JAVA.Feb.2019

276 • FEB 2019 

STUDIO MA • JENNIFER & JULIO • FIRST PLACE COFFEE • ANGELINA & ELISA

WONDROUS WORLDS 

ART & ISLAM THROUGH TIME & PLACE 

Discover more than 100 works of Islamic art from around the world and spanning a millennium. 

ON VIEW NOW THROUGH MAY 26 

PHXART.ORG 

CENTRAL + MCDOWELL 

@PHXART 

Wondrous Worlds: Art & Islam Through Time & Place is organized by the Newark Museum. Its premiere at Phoenix Art Museum is made possible through the generosity of the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust Exhibition Endowment Fund, and supported by 

E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, APS, and OUTFRONT Media. image credit (detail): Molded Luster Tile with Sentence Fragment in Raised Calligraphy, Floral, Avian and Geometric Motifs (detail), Kashan, Iran, first half of the 13th century. 

Molded fritware polychrome painted over white slip under transparent glaze. Newark Museum Gift of Herman A. E. Jaehne and Paul C. Jaehne, 1938.

Upcoming Concerts 

Villalobos Brothers and 

Flor de Toloache 

February 4 

Kalani Pe‘a 

February 6 

David Huckfelt of the Pines 

with Special Guests Keith 

Secola and Tom Walbank 

February 15 

Makana 

February 28 

And many more! 

THE BAD PLUS 

Tue., February 12 | 7 p.m. | $33.50–$43.50 

“By any standard, jazz or otherwise, it is 

moving, mighty music . . . bad to the bone, 

hot players with hard-rock hearts.” 

—Rolling Stone 

2019 Concert Series sponsored by 

MIM.org | 480.478.6000 | 4725 E. Mayo Blvd., Phoenix, AZ

CONTENTS 

8 

12 

22 

30 

34 

FEATURES 

8 12 22 

34 

LOVE AND SPACE 

Studio Ma’s Christopher Alt & Christiana Moss 

By Jeff Kronenfeld 

CURATING COUPLE 

Jennifer McCabe and Julio Cesar Morales 

By Rembrandt Quiballo 

COMPLIANCE 

Photography: Bill Tonnesen 

DEVON MCCONVILLE AND 

TERRENCE MURTAGH 

Winning with First Place Coffee 

By Morgan Moore 

ANGELINA RAMIREZ AND ELISA 

LUCÍA RADCLIFFE 

Creative Coupling 

by Jenna Duncan 

Cover: Christopher Alt & Christiana Moss 

Photo by: Brad Reed 

COLUMNS 

7 

16 

20 

38 

40 

BUZZ 

Creative Couples 

By Robert Sentinery 

ARTS 

Barry Goldwater Photography 

By Ashley Naftule 

In, On and Of Paper 

By Mickey Foster Estes 

FOOD FETISH 

PT Pho Express 

By Sloane Burwell 

GIRL ON FARMER 

Year of Action 

By Celia Beresford 

NIGHT GALLERY 

Photos by Robert Sentinery 

JAVA MAGAZINE 

EDITOR & PUBLISHER 

Robert Sentinery 

ART DIRECTOR 

Victor Vasquez 

ARTS EDITOR 

Rembrandt Quiballo 

FOOD EDITOR 

Sloane Burwell 

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR 

Jenna Duncan 

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS 

Celia Beresford 

Mikey Foster Estes 

Kevin Hanlon 

Jeff Kronenfeld 

Morgan Moore 

Ashley Naftule 

Tom Reardon 

PROOFREADER 

Patricia Sanders 

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS 

Enrique Garcia 

Johnny Jaffe 

Bill Tonnesen 

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All rights reserved. 

Reproduction in whole or in part of any text, photograph 

or illustration is strictly prohibited without the written 

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Publisher assumes no liability for the information 

contained herein; all statements are the sole opinions 

of the contributors and/or advertisers. 

JAVA MAGAZINE 

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email: javamag@cox.net 

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4 JAVA 

MAGAZINE

THE HEARD MUSEUM PRESENTS 

ORGANIZED BY THE SOLOMON R. GUGGENHEIM FOUNDATION, NEW YORK 

OPENS ON FIRST FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2019 

PRESENTING SPONSORS: The Diane and Bruce Halle Foundation, Virginia M. Ullman Foundation 

Heard Museum | 2301 N. Central Ave. Phoenix, AZ 85004 | 602.252.8840 | heard.org 

Josef Albers, Study for Homage to the Square: Closing, 1964. Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York, Gift of the artist, 1969. 

© 2019 The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

BUZZ 

CREATIVE COUPLES 

By Robert Sentinery 

For February, JAVA celebrates the power of two. With Valentine’s Day just around 

the corner, we take a look at how coupling goes beyond romance toward creative 

collaboration. We’ve chosen four couples who are contributing in various ways to 

the greater cultural good of the Valley. 

Christopher Alt and Christiana Moss are founders of the architectural firm Studio 

Ma. For many, introduction to their work comes from driving past their office on 

Indian School Road and being roused out of complacency. The building’s oddly 

minimalistic exposed-timber construction, perhaps harkening back to the couple’s 

student days in Norway, is shocking in its own way. Their office is a microcosm of 

a much larger philosophy that has found expression in such impressive edifices as 

Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West, a 35,000-square-foot, gold-LEEDcertifi 

ed building in the heart of Old Town’s arts district. Much of what motivates 

Alt and Moss is their passion for bringing environmentally responsible strategies to 

building, in hopes of eventually reducing carbon footprints to net-zero. Their homelife 

goals are much simpler: preparing wonderful meals together and raising their 

daughter (see “Love and Space: Studio Ma’s Christopher Alt & Christiana Moss,” p. 8). 

Jennifer McCabe and Julio Cesar Morales are curators at two of the Valley’s top 

art museums, SMoCA and ASUAM, respectively. The individual paths that brought 

them to curating and brought them together are very different. McCabe was born in 

Grand Rapids, Michigan, but grew up mostly in Atlanta, where her father pursued 

his career. Morales was born in Mexico and grew up in the borderlands between 

Tijuana and San Diego. He was the first of his family to attend college, landing at 

the San Francisco Art Institute. McCabe ended up in the Bay Area to pursue her 

master’s degree in art history. 

Prior to the tech boom and gentrification, San Francisco was a hotbed for the arts 

and creativity. The couple met during those glory days. When opportunities dried up, 

Morales accepted a position at ASU. The couple and their two children have settled 

well here. McCabe was recently promoted to director and chief curator at SMoCA, and 

Morales is known not only for his curatorial work at ASU but also for his fine art career 

(see “Curating Couple: Jennifer McCabe and Julio Cesar Morales,” p. 12). 

Angelina Ramirez and Elisa Lucía Radcliffe were married in New Mexico four years 

ago (prior to Arizona adopting same-sex marriage laws). The couple met through 

their passion for dance. Ramirez has been a Flamenco dancer for 27 years and runs 

Flamenco por la Vida. Radcliffe taught dance in schools for 12 years prior to taking 

a position with the Arizona Arts Commission. Despite their busy schedules, the 

couple is able to work together on their Creative Aging initiative, a program that 

brings arts/dance therapy to older individuals (see “Angelina Ramirez and Elisa 

Lucía Radcliffe: Creative Coupling,” p. 34). 

Devon McConville and Terrence Murtagh own and operate four companies together. 

The most visible is their First Place Coffee truck that seems to show up at all 

the cool spots around town. The couple is the essence of creative collaboration 

and entrepreneurship, bouncing ideas off each other and balancing each other’s 

strengths and weaknesses. And they serve some of the best lattes in town. (See 

“Winning with First Place Coffee,” p. 30.)

Photo: Brad Reed 

When Christopher Alt and Christiana 

Moss talk about building a future 

together, their vision is somewhat 

grander than your standard white picket 

fence. Two of the founders of the Phoenix-based, 

award-winning architecture and environmental 

design firm Studio Ma, the couple’s portfolio ranges 

from gigantic research facilities to museums, 

apartment buildings, single-family homes and 

even statues. What unifies all their projects – 

including their marriage – is a belief in the power 

of architecture to change the way people think 

about and interact with their surroundings. Driven 

by client missions – whether it’s a museum telling 

the story of the West or a builder creating a model 

for sustainable urban development – their brand of 

restorative architecture helps people live better. 

Alt and Moss share two passions: design and 

cooking. When they’re not together whipping up 

meals with their 13-year-old daughter at their home 

(which is net-zero, meaning it produces as much 

energy as it consumes), they’re collaborating with 

builders and clients on some of the most forwardthinking 

construction projects in the Valley and 

beyond. This spirit of collaboration defines both their 

personal and professional lives, as it has since they 

first met at Cornell University College of Architecture 

in the early ’90s. 

“It’s fair to say that architecture brought us together,” 

Alt admitted early in our interview. 

In school, they saw a lot of each other. Together, they 

grew impatient with the overly theoretical approach 

to architecture popular at the time. When Norwegian 

architect Sverre Fehn visited campus, his focus on 

place-based architecture and discussion of the ideas 

of his countryman Christian Norberg-Schulz struck 

a chord with the budding couple. Together, they 

decided to follow Fehn north and across the sea to 

study at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design 

in Norway. 

“It was an exciting time in Oslo,” Moss recalled. “It 

wasn’t about a series of abstractions or applying 

these big, heroic ideas to a building or to a concept. 

It was really about thinking about yourself within the 

space and doing that on a pretty deep level.” 

Nestled beside the Oslofjord, Norway’s capital 

then hosted a slew of startups and established 

architectural firms experimenting with new 

approaches, materials and values – many that have 

since become mainstream, such as an emphasis on 

sustainability. One of these firms, Snøhetta, had just 

beat out 1,400 other entrants from around the world to 


MAGAZINE

Photo: Bill Timmerman 

design the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, a major library and cultural center in Egypt built on 

the site of the famous Library of Alexandria of antiquity. 

However exhilarating the intellectual and professional environment was, the 

climatic and cultural differences proved a little shocking at first. “We got there in 

January, so it was very dark. People seemed to hibernate in the winter,” Moss said. 

“Most of the students actually left work pretty early. They all had lives outside of 

work, which was unusual for us. We were the ones who stuck around the studio 

until really late at night. We would talk to each other about the work. I think that’s 

where we really began to collaborate.” 

The two were passionate about architecture and each other. While there, their 

relationship progressed. They discussed how to navigate the inevitable issues that 

would occur around being both a couple and business partners. “It really was rooted 

in the idea of equality and that each can contribute unique skills or tendencies in the 

relationship, but that we share responsibilities across the board,” Alt said. 

Though the pair considered staying in Europe as expats, they ended up returning to the 

U.S., graduating from Cornell and then interning in New York City with German-born 

architect Simon Ungers. While there, they worked on a number of exciting projects, 

including a winning design for a Berlin Holocaust memorial. However, soon Arizona 

beckoned. 

“I was just taken by the desert, the beauty and intensity of it – its way of forcing 

you to be very aware of your surroundings,” Alt recalled of his impressions from his 

first visit to the state. “You become more aware of light and of the landscape, of 

the plant and animal life. It really just heightened all of my sensibilities.” 

There was more than just the stark aesthetics of the desert that drew the 

ambitious young couple. Phoenix’s unique architectural history, the fact that it is 

home to the experimental schools of Frank Lloyd Wright and Paolo Soleri, and 

ASU’s strong architectural program were also incentives. However, there was 

another important factor. Back east, the couple would have to fit their imaginations 

JAVA 9 

MAGAZINE

into already established contexts. This young desert 

metropolis offered the pair an opportunity to make 

their mark in a big way. 

The couple moved to Phoenix and set up shop 

downtown after winning a competition about 

possible uses for the city’s canals. They saw the 

watery thoroughfares as an opportunity to create a 

unique aesthetic within the endless tracts of ranch 

houses and strip malls. They had a different story 

to tell about desert cities. Rather than imposing an 

alien landscape at great material cost, they would 

reflect the natural environment while reducing 

resource consumption. 

Together with architect Dan Hoffman, they formed 

Studio Ma in 2003. Ma is a Japanese word and 

concept that roughly translates to space or negative 

space. Rather than conceiving of space as an 

absence of matter, ma speaks to it as something 

positive that integrates disparate elements. 

“When you make things, you’ve immediately created 

a relationship to other things,” Alt explains. “That 

kind of dynamic, thinking about space as a positive 

element (despite being called negative space), is 

really what you’re creating; you’re defining space. Ma 

got to the essence of that, and we were excited that 

there was a term to represent us.” 

Here Moss chimed in, noting the Japanese penchant 

for laconic efficiency in capturing such an expansive 

concept with a mere two letters. For Moss and Alt, 

not only does the term communicate an essential 

aesthetic value, it also embodies their deep 

commitment to designing buildings that are more 

than standalone structures. They want to create 

dwellings truly integrated with the surrounding 

human and natural environments. For them, every 

project is a way to tell a story and iterate a vision for 

the future. 

Case in point is their design for Western 

Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West. The 

43,000-square-foot facility, located in the heart of 

Old Town Scottsdale, instantly became one of the 

city’s landmarks, exemplifying many of the beliefs 

and ideas of Moss and Alt. Certified with an LEED 

Gold rating, the building blends form and function 

seamlessly. It features a number of bioswales, 

landscape features meant to remove pollution and 

debris from runoff, something critical for large 

developments embedded in mostly impermeable 

desert soil. The enclosed central courtyard houses 

a sculpture garden and a “weeping wall” that 

collects rainwater and HVAC condensate, which 


MAGAZINE

is put to use on site, conserving the desert’s most 

precious resource: water. 

The building also introduces lots of natural light, 

which translates to energy savings. “The idea that 

you’d have this sky space in the center that really 

organized the museum was, I would say, the main 

idea,” Moss explained. “The galleries move around 

that courtyard. You’re always moving and circulating 

in reference to that sky space and negative space in 

the center.” 

They drew inspiration from icons of the West such as 

horseshoes, woven baskets and red cliffs. Learning 

from desert organisms, the structure mimics their 

strategies for coping with extreme heat. The concrete 

exterior is ribbed, which generates passive vertical 

shade, the same way the corrugated shape of a 

saguaro cactus does. Suspended above the museum 

is a woven metal structure that shades the building 

without absorbing too much heat itself. During the 

construction, three-quarters of the non-hazardous 

debris was recycled. The museum’s theater has 

outstanding acoustics due to sound attenuation 

blankets made with locally sourced cotton. 

“The founding couple of this architectural firm, with 

keen listening and other communication skills, got it 

from the get-go,” said Mike Fox, the museum’s CEO. 

“The facility’s design, choice of materials, color, shapes 

and building techniques evoke respect for the culture 

and geography of the greater American West.” 

As Michael Crow, Arizona State University’s 

president, sought to reconceive the landscape of 

public higher education in the 21st century through 

his vision for a “New American University,” 

Studio Ma translated his vision through several 

major construction projects. They redesigned the 

Memorial Union after a fire and helped direct the 

construction, completing it in only a few short 

months. Despite the rushed timetable, the design 

won a Kimper Goodwin award. 

Another exciting project at ASU was Studio Ma’s 

proposal to turn an Interdisciplinary Science and 

Technology building into a net-zero facility featuring 

on-site farming, while incorporating a cutting-edge 

carbon capture system that turns air pollution into 

fertilizer. “I think it’s actually shaped our vision of 

the future and the idea that architecture can be 

restorative in terms of all of the issues we’re facing 

with our climate,” Moss said. “Architecture and the 

built environment are really key parts of getting us 

out of this problem.” 

While the Museum of the West and the redesign of 

ASU’s central building offer the chance to tell vast 

sagas, other projects allow Alt and Moss to explore 

smaller, but no less important, stories. One example 

is an urban infill development of 12 condominium 

homes in downtown Phoenix, called PRD 845. Though 

it may sound like the name of a droid from the Star 

Wars franchise, the design was anything but clunky. 

In fact, it won an American Institute of Architects 

Merit Award in 2008. 

With rooftops of varied heights – mimicking the 

form of surrounding mountain ranges – each unit 

features a deck with views, something Alt and Moss 

feel is essential to fully appreciating the surrounding 

desert. The affordable, highly energy-efficient and 

dense design is a model for downtown Phoenix, an 

area struggling to balance the competing demands 

of increasing density and reducing environmental 

impact while minimizing the displacement of 

existing communities. 

“Our responsibility is to think, first and foremost, 

that whatever we build should give something back,” 

Moss explained. “I think architecture has an ability to 

affect the way people experience their everyday lives. 

We also see a huge potential to help communities 

and people get better connected to place. When 

people experience it for the first time, it’s a big aha 

moment that we enjoy bringing to them.” 

For Alt and Moss, buildings aren’t just buildings, in 

the same way their relationship isn’t just personal 

or professional. Recognizing the many functions of 

dwellings is a way to change harmful consumption 

patterns while also connecting people. For them, 

collaborating on design or dinner is always a labor 

of love. 


MAGAZINE

Portraits: Rembrandt Quiballo 

Curating Couple 


By Rembrandt Quiballo 


MAGAZINE


are the embodiment of collaboration, not 

only in their professional life but in their 

relationship as well. They’ve been married 

for eleven years and have two kids together: Enzo, 

five years old, and Prado, nine. Of course, they would 

tell you their children are their greatest achievement. 

However, their list of accomplishments in the art 

world is accumulating by the year. 

They bring with them years of experience working 

in the arts in the Bay Area. Though McCabe and 

Morales have never worked together on a definitive 

project, they’re always bouncing ideas off each other 

and utilizing each other as a resource to better inform 

their curatorial and artistic decisions. 

Most recently, both have been making their mark in 

the Valley. McCabe is the newly appointed director 

and chief curator at Scottsdale Museum of Art 

(SMoCA), having served as interim director; she’s 

also a PhD candidate in art history at ASU. Morales 

has been a curator at the Arizona State University 

Art Museum (ASUAM) for six years and continues to 

show his work nationally and internationally. 

They both know the best way for them to excel in 

their respective positions is by working together. 

“For Julio and I, often it’s like ships passing in the 

night,” McCabe said. “If I need more time, then he 

steps up and does more things around the house or 

more things with the kids, and vice versa. So we are 

supporting each other all the time.” 

McCabe and Morales are each deserving of 

attention in their own right. Nonetheless, they were 

enthusiastic about being interviewed as a couple. To 

them, collaboration is the key to their marriage, and 

it’s embedded in how they approach art and life. 

“We cook together nearly every night,” McCabe 

said. “We make an effort to cook real food and sit 

at the table as a family every night of the week. For 

holidays or larger dinner parties, we share tasks and 

often move around the kitchen together, but each 

working on our own thing. Like other aspects of our 

relationship, we support each other.” 

McCabe was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her 

father was in sales, and the family accompanied him 

as he moved in pursuit of furthering his career. They 

ended up in Atlanta, where she spent her formative 

years. She traveled to Arizona to attend ASU, 

majoring in photography. 

McCabe didn’t want to be an artist, although she was 

passionate about art, so she studied art history at 

San Francisco State University. Initially, she wanted 

to attend the more prestigious UC Berkeley, but now 

sees the choice as a blessing. “It ended up being the 

greatest thing, because I realized later that Berkeley 

was pretty traditional in its art history and art 

historical approaches. At SFSU my professors were 

feminist-theory scholars, Afro-Caribbean studies and 

gay/lesbian art history studies. It was super diverse. I 

realized that was just where I wanted to be.” 

Morales was born in Tijuana, Mexico, and grew up in 

the borderlands between Tijuana and San Diego. His 

parents were always busy, working multiple jobs, so 

as a child he cooked and took care of his little brother 

every day. He was studying to be a graphic designer 

but got into photography as a form of expression. 

“My more artistic side came from my grandfather,” 

Morales said. “He loved telling stories, so I moved 

from the idea of storytelling to using a camera to tell 

stories. I came to art through graphic design, through 

music and my grandfather’s ability as an amazing 

storyteller.” 

Morales was the first from his family to go to college; 

he attended the San Francisco Art Institute. After 

graduating, he immersed himself in the burgeoning 

art scene, which at the time was filled with 

alternative and artist-run spaces, offering fertile 


MAGAZINE

ground for creative risk taking and experimentation. 

He also taught classes at local colleges. 

McCabe and Morales were both in the Bay Area 

for years before they met at New Langton Arts, 

a nonprofit art space renowned for its innovative 

programming and commitment to artists. McCabe 

was a curator and assistant director at the alternative 

space when she met Morales, who was brought in as 

an artist to work on a project. 

Soon after, the couple married and thrived together 

in the San Francisco arts scene. Notably, McCabe 

served as executive director and chief curator of the 

Museum of Craft and Folk Art, and Morales founded 

an artist-run gallery space, Queens Nails, known 

for its forward-thinking programming. He was also 

curator at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. 

Eventually, the Bay Area began to change. “We were 

in San Francisco, and we started to feel the next 

wave of gentrification with Google and everyone 

else moving in, and all the prices were going 

like bonkers,” Morales said. “So we saw it as an 

adventure. There was this interesting position [at 

ASU], and they were really open to me curating more 

socially based projects, so we ended up here.” 


MAGAZINE 

An important reason for them coming to Phoenix was 

to effect change through the arts. Morales recalls 

that the first time they arrived here, “I almost got 

arrested and thrown in jail because I am brown. The 

only thing that saved me was her [McCabe] being a 

blue-eyed blonde, and there was a kid in the back. 

But the first words out of the officer were, ‘Boy, you 

better learn the rules around here.’ He threatened to 

take me to jail for thirty days, and I knew somehow I 

was at the right place.” 

Both McCabe and Morales are continuing what 

they started in San Francisco, giving a platform to 

promising artists who have something substantial to 

say. “We met while working for an organization that 

was artist-focused, and I first came to know Julio as 

an artist,” McCabe said. “We came from that base 

of working with emerging artists, making new work 

outside the pressures of a commercial gallery or an 

institution, being very experimental. That was how 

I learned about curating and working in the arts. 

It’s something that I still hold very dear, something I 

really enjoy.” 

“One of the things I love doing is commissioning new 

work,” Morales said, “helping emerging artists go to 

the next level with a lot of support and mentorship. 

Also working with artists that have a social-based 

ambition. You could say ‘social practice,’ but really 

art that is relevant in these times and this cultural 

climate we’re experiencing right now.” 

For example, Morales curated the first U.S. show of 

video and performance artist Koki Tanaka, who later 

represented Japan in the Venice Biennale. Soon, Tanaka 

and his wife will co-curate a show entitled Rogue 

Objects, a selection of ceramic works from ASUAM’s 

permanent collection that have never been shown. 

This kind of creative cultivation has become Morales’ 

modus operandi. The relationships he builds become 

full-blown projects, resulting in dynamic and important 

exhibitions that raise the cultural profile of Arizona. 

“I’d like to see Phoenix become what L.A. is now, and 

that’s part of what we strive for,” he said, “bringing 

artists that can show anywhere in the world, but they 

choose to come to Phoenix to work with us.” 

Concurrently, Morales is working on his upcoming 

solo exhibition at the Phoenix Art Museum. He 

was awarded the 2018 Arlene and Morton Scult 

Contemporary Forum Artist Award, which recognizes 

a notable mid-career artist in Arizona. The prize 

includes $5,000 and an exhibition at PAM. 

McCabe is finishing her PhD at ASU and has 

employed her talent as a grant writer to receive

funding from the Andy Warhol Foundation that will support future exhibitions 

at SMoCA – including a show that ties into her dissertation, exploring 

performance in the landscape throughout several decades. But first, she has 

curated an all-video exhibition, Now Playing: Video 1999–2019, which will open 

during SMoCA’s 20th-anniversary celebration on February 15. 

“In the exhibition, we have two big immersive installations – one by Candice 

Breitz and the other by Shirin Neshat, whose work I saw 20 years ago and has 

resonated really deeply with me on many levels. The piece is called Turbulent. 

It involves music, public space, women’s issues and a variety of things. I’m 

really excited to bring it here and to see it again. There are a host of other 

artists who are either known for video or started with video and moved on to 

other things.” 

Collaboration has been crucial for McCabe and Morales’ relationship, in how 

they lead both their personal and professional lives. The future looks bright for 

this couple as they continue to shape the cultural landscape in the Valley. 

Now Playing: Video 1999–2019 

20th Anniversary Opening Celebration 

Friday, Feb. 15, 7–10 p.m. 

Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art 

smoca.org 

Julio Cesar Morales: Strangers When We Meet 

Arlene and Morton Scult Contemporary Forum Artist Award 

March 1–July 1, 2019 

Phoenix Art Museum 

phxart.org 

WINTER SHOW 

Opening February 1st • 6 pm to 11 pm 

Bassim Al Shaker, Bill Dambrova, Colin Chillag, Patricia Sannit 

Catherine Cole, Abbey Messmer, Falah Saeedi, Lisa Von Hoffner 

Raypule, Rafael, Anthony Pessler, Claire Warden, Charles Orme 

Sean Deckert, Rembrandt Quiballo, Fausto Fernandez 

Jay Hardin, Joe Brklacich, Daniel Funkhouser 

Diyar Al Asadi, David Emitt Adams 

M -F 10 am to 7 pm, Sat 10 am to 6 pm, Sun 10 am to 5pm 

First and Third Fridays 6 pm to 10 pm 

Art classes, event & meeting space 

Call for an appointment 602 777 8646 

222 E McDowell Road Phoenix, AZ 85004

ARTS 

BARRY GOLDWATER’S 

PHOTOGRAPHY 

At Scottsdale’s Museum of the West 

By Ashley Naftule 

“If I ever had a mistress, it would be the Grand 

Canyon,” Barry Goldwater once said. 

The five-time U.S. Senator wasn’t one to mince 

words – Goldwater’s legendary lack of filter was one 

of the factors that torpedoed his candidacy during the 

1964 presidential election. For all his strengths and 

weaknesses, Barry M. Goldwater was someone who 

meant what he said. 

But if you want to see tangible evidence of 

Goldwater’s lifelong infatuation with his home state, 

look no further than Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s 

Museum of the West (SMoW). The Old Town 

institution is displaying an exhibition called 

Photographs by Barry M. Goldwater: The Arizona 

Highways Collection. It’s the museum’s first-ever 

photography exhibition. Covering two walls adjacent 

to the museum’s gift shop, the Goldwater exhibition 

showcases photographic prints (mostly black-andwhites, 

with a few color shots) that the presidential 

hopeful took of Native Americans and natural vistas 

across the Southwest. 

It would be easy to approach this exhibition with a 

healthy dose of cynicism. Would this show even 

exist if Barry Goldwater wasn’t Barry Goldwater? 

Do the photos on display exhibit signs of artistic 

depth and true skill, or are they the work of a prolific 

hobbyist – someone whose work is appreciated 

because of his considerable reputation as a 

businessman and politician? 

The short answer to these questions: Yes, the work 

itself is actually really good. Goldwater’s black-andwhite 

shots, in particular, are stunning. He captures 

the beauty of the desert in monochromatic frames 

that recall the work of film director John Ford. 

With masses of silvery clouds sweeping across an 

expansive sky that looms over jutting cliff faces, 

“Valley of the Monuments, 1967” in particular feels 

like it was cut out of a scene from Stagecoach or My 

Darling Clementine. 

Tree branches heavy with snow, flocks of sheep 

milling on an unpaved road that’s cut through the 

center of a desolate field, a rotting wagon wheel 

standing tall and proud in the desert: Goldwater’s 

photos capture the beauty of nature in a melancholy, 

somber light. He also took photos of Navajo and Hopi 

that he encountered and befriended over the years, 

waxing lyrical in his descriptions about their “great 

dignity and great wisdom.” 

There isn’t any kind of tangible political intent or 

content on display in any of these photos. This 

isn’t Goldwater the small-government conservative 

behind the camera. It’s Goldwater the historian, the 

naturalist, the man who spent a good portion of his 

life documenting the vanishing West. 

And yet: It’s hard not to think about politics while 

looking at Goldwater’s lovely shots of Navajo 

spinsters at work or tall, snow-capped mountains. 


MAGAZINE

The gulf that exists between the kind of conservative 

Goldwater was and the ones in power now seems 

so wide as to be unbridgeable. Could you imagine 

someone like Mitch McConnell taking artistic photos 

for kicks? 

Looking at “Desert Corsage, 1936,” Goldwater’s 

beautiful close-up of a cactus blossom, it’s easy 

to buy into this vision of Goldwater as the kinder, 

gentler conservative. But it’s important to remember 

that this is the man whose decision to vote against 

the Civil Rights Act (based on an unyielding belief in 

small government) helped kick-start the “Southern 

Strategy” that encouraged the Republican Party to 

cultivate racists as a voting bloc. 

So as much as one tries to focus on the photography, 

it’s hard not to think about these things. It’s hard to 

look at Goldwater’s rich, artfully composed shots 

of the natural world and not think about state 

parks being vandalized and neglected during the 

government shutdown. It’s hard to look at photos of 

noble, wise Native Americans and not think of them 

being yelled at by adolescent punks in red hats. 

It’s hard to gaze at the shadows of mountains in 

the backgrounds of Barry Goldwater’s photographs 

and not think about an oil exec surveying the same 

landscape, wondering just how much oil can be 

ripped out of it. 

They are lovely photos. There’s no doubt about that. 

Goldwater knew his way around a shutter. 

Photographs by Barry M. Goldwater: The Arizona Highways 

Collection 

Through June 23 

Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West 

scottsdalemuseumwest.org 

Barry M. Goldwater, Native American Child, 1956; Courtesy of the Barry & 

Peggy Goldwater Foundation. 

Portrait of the Artist as a Married Man, Taken at Coal Mine Canyon between 

Tuba City and Third Mesa, c. 1935. Photo by Peggy Goldwater. Courtesy of 

the Barry & Peggy Goldwater Foundation. 

Barry M. Goldwater, Big Country,1953; Courtesy of the Barry & Peggy 

Goldwater Foundation. 

Barry M. Goldwater, Valley of the Monuments, 1967; Courtesy of the Barry & 

Peggy Goldwater Foundation. 


MAGAZINE

IN, ON AND OF PAPER 

AT BENTLEY GALLERY 

By Mickey Foster Estes 

Paper, as opposed to precursors such as papyrus, 

has only been around for about 2,000 years 

– its exact origins are unknown. The earliest 

documented papermaking process can be traced 

back to second-century China and Cai Lun, who is 

often regarded as the inventor of paper. Over the 

course of several centuries, his invention traveled 

into the Islamic world and then to Europe, where 

the wood-based paper of modern times would 

eventually be developed in the nineteenth century. 

The twenty-two artists in In, On and Of Paper, all 

of whom happen to be women, approach paper 

from a variety of angles: as a substrate, a raw 

material, a document. 

Presented at Bentley Gallery and curated by 

Rembrandt Quiballo, the exhibition is cohesive 

and well organized. Showcasing a wide range 

of artistic voices while maintaining a sharp yet 

varied focus on its subject, the exhibition stands 

as a testament to the versatility of paper as 

both a primary artmaking material and a reliable 

substrate for drawing, printmaking and collage. 

Part of its success lies in its presentation of 

a spectrum of approaches rather than limited 

groupings of like-with-like. 

The exhibition highlights paper’s contradictory 

relationship to both spontaneity and order. Paper 

indeed lends itself to improvisation (jotting 

down, if you will), but there’s always the limit of 

the sheet itself. In Kenosha Drucker’s works on 

paper, amorphous compositions ooze throughout 

the surface. Contoured by delicate black line, the 

liquid forms become strange configurations – one 

a humanoid blob, the other a muddled landscape. 

Ashley Macias’s Anatomical Reflections utilizes 

a similar mode of operation, but with a sense of 

neurotic abandon. Lines zip and zoom around to 

form a human head, depict an eyeball over here, 

scribble a message down there. Once your eye 

does find a place to settle, it simply goes for 

another spin. 

Paper goes hand-in-hand with knowledge. Monica 

Aissa Martinez’s A Human Cell as the City of 

Phoenix, as the title suggests, approaches the 

built environment of Phoenix as a microscopic 

organism. Equal parts playful and politically 

resonant, the work combines urban mapping and 

cell biology, suggesting the means by which we 

navigate the world on both a micro and a macro 

scale. The city, an organized grid with constructed 

hierarchies and pathways, guides the movements 

of its inhabitants. Government offices reside in the 

nucleus, along with the arts district. 

Several other works in the show approach paper 

with the diagrammatic language of science 

and mathematics. The works in Lena Klett’s 

Just Another Rock series are small renderings 


MAGAZINE

of natural forms that mix the visual references 

of geometry, stratigraphy and topography. As 

diagrams, the works seem to operate wholly 

under their own logic. Estrella Payton Esquillin’s 

material assemblages borrow from mapping and 

architecture. The disparate components of these 

collages – painter’s tape, graph paper, blueprints 

– undergo a kind of poetic classification in the 

short text fragments that caption each work. In 

the two works on paper by Danielle Hacche, the 

artist arranges shapes and lines into balanced 

configurations that resemble physics diagrams. 

The only video work in the show, Tokology by 

Ashley Czajkowski, is an homage to Dr. Alice B. 

Stockham, whose 1888 book of the same title 

foregrounded her as a radical figure in obstetrics 

and gynecology. Projected onto the top of an 

antique table, the video features a narrator 

perusing the blurred-out book, providing focus 

on its pages with a magnifying glass. A distorted 

voice reciting fragments of the book’s passages 

becomes a ritualistic hum. The work grapples with 

the relationship between women’s bodies and 

the medical industry, favoring a more natural and 

spiritual approach. 

A sense of he transformative reverberates 

throughout the show. Works by Annie Lopez and 

Katharine Leigh Simpson turn paper into wearable 

garments that convey identity. Sam Fresquez’s 

Nesting, a hand-cut paper tunnel situated in the 

center of the gallery, delicately catches light 

as you move around it. Cece Cole’s installation 

exemplifies paper’s materiality and plays with 

luminance, transparency and shadow. Arizona Fault 

Line by Beth Ames Swartz, the only work not made 

in the last several years, floats on the wall yet 

embodies the weight of volcanic rock. 

Paper is presented in this exhibition as a material 

that knows no bounds and has an extensive range 

of implications. Not only can it serve as a stand-in 

for other materials, such as fabric, metal or glass, 

but its status as a foundation of our everyday lives 

(which, today, might often be overlooked) positions 

it as one of the most important inventions in 

human history. 

In, On and Of Paper 

January 18 through March 9, 2019 

Bentley Gallery 

215 E. Grant Street, Phoenix 

www.bentleygallery.com 

Photos: John Dowd, Clutch Photos 


MAGAZINE


PHO SHO 

By Sloane Burwell 

Tucked into an L-shaped strip mall on the crazy corner of Camelback and 7th Ave. 

is a motley assortment of establishments that includes urgent care, a beauty 

supply store, a nail salon – and now PT Pho Express. Bright and well lit, this 

deceptively large restaurant has a streamlined menu and an “express” concept 

with a focus on ease, speed and deliciousness. 

Inside, the illuminated menu on the wall is split into two sections: drinks and 

food. The drink menu is robust and extensive. You’ll find the usual suspects like 

Vietnamese Ice Coffee ($4.95 large/$3.95 small), as well as loads of flavored teas. 

I’m partial to The Triple ($4.95 large/$3.95 small), a flavorful mix of mango, peach 

and strawberry, with lots of fresh fruit. My favorite is easily their Fresh Young 

Coconut ($4.95). This gorgeous drink is a white coconut shell with a hole cut in 

the top. While I love the cute paper umbrella that comes inside, I think people 

miss the point of the drink, and that is that the interior is meant to be scooped 

out and eaten. If you’ve never had it before, you should. It’s soft and pliable, and 

gently sweet. There is a shocking amount of coconut inside – please don’t leave 

it behind. 

PT Pho Express’s concept is to deliver a stripped-down menu of essential dishes, 

with a trick or two up their sleeve. If you are looking for traditional dishes here, 

you’ll find them, just in a “greatest hits” format. I adored the spring rolls – don’t 

skip the Shrimp ($5) or the BBQ Pork ($4). Each order comes with two gorgeous 

rolls, cut on the bias. Larger than you will find at other places, these rolls are 

packed with goodness and served with a respectable peanut sauce. Heat lovers 

can add more sambal or chili sauce to kick up the flavors. 

Their Cha Gio Tom and Shrimp and Basil Rolls ($8) are lovely. Each of the six 

shrimp is wrapped in wonton skins and a basil leaf. Not only is it pretty to look at, 

it’s impressively tasty. Encompassed by a perfectly deep-fried (that is code for “not 

greasy”) wrapper, each bite comes with an audible crack and splintering into a 

thousand pieces. Messy? A little. But so worth it. To mitigate some of the crunchy 

splintering, simply wrap each roll with the lettuce and herbs that come alongside. 

To be fair, we skipped the fish sauce that comes along with this dish and ordered 

more peanut sauce – it’s just that good. 

Ever the wing lover, I seldom skip them. I’m glad I didn’t here, because the Lemon 

Grass and Chilli Oil Wings ($7) are something special. I don’t remember that much 

chilli oil, but the wok-ed lemongrass and garlic is legion. And fragrant. There was 

easily a half a cup piled on top of the wings. These meaty wings are a meal in and 

of themselves. Piping hot and crispy as can be, dredging in the aforementioned 

lemongrass mixture produces an almost otherworldly flavor that is savory and 

refreshing. I believe the words “oh my god” were uttered at least once. 

While they focus on the classics, PT Pho Express certainly has a sense of humor. 

The PT Pho Burrito ($7) is a fun mix of all of the pho flavors, swirled in hoisin 

sauce and loaded into a perfectly wrapped tortilla. It’s fun, filling and pretty 

fabulous. They also serve a small bowl of pho broth alongside. I tried dipping it, 

like a French dip, but the tortilla texture in the broth creates a starchy mess. Instead, 

slurp the broth like it was soup. It’s warming, comforting and reminds you this is 

pho. Or pho adjacent, being a burrito and all. 

No trip to a Vietnamese spot is complete without pho. I adored the Rare Steak Pho 

($8). Slices of raw beef come alongside the usual pho suspects: piles of noodles, 

purple basil, cilantro, sliced jalapenos, bean sprouts and mountains of onions. I like 

to toss all the goodies into the pho and let the piping hot broth cook the beef and 

do its magic. The broth is liquid comfort. Meaty, earthy, warming – it hits all of the 

high notes and is my winter go-to comfort dish. Their broth is slightly fattier than 

what you find at other spots around town. There is no oil slick on top, but there is an 

iridescent puddle or two to indicate the presence of melted fat, and I love it. It lets 

you know that this is truly homemade, since this oily yum bomb only comes after 

hours and hours of prep work. You can speed up pho with canned broth mix, or even 

worse, the powdered kind. But it will never taste this good. 

If you love bhan mi, the crunchy Vietnamese sandwiches, order the Grilled Pork 

($5). At a mere five bucks, it feels almost criminal to get this much well-cooked pork 

folded into a sandwich. Here, it seemed like someone brushed the top of the bread 

with butter so that when grilled, it crisps even more. The impact launches crunchy 

fragments all over the table (are you sensing a theme here?), which is fun. And 

delicious. On the first visit, we thought the bhan mi could have used a titch more 

mayo, as it seemed slightly underdressed. This was not the case on other visits. 

Service is fast and friendly – adorably so. On our first visit, our server answered all 

of our questions and was charming and engaging. Water and iced tea glasses were 

filled without request or even notice on our part. Pay at the counter (we noticed 

this right away – don’t make the newbie mistake of waiting to pay your server), and 

consider their loyalty points program, which is a nice touch. I love the idea of free 

pho for eating lots of pho. Seems like a win/win to me. 

It’s interesting to think of a faster model of service for a Vietnamese joint. I think 

generally places like this are seen as quick and efficient – indeed, it’s part of 

the charm. What is unusual is the inclusion of an expanded drink menu that has 

as many fruit and boba drinks as food items. It’s also a great way to introduce 

Vietnamese food to new folks, or to expand dishes you might not have tried at 

other places. The point here is to simplify the menu and the process to demystify 

the cuisine. I find it effective. I also find it concerning – PT Pho Express was never 

empty, or even close, on every one of my visits, lunch and dinner. If they keep 

converting people to their fabulous pho, I might never get a table again. 


702 W. Camelback Road, Suite 1, Phoenix 

Open daily 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. 

ptphoexpress.com 


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COMPLIANCE 


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Photographer: 

Bill Tonnesen @bill.tonnesen 

Models: 

Ashley Orr @ashleysierraofficial 

Rielle Li @not_rielle 

Eden Bartok @3d3n 

Christina Hylton @christinaannnnn 

Portia Chapel @porscheeeee_ 

Rikki Bay-Kohler @baykohh 

Hair & Makeup: 

Rachel McEown @thehairdiaries77 

Kendra Brooks @kolourmekendra 

Produced by Lavatory @Lavatoryphx 

Lavatoryphx.com 

Artists: 

Marrioth Ling @marriothling 

Void Noir @vforvoid 

Lizzy Lubitsky @studiolubitsky 


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Photo: Elizabeth Chung 

Photo: Morgan Moore 

“Take me on an adventure” is one patron’s request at First Place Coffee on a cloudy 

Saturday in January. Parked outside Phoenix General and Framed Ewe, the coffee 

truck draws the curious, eager to try something new, as well as regulars who track 

down the truck daily for their usual. 

The request for adventure is fitting for the truck’s owners, Terrence Murtagh and 

Devon McConville. Not only because you won’t find this coffee shop in the same 

spot two days in a row, but because it’s a resolution set by the couple, who rejected 

their comfort zones and now manage four businesses that they would rather 

consider fun hobbies. 

The bright-red-and-navy coffee truck frequently parks at Rebel Lounge on Indian 

School near 24th Street and at the WebPT headquarters in the Phoenix warehouse 

district. First Place Coffee has also served drinks at such diverse locales as the 

FORM Arcosanti festival and more recently the Willo Luminaria fest. The business 

just celebrated its first anniversary on February 2. McConville can be seen behind 

the wheel and counter of the truck four to six days a week serving unique drinks and 

cool vibes. 

In addition to co-owning First Place, Murtagh is probably best known for Heavy 

Pedal – an apparel and equipment brand that has been serving the bike-riding 

community, both locally and globally, since 2009. Murtagh has two more companies: 

Brand Overture, a web design business, and Self Champ, a personal development 

venture. While they might seem dissimilar, both are about helping Murtagh’s 

clientele to improve and optimize. 

McConville defines herself as a leader, loyal and positive. Murtagh echoes this, 

saying she is dependable, reliable, strong and smart. You can see these traits in 

how she runs First Place Coffee. She is unwavering, cool, calm and collected, yet 

shares constant warmth. 

She describes her fiancé as adventurous, brave, hilarious, determined, 

spontaneous and entrepreneurial. Yet when asked, he prefers different adjectives: 

studious, a learner and also a teacher. 

You can see McConville’s description of Murtagh in his brands: just check out 

Heavy Pedal’s social media or his Self Champ website. Entrepreneurial seems like 

an understatement. His energy is present throughout his multiple businesses. But 

you can clearly see Murtagh’s description of himself behind his professional front 

– and when he’s near McConville. Next to her, he is attentive, quiet, listening, 

looking to her for information and confirmation, while giving her time. 

McConville and Murtagh complement each other: Murtagh brings big-picture 

thinking and entrepreneurial spirit, McConville, attention to detail and practicality. 

In their collective businesses and in their relationship, Murtagh is the writer, 

McConville the editor. Murtagh prompts a grand vision, McConville makes it fit 

with the business model. They use their strengths to support each other in their 

ventures when it is most needed, as well as in the small daily tasks that often go 

unseen. 

The couple has known each other for at least fifteen years and have been dating 

for eight. They met while Murtagh was writing (legal) graffiti near the now-closed 

Alice Cooperstown, and McConville watched him transition from a bike junkie and 

graphic design student to the entrepreneur he is now. 

Their romantic relationship started as a long-distance one after Murtagh moved 

to San Diego to work for a bike company. He returned to Phoenix to start Heavy 

Pedal one year later. While he moved dynamically through life transitions, 

McConville exhibited stability in her employment with a position in finance. 

They’ve both had plenty of experience in supporting each other’s start-up 

businesses. At the beginning, McConville provided the security cushion for 

JAVA 

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31



Murtagh to start Heavy Pedal – as well as her name, 

under which the company was legally founded. She 

played a tremendous role in setting up the first brick 

and mortar shop, as well. 

She also helped keep things afloat when Heavy 

Pedal was drawn into a lawsuit for violating a 

non-compete agreement, with unfounded claims of 

stolen trade secrets. Although Murtagh and his brand 

ultimately won the lawsuit, the deposition and legal 

proceedings halted Heavy Pedal’s sales for a year. 

Murtagh couldn’t forgo an income during that time, 

so he started working for a local company doing 

web design and online marketing, and wound up 

in a rut. He was tired of building up companies 

that weren’t his and wanted to use his skills to 

help others. From that, Brand Overture was born, 

and Self Champ followed to help people with more 

than just their website. 

McConville serves as the editor for all of Murtagh’s 

written work, reviewing and refining his streamof-consciousness 

ideas for public consumption. 

Meanwhile, during her eight years of working 

in finance, McConville suffered from a lack of 

fulfillment. The highlight of her workday was her trip 

to the coffee shop, and one day it finally lit a spark. 

She took the first leap “away from the misery” and 

joined the team at Royal Coffee Bar in 2015. 

She became enamored with the coffee business 

and connecting with passionate people. She put her 

heart and soul into learning the craft, and it wasn’t 

uncommon for patrons to assume she was the owner. 

Like Murtagh, though, she strived for true ownership, 

and knew she was capable of achieving it. So after a 

few years, she took the leap. 

When McConville was ready to start First Place, it 

was Murtagh’s turn to provide the financial support, 

with Heavy Pedal going strong for almost ten years. 

Like his fiancée, his role wasn’t just financial stability 

(she insists he contributed more to First Place than 

she had to his ventures). Most important, he provided 

much-needed motivation for McConville to take her 

first serious plunge into entrepreneurship. 

Murtagh not only pushed her to just start something, 

he helped her define her vision, and used his 

client work and Heavy Pedal audience to help fund 

their progress. (They discovered that the cycling 

community and coffee go hand in hand.) They worked 

together every day building the coffee truck after 

acquiring it from their friend Ariel Bracamonte, who 

owns Cobra Arcade Bar. Together they turned a 

cute but out of service Chevy P10 into a completely 

functional specialty coffee shop on wheels. 

They worked hard to get First Place Coffee onto the 

streets, and Kickstarter got them through the final 

stretch. Murtagh then set out to handle the design, 

marketing and social media for the company. He 

works mostly in the background of First Place, which 

makes sense since he has his own businesses to run. 

“I’d just have to hire someone,” McConville says to 

her partner with a laugh, when asked what would 

happen if he was no longer involved. “But if you 

weren’t around in my daily life, that’d be really sad.” 

“We really had this desire to create community. 

That was always really important to me; that was 

my main focus,” McConville says. She maintains 

that First Place has been and always will be a 

community-oriented venture to promote happiness 

through coffee. 

Murtagh’s professional purpose seems at first a 

little more internalized. Heavy Pedal is a way to 

access his loves of fashion and cycling, while Brand 

Overture helps him constantly sharpen his axe. All 

his business concepts arose from a personal passion 

or need for fulfillment. But he is anything but selfcentered. 

He wants to help others and connect with 

his community. Self Champ, particularly, is his way 


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41 

TOP CHEFS 

R E STAU RA N TS 

CULINARY 

DEMOS 

DESTINATION 

SCOTTSDALE 

CULINARY 

FESTIVAL 

APRIL 13-14 

2019 

Cocktail 

Society 

Kick-off Party 

3 

STAGES 

LIVE MUSIC 

ALL WEEKEND 

Photo: Elizabeth Chung 

of giving back, by offering coaching and techniques learned from years of 

overcoming adversity and depression. 

McConville wants First Place to go with the flow in 2019 and establish their 

retail sales, but her fiancé also hinted at finding a brick and mortar location 

for the business. Ultimately, McConville made her great leap in 2018, and 

this year, as they celebrate First Place’s anniversary, they want to step back 

and really let it sink in. 

Whatever struggles have arisen from their endeavors, the couple maintain 

a steady mantra of not thinking about their jobs like they’re jobs. “We’ve 

been focusing on trying to make every aspect of the truck a fun thing: 

fascinating, instead of frustrating,” Murtagh says. McConville confirms, 

“It’s important for us to have adventures and fun – that’s just how we are, 

and it naturally translates to the way we want to run our business. Coffee, 

especially, should be fun.” 

One of McConville’s resolutions is to perfect the balance between hard work 

and well-being. The couple injects their daily life with adventures, which can 

take many forms, like horseback riding on the first day of the year, not sweating 

it when the espresso machine breaks down, taking semi-spontaneous trips, and 

driving around town to manifest a shop location. Most important, adventure 

comes in the form of being completely open to where this business venture 

takes them. 

firstplacecoffee.com 

Follow @FirstPlaceCoffee 

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Angelina Ramirez & 

Elisa Lucía Radcliffe 

CREATIVE COUPLING 

BY JENNA DUNCAN 


MAGAZINE

In some relationships, it takes the right combination of strength and softness, give 

and take, to maintain a balance. For professional flamenco dancer and teacher 

Angelina Ramirez and her wife, arts learning manager Elisa Lucía Radcliffe, the 

union of balance seems perfectly in time. 

Ramirez is perhaps best known around Phoenix for her passionate live dance 

performances and founding of the company Flamenco por la Vida. Radcliffe has 

been a dance educator in the Valley for more than a decade and more recently 

transitioned to a full-time position with Arizona Commission on the Arts. 

The couple’s biggest project recently – one that has allowed them to work together, 

albeit somewhat indirectly – is the Creative Aging initiative, an ongoing program 

that brings arts therapy to older adults. It is supported by the arts commission, and 

Ramirez has been working as a teacher and mentor in the program for the last three 

years. 

“I work with teaching arts professionals who work with adult populations who are 

over age 65 and others who have special abilities like Alzheimer’s, dementia, other 

memory care [issues] or Parkinson’s,” Ramirez says. 

Ramirez has been dancing flamenco for 27 years and teaching dance for more than 

two decades. She currently performs weekly in the lounge at Crescent Ballroom on 

Saturdays; performances are open to the public and free. 

“We run the institute where we are teaching artists to work with older adults. Angie 

[Ramirez] had been part of the first cohort, and I was overseeing the second cohort, 

where she was a mentor,” Radcliffe explains. “She was definitely involved in it way 

before I had the opportunity,” Radcliffe says. 

“I guess I was a guinea pig for the programming,” Ramirez says. “Since then, my 

company Flamenco por la Vida has partnered with Mayo Clinic, where we teach 

flamenco in their physical therapy department. And we also work with Banner 

Alzheimer’s Institute on lecture demos on integrating flamenco for patients who 

have any kind of memory loss.” 

Ramirez’s dance company also partners with Mesa Arts Center, which has 

a Creative Aging program that invites participation from older adults. Her 

company is hired through the partnership with the arts commission. “Through 

the commission, I’ve been able to build these relationships with other arts 

organizations,” Ramirez says. “So [Elisa and I] get to work together accidentally 

sometimes!” 

“My work mostly involves the networking, convening and learning around it,” 

Radcliffe explains. “Angie has definitely been one of the all-star teaching artists 

of our program, who we work with quite often.” 

Ramirez is a native of Tucson, and Radcliffe is originally from New Mexico – born 

and raised around Albuquerque. She moved to Phoenix 18 years ago to pursue her 

bachelor’s degree in fine arts in dance performance from Arizona State University. 

She later earned a master’s in secondary education and taught at Carl Hayden 

High School. 

Though it might sound challenging to teach a technical dance such as flamenco 

to populations who might have limitations in movement and cognitive abilities, 

she says what she is doing actually makes a lot of sense. “It’s important for older 

bodies to keep moving – just to keep the brain going,” Radcliffe explains. 

Prior to her relatively new gig with the Arizona Arts Commission, Radcliffe taught 

dance for 12 years in the Phoenix Unified School District. “And I loved it!” she 

says. “I miss it, and I am continually devising ways to work with young people 

now that I’m no longer in the classroom.” 

Radcliffe says in her new role she is constantly seeking ways to connect the 

community, especially teenagers, to the arts and to dance. “I work with a couple 

of different youth organizations here in the Valley – Rising Youth Theater, and I 

serve on the board of Youth RE:Frame, which is a new organization,” she says. 

Radcliffe feels that it’s important for the young people participating to have 

an equal voice with the adults, so they are not just being tokenized but power 

sharing with adults. 

Radcliffe also takes classes with Ramirez, which she has done ever since they 

were dating. “There is this thing in flamenco called duende, and it takes some life 

experience to really do,” Radcliffe explains. “I find when the older adults do it, it’s 

really quite special. They have some rich stories and some pain and suffering – 

real things to perform.” 

“Duende really translates to ‘the being of something,’” Ramirez explains. 

“Everything has its state of being. I know flamenco dancers who are just so 

technical, so clean and so impossibly perfect, but there is something missing,” 

she says. “Because they have not yet embodied it.” 

To truly possess or display duende, it’s not just about what your body can do, it 

also adds a layer of expression of what the dancer is feeling – what they are 

experiencing or have experienced being in the body, Ramirez explains. “I think 

that’s what drives or attracts people to flamenco. Whether you are taking classes 

or watching a show, there’s a natural kind of curiosity. Flamenco is popular for its 

passion and its storytelling – conveying a personal story on stage,” she says. 


MAGAZINE

The most important element of flamenco is in the heart, Ramirez says: what the 

dancer is feeling and how they choose to express it. “When we get older and we 

feel like our bodies have more limitations, instead of focusing on what the body 

can do, it’s like, get into flamenco, where you can express yourself emotionally.” 

Ramirez and Radcliffe met through dance and have been together for six years. 

Before they each moved to the Valley, a series of coincidences caused some 

interesting, indirect connections, especially with mutual friends and the city of 

Albuquerque. They actually met at Ramirez’ old studio on Roosevelt. 

For seven years, Flamenco por la Vida was located at Roosevelt and 4th Street, 

near downtown Phoenix. But due to development, the rent increased dramatically. 

The space now costs quadruple what it did a few years ago. 

Flamenco por la Vida now rents space from Childsplay Theater Co. on S. Mitchell 

Drive in Tempe. This is where Ramirez teaches classes. She also occasionally rents 

space from nueBox in the Armory building on 16th Avenue and Roosevelt. “The 

2019 goal and manifestation is to open another studio,” Ramirez says. “At the end 

of the day, it’s wise just to have one home base.” 

Ramirez and Radcliffe got married in Albuquerque in May 2014 in a public park. 

They say it was a small but comfortable and festive ceremony, surrounded by 

friends and family. “We were actually going to get married in Spain, but it was 

right around the time the states started passing [the same-sex marriage law],” 

Radcliffe says. Albuquerque passed the law, so they decided because of their 

connections to go there instead. “It was small, intimate and cheap!” they laugh. 

New Mexico legalized same-sex marriage about one year before Arizona. But 

when Radcliffe proposed, she says she was thinking not of expediency, but of the 

perfect way to surprise Ramirez. Following their first successful Lluvia Flamenco 

festival, Radcliffe decided she needed to pick just the right place in town and set 

up a video. She picked a spot at the Phoenix Center for the Arts because it was the 

place where she first realized she really liked Angelina. 

“Angie really likes surprises…and I don’t,” Radcliffe explains. “And I’m really bad 

at secrets, too. I had actually been carrying the ring around with me for a long 

time. I was waiting to catch her off-guard.” Because Ramirez was so high from 

the success of their first festival, the timing was just right, Radcliffe says. “I could 

distract her just enough to get her there and do it!” 

Flamenco por la Vida also recently hosted Lluvia Flamenco 6 (the annual festival 

coincides with their engagement) at Crescent Ballroom on January 6, featuring 

both local and out-of-town dancers and musicians, including composer and 

guitarist Andrés Vadin of Tucson, singer and dancer Manuel Guiterrez, bassist 

Yosmel Montejo, percussionist Diego “El Negro” Alvarez and piano and accordion 

player Ioannis Goudelis. 

When the rest of life’s uncertainties fall into place, Ramirez and Radcliffe say they 

want to start a family. Right now the couple enjoys traveling; they’re headed to 

China later this month. But somewhere down the line, they are thinking of kids, 

perhaps through fostering or adoption. 

Ramirez says that in addition to performing, she takes time off to practice and train 

every year, taking a class or a workshop from a master. She says one of the best 

fl amenco festivals of the United States is in Albuquerque, which gives the couple a 

good excuse to go back and see friends and family every year. 

Flamenco por la Vida performs at Edge happy hour at Tempe Center for the Arts 

every third Friday of the month. Ramirez also performs at Crescent Ballroom 

Saturdays at 6 p.m. 

For more information or to follow projects supported by the Arizona Commission on the Arts, 

visit azarts.gov. 


MAGAZINE

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MAGAZINE

GIRL ON FARMER 

Year of Action 

BY CELIA BERESFORD 

Did you know 2019 is the “Year of Action”? You might 

not know this because it was my friend Lori who 

designated it so. But, I have to tell you, everyone 

who hears it is into it. Lori was at some woo-woo 

yoga thing where she was given tools and supplies 

to design a charm or talisman to keep you on track 

or focused. She chose a circular copper charm, 

tapped into some inner Buddha and then stamped the 

word “Action” onto it. I think the reason people are 

adopting her mantra is because we can all relate to 

the idea of making lists and notes of all the stuff we 

want to do, but then we never actually get around to 

it. So friends, the lists are over, and here we are: the 

YEAR OF ACTION! 

The first thing I did in the Year of Action was make 

a list of all the things I meant to do last year but 

never actually did anything about, beyond elaborately 

fantasizing about them. Next, I crumpled the list, 

realizing I make too many lists and they prohibit me 

from actual action. Then, I panicked without my list 

and decided to write it in my journal. This was a 

sneaky way of keeping the list but framing it as deep 

thoughts that I simply couldn’t let go of. It was then 

I decided that getting my act together financially 

would be my first move of action. I will share with 

you that this was cheating. I’m actually pretty, 

relatively, fi nancially responsible so, admittedly, 

making that my first action move was a cop-out. Still, 

it was something. 

My ability to make a little go a long way originated 

in my late college years. The years when my parents 

still contributed to my rent but utilities, food and 

other things (alcohol) were my responsibility. My 

priorities dictated bills first, beer next and then food. 

It was during this time that I developed a taste for 

mayonnaise sandwiches on white bread, boiled 

potatoes mixed with mayonnaise, and mayonnaise 

with cucumbers. Are you seeing a trend here? 

I also got creative by looking for opportunities to 

make money. I had a part-time job, but I really wanted 

to fi nd a way to make a few more bucks so I could 

upgrade from store-brand mayo to Hellman’s. At the 

time I was in college, the ASU paper, The State Press, 

had a valuable section for student opportunities. 

One was modeling for the art department. I missed 


MAGAZINE

Being at the plasma donation center is what 

I imagine it would be like at a meth den, only 

there are lights and it’s cleaner. 

the boat on that one, but while I was chatting with a friend who had also been 

looking for easy ways to make cash, she enlightened me to plasma donation. 

They paid $40 or so for a donation. It sounded like a good idea. 

Have you ever donated plasma? It’s easy, and they give you a cookie afterward, 

but that doesn’t quite sum up the experience. Being at the plasma donation 

center is what I imagine it would be like at a meth den, only there are lights and 

it’s cleaner. While I lay there with the needle vacuuming out my fluids, it certainly 

didn’t make me think of my parents and say “If they could only see me now!” I 

suspect most people go straight from the donor place to the meth distribution 

center. It’s not a pretty crowd. I don’t know why donating blood is considered a 

kind of heroic and noble act but plasma donation implies that you eat smack for 

breakfast. Is it because blood is a donation, but you get paid for plasma? If so, I 

wonder where did the plasma people go wrong? Plasma is also an essential body 

fluid. Shouldn’t we be encouraged to give it for free? Where are the plasma blood 

drives? Somebody really dropped the ball. 

Another great way to make easy money that I still do to this day is field research. 

This is where you provide a marketing agency your information and they send 

you surveys to determine if you qualify for a study. The studies are funded by big 

corporations that are looking to do focus groups and gather more information 

about their products or trends. I have participated in many of these research studies 

over the years, and they are the best thing going, especially when times are tight. In 

the waiting room they provide limitless snacks like pretzels, cookies and goldfish. 

Yes, free goldfish! Once you are called in, it’s about an hour or two of genial 

banter and questions while being monitored from behind a two-way mirror, and 

you walk out $150 richer. This is preferable to the plasma center. Trust me. 

My Year of Action has already included one research study. It was the best one 

yet. I responded to a survey, indicating that, yes, I do have a cat, two in fact. And, 

yes, I do play with these cats. No, I would not mind if someone came to my house 

and observed me playing with my cats. Once they arrived, the researcher pulled 

out a very exciting toy. I asked what they wanted me to do, but they wouldn’t 

say and would only instruct me to “play as usual.” My cats played like they 

knew we were getting paid. They were so cute I thought for sure it was for a 

cat commercial. I continued to ask, what do you want, what should they do? But 

they wouldn’t give any details, only the directive to play as if no one were there. 

Once the “research” was done, they let me know it was not for a commercial. 

It was part of the development of a new camera app involving high-tech motion 

detection. In other words, they were just looking for some action.

NIGHT 

GALLERY 

Photos By 

Robert Sentinery 

1 

2 

3 4 

5 

6 

7 

8 9 

10 11 

1. Cami is in town for her show at Eric Fischl Gallery 

2. Gennaro’s “You Are Art” Show at Royse Contemporary 

3. Pretty Perrine at Mountain Shadows gallery 

4. Mello in her element at Eternal Noir boutique 

5. Scottsdale art walk lovelies 

6. Fortoul Brothers show at Mountain Shadows 

7. Krikor and cool-jacket pal at Gracie’s 

8. Miwa jumps into Melena’s installation at TCA 

9. Handsome posse at Gennaro Garcia’s opening 

10. Davina at the “In, On and Of Paper” opening at Bentley Gallery 

11. John Linton’s “Cuba” show at MoVida 602 

Spellbound Burlesque 

PRESENTS 

EVERY 2ND 

SUNDAY AT 6PM 

5749 N 7TH ST, PHX AZ 

THEWOMACK.US

12 13 14 15 16 

17 18 19 20 21 

22 23 24 25 26 

27 28 29 

12. “Amplify” attendees at Phoenix Art Museum 

13. Saskia checks out Mayme’s show at Lisa Sette Gallery 

14. All together now for Tato’s show at Practical Art 

15. Tato and Sara at Practical Art 

16. Barry supplies the New Year’s smokes 

17. NYE hosts with most Jackie and Marc 

18. Snood City Neon grand opening 

19. Contemporary Islamic art at {9} Gallery 

20. Snood City founders Mike and Michelle 

21. Frances and pal at Practical Art 

22. Checking our Rafael’s art at the Lodge 

23. More fun at the Snood City Neon opening 

24. Best pancho of the night 

25. Artist Amber Linkey and her sis at {9} Gallery 

26. Snoods in action at Snood City 

27. Dallas and his girl at Practical Art 

28. Jack and friend at Snood City 

29. Linda, Nicholas and pal at Mountain Shadows

30 31 

32 33 34 

35 36 

37 38 

39 

40 41 

42 43 44 

45 46 

47 

30. Sarita gets snapped with the photo guy 

31. Snood City opening attendees 

32. Beka and friends at Practical Art 

33. Cheers to Anita and pal at Mountain Shadows 

34. Chris and Kris at Snood City 

35. Fortoul Brothers opening at Mountain Shadows 

36. Christy at Lisa Sette Gallery 

37. Lexie and Kristen at the Fortoul Brothers opening 

38. Mayme Kratz opening at Lisa Sette Gallery 

39. Rachel from Bunky Boutique and Lisa from Practical Art 

40. Hanging with Samir and KJ 

41. All together now at the Fortoul Brothers show 

42. Spinning vinyl at Bikini Lounge 

43. Mayme Kratz at her opening at Lisa Sette Gallery 

44. World-class pianist Sofya Gulyak at ASU’s Bösendorfer 

competition 

45. Bubbles and fine art at Mountain Shadows 

46. Bikini Lounge night with these guys

48 49 

50 51 52 

53 54 

55 56 

57 

58 59 

60 

61 

62 

63 

64 65 

47. Toyota Supra spokes models at Barrett Jackson 

48. Thaddeus and Yuko at Lisa Sette Gallery 

49. SMoW curator Tricia and designer William 

50. Cute couple at Barrett Jackson 

51. Phoenix Home and Garden crew at Gennaro’s opening 

52. Amy and Paul at Mountain Shadows 

53. Charmagne at Gennaro’s opening at Royse Contemporary 

54. Alexis and Patrick at Mayme Kratz’ opening 

55. Representing Next Level conversions at Barrett Jackson 

56. Rob and Nicole at Royse Contemporary 

57. Faust Gallery with Randy Barton 

58. Scottsdale art walk donut night at Amery Bohling Fine Art 

59. Checking out Matt’s show at Monorchid 

60. Monorchid Gallery for Matt Priebe’s show 

61. Denise and her daughters at Bentley Gallery 

62. Douglas Miles and his lady at Bentley 

63. Sam and Merryn at “In, On and Of Paper” 

64. End of the night at Gracie’s Tax Bar

66 67 68 

69 

70 

71 

72 73 

74 75 

76 77 78 

79 80 

81 82 

83 

65. Matt Priebe’s opening at Monorchid 

66. All smiles with Nicole and Angie 

67. Dan brought his puppy to the art opening 

68. Danielle and Laura at Bentley Gallery 

69. More fun with Shane at Gracie’s 

70. Perrine & hubby at the Barry Goldwater photography opening 

71. Mobile Vinyl Recorders at “Amplify” at PAM 

72. Neon installation by Francisco at Snood City 

73. Angelina and her bro at “Amplify” 

74. Tomiko Jones show at Northlight Gallery 

75. Liliana and Matthew at Tempe Center for the Arts 

76. Rossi’s show at Eric Fischl Gallery 

77. Patio fun at Gracie’s 

78. Angela Johnson at “RetroReaction” at TCA 

79. More fun on Gracie’s patio 

80. Nick and pal at Eric Fischl Gallery 

81. Rembrandt and friend at Bentley Gallery 

82. Morgan and pal at Eric Fischl Gallery 

83. Jessica Palomo’s opening at Eric Fischl Gallery

40 TH ANNUAL 

CONTEMPORARY CRAFTS 

FREE OPENING RECEPTION 

Crista Matteson, Winter’s End, 2017, Ceramic, 

lead crystal and cast bronze, 22 x 11 x 10 inches. 

FREE 

ADMISSION 

ANGELS AND 

CARNIVOROUS FLOWERS 

CARRIE ANN BAADE 

Carrie Ann Baade, Caritas (detail), 2018 Oil on panel, 40 x 30 inches. 

Fri, Feb 8 | 7–10 PM 

CONTINUES THROUGH APRIL 14, 2019! 

ONE EAST MAIN STREET, MESA, AZ 85201 | 480-644-6560 | MESAARTSCENTER.COM

JAVA.Feb.2019

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