming to see the butterflies. It was a great opportunity to do that.” After agreeing to work with Mangulins, Holbert consulted entomologist Derek Kellogg to map out locations for his sculptures – and quickly discovered this would be a tall order to fill. “From there I met Derek and we started to map out locations,” Holbert said. “The challenge then became how to take what I was doing and make it fit in this place.” Holbert began bringing prototypes to seeBLOOM page 35

SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | MARCH 13, 2022 35 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Star Wars fans will relish this exhibit

BY ALEX GALLAGHER Progress Staff Writer

Star Wars fans no longer have to travel to a galaxy far, far away to get their fix. The Science of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! at Arizona Boardwalk’s latest exhibit features one of the original lightsabers created for Luke Skywalker for the 1980 film “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back;” a blaster gun used by Han Solo from the 1983 “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi” and one of the special effects helmets created for droid C-3PO in the 1980 flick. “This is amazing and beyond our wildest dreams,” said museum spokeswoman Karin Gallo. “This appeals to so many people from die-hard Star Wars fans to people who really like movies and seeing movie memorabilia.” The exhibit also displays materials like a vintage 1930s Graflex camera flash gun was used to construct Luke’s lightsaber. A keen eye will detect the original Graflex logo etched into the silver handle of Skywalker’s weapon of choice. Han Solo’s blaster was modeled after a German Mauser C96,which also is on display. “It’s fascinating to see what if you were tasked with needing a sci-fi weapon to see where they went to make that,” Gallo said. C-3PO’s head may hold the most intriguing backstory story. “C-3PO’s head is interesting in that Anthony Daniels, who played the iconic gold droid, complained throughout the production of “A New Hope” that the costume was completely uncomfortable and he said, ‘let’s work and get a more comfortable costume for me,’” Gallo said.

An original C-3P0 special effects head prop from the Star Wars fi lm series is on display at The Science of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! at Arizona Boardwalk.

(David Minton/Progress Staff Photographer) A Lightsaber prop used in the production of the fi rst two Star Wars fi lms can be

viewed at the exhibit. (David Minton/Progress Staff Photographer)

“With the helmet that we have here, the plastic on it shrunk during the plastic molding process making it too small for Daniels but pristine enough to use for close-up shots and special effects.”

While the props are the biggest attractions in the exhibit, patrons also can see call sheets and scripts from what would become “Return of the Jedi” as well as sketches and design ideas for the props used throughout the original Star Wars trilogy. seeSTAR WARS page 36

BLOOM ���� page 33

the conservatory and realized the pieces would have to be taller than he originally anticipated. “The first time I brought over a prototype, it got lost in the lush, dense look of the butterfly conservatory,” he said. “I really had to increase my scale to get things to stand out, otherwise they would get lost.”

Holbert also had to devise a color palette that would not overshadow the rest of the conservatory. “The goal was to ensure that the work doesn’t overshadow the true stars of the place, the butterflies,” he said. “The goal is to add a pop of color since butterflies are attracted to color and my work really accentuates and enhances the experience of the people who visit. “Everything in the conservatory is that rich porous green color and I worked hard at color combinations that would complement that backdrop.”

He also embraced the challenge of proving the connection between the natural world and the artistic world. “A lot of times, people are used to thinking of things that are natural and things that are man-made as being two separate things that don’t have any connection between them,” Kellogg said. “The work that Jim does is great at showing the interconnectivity where the natural world and the artificial world can blend together and complement each other.” Not only do the colors of the sculptures’ stems blend with natural plants, but the flowers attract species of butterflies that are naturally attracted to their colors. “It’s really cool to be able to see how effectively we’re able to mimic things that the butterflies are sort of naturally attracted to,” Kellogg said “A lot of the pieces in there mirror the colors of a lot of the flowers in there. Because of that, you’ll see the butterflies that are attracted to flowers of those colors be attracted to the flowers of the same color on the sculptures.”

Kellogg believes it has also enhanced the beauty within the conservatory. “One of the things this really does is it gets people to think about this as a space that’s more than just a place where there’s a lot of butterflies and some random plants,” he said. “Everything has a purpose and even an aesthetic purpose where there’s a beauty that exists in exhibits like this that really enhances and brings out.”

Holbert also hopes that his sculptures offer a unique way for younger audiences to view the conservatory. “I really wanted this exhibition to be a complement to their experience,” he said. “Sure, kids may not walk up to the sculptures and study them the way an adult would, but to see a butterfly land on the sculpture is really fun.” In total, Holbert has produced 10 sculptures with an 11th on its way and a 12th in the development stages. Additionally, the sculptures of Art in Bloom at Butterfly Wonderland are available for purchase and Holbert will be donating a portion of the proceeds to the Butterfly Wonderland Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to conservation-based education and initiatives. Holbert will be creating smaller scale pieces to be displayed in the lobby and sold as well. “I want people to appreciate my work and I want it to have a positive impact on their experience here,” Holbert said.

Info: butterflywonderland.com

Sculptor Jim Holbert lets a Malachite butterfl y rest on his fi nger inside Arizona Butterfl y Wonderland Conservatory.

(David Minton/Progress Staff Photographer)

ter Artisan Market that the Holland Center hosted alongside the Sonoran Arts League in December that exposed Rosvall to a pool of over 600 artists. “This brought us some new interest and opened this up to people who didn’t know that we were there,” Rosvall explained. Though there has been a spike in interest from new artists, the show is juried and therefore has parameters in place to ensure that the art is original and uniquely created. “You’re going home with an original or numbered and signed limited edition piece,” Rosvall said. In addition to owning a one-of-a-kind piece of art, Rosvall underscored the impact that customers who purchase art from the Arizona Sage Art Market have on the local economy. “It’s really important to us as we’ve been going through the pandemic that we as community members support our local artists and businesses because they don’t have the support of a bigger business behind them or they have their own financial burdens,” she said. With a wide array of beautiful and unique art to choose from, perhaps the most unique part of the process is the checking out. “We set high expectations in the application but the uniqueness of the Sage Art Market is that we do a general checkout where volunteers fill out paperwork and it goes to one checkout room where customers can check out at one time,” Rosvall said. “This offers those artists who don’t typically sell in shows and that like to come out once a year to be with the people and sell their pieces.”

Whether people purchase a piece of art at the market or gawk at the vendors displaying indoors and outdoors, Rosvall hopes that the event helps artists reach new audiences and highlights some hidden gems. “The mission of the Holland Center is to

STAR WARS ���� page 35

“You get to go back in time and go behind the scenes to see how this was made, how they came up with certain props and names that are now household names who played these iconic characters on their call sheet,” Gallo said. Guests can also take as many photos as they please, as the exhibition was designed for the sole purpose of creating a layout for guests to interact with and share the beloved props. “We made the exhibit so that there’s photo opportunities,” Gallo said. “It’s a great opportunity to see the real deal up close and experience a little bit of the force.” While Gallo admits she wanted to secure the exhibit a month later on May 4 – which has become known as Star Wars Day – she is happy that the exhibit was able to be procured during a high time for The Science of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! at Arizona Boardwalk. “The folks at Ripley’s had told us about this from the beginning but these are so iconic and Ripley’s has a lot of fixed attractions across the country that rotate and are in high demand,” she said. “We were lucky to get on the list and secure this during spring break but this is only here for a very limited time until March 27.” As anticipation begins to rise for the premier of the next Star Wars project,

SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | MARCH 13, 2022 drive arts, education and community service in our community,” she said. “We’re about bringing in the artists that are up and coming, are a hidden gem or are not yet ready to show at a bigger show. I love that this is a market for all artists.”

If you go

What: Arizona Sage Art Market When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 18-19 Where: The Holland Center, 34250 N. 60th St. Cost: Free Info: HollandCenter.org

the Disney+ series Obi-Wan Kenobi – which begins streaming on May 25 – Gallo believes that this is a great way for Star Wars fans to get ready. “We let you keep your Star Wars fandom high,” she said. “We are the break in between the shows, so come see the memorabilia and get your Star Wars fix.” Guests are also encouraged to dress in their favorite Star Wars attire or as a beloved movie character.

Information: Ripleysaz.com

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