This week on Arizona Illustrated.

A look at the 2023 recently opened Tucson Museum of Art Biennial.

Perla - What a honor to show my work among my mentors spreading peace, beauty and love through ceramics.

The best part of being a ceramic artist is when I have an idea and I just want to see it manifest.

Creating a space for girls in science, technology, engineering and math.

Girl - We get to do fun activities we got to dissect a fish ( grossed out sound).

Tom - And a look at the increase of U.S. citizens arrested and accused of gun smuggling in Mexico.

My advice is, if you're going to feel uncomfortable in Mexico without a weapon, then stay home.

(upbeat guitar music) Tom - Hello and welcome to an all-new episode of Arizona Illustrated.

I'm Tom McNamara, and we're coming to you from the Tucson Museum of Art, which recently opened the 2023 Biennial that will stay up until October 1st.

These regular juried exhibitions were first organized in 1948 and are considered important platforms for artists around the state of Arizona.

Over 400 artists applied and 57 were ultimately chosen to exhibit their work by visiting curator Taina Caragol of the National Portrait Gallery.

And joining me right now is one of the artists chosen to exhibit at the biennial Perla Segovia.

Tell me why the Biennial was so special to an artist.

Perla - As an artist, our work is very important work because we're really we want to share with the community not just within our studio setting, but a setting such as the museum.

Right?

It welcomes so many people in through these doors, the biennial held for six months, which is not typical for any exhibit, Tom - Your work is hanging behind you right now in the museum, it's your family.

Perla - Yes a beautiful piece of art.

Tell us about that.

Perla - Yes.

So right here I have my family asked my family to actually pose for me.

My work is about immigration, about immigrants.

And I think when we talk about this, it's important for us to put ourselves in immigrant's shoes.

In this case, I use oil paint a medium, through hundreds of years, it has been used exclusively for the elite, for the powerful.

So in this case, I want for immigrants to be seen as powerful, as important.

So that's why I chose oil painting to elevate immigrants and their importance to this country.

Tom - Whether you're making it to exhibit in a museum or just doing it for yourself, art and creative expression is an important outlet.

Tucson resident Lisa Agababian is a self-taught ceramic artist who's been honing her craft.

So she started working with clay at the age of seven.

Her motto is spread peace, beauty and love.

And she inscribes those words on the back of every one of her unique heart sculptures.

[Soft music, water trickling] (Lisa) The outdoors is my church.

As I was tapping into my own heart.

I felt the connection.

You start quieting ourselves, and that's where we begin to start paying attention.

It's the judgment, just like with the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees.

I get to be me.

That's why some of my pieces I think I call Desert Bliss or Desert Harmony, because that's what I bring home to my heart.

My name is Lisa Agababian, and I'm originally from New York City, and I moved to Tucson about, God Oh, my God.

It's like 35 years now.

When I first came out here for the first time, I heard silence in my entire life and the sounds of doves and finally saw this blue, blue, blue sky that I had never seen before in my life.

living in New York City.

For me, New York City was all about money, and I could not be there anymore.

I came out here visiting with a friend and ended up taking hold of me and turning me upside down and inside out.

And here I am.

Happy as can be, though.

At a very young age I was into ceramics and I was into art, period.

But that wasn't supported by my by my parents, especially my dad.

The art was not acceptable after high school.

So that's why I have my my formal education is math and computers.

I started ceramics at an Armenian summer camp in upstate New York.

And and I once I got my hands in the clay, I loved it.

And I don't really know why I would just create and give things away to people.

The best part of being a ceramic artist is when I have an idea and I just want to see it manifest and that's the best part of it.

And and I am excited to get into the studio to begin the process.

as far as the process.

So I'll hand building first.

I create a form, then I create slabs.

I'll use slabs to create the form of the heart.

If I want a Desert Heart, I'll create the hummingbird.

I'll create the flower one petal at a time.

And then, depending on how I want them, then I start assembling the piece.

I have candy coming out of pieces.

I have Good and Plenty coming out of pieces.

Once I create the form, it has to sit on the shelf and it has to be bone dry before it goes into my kilns.

I run the kilns for maybe like between 9 and 12 hours.

That firing allows the clay to harden.

I start glazing them with different colored glazes.

People that do production pottery will dip their pieces into glaze.

Im painting each piece.

It's so much more intricate.

I'll create a piece sometimes and I don't know how I'm going to glaze it like I have an idea.

And then as time passes, I'm like, hmm, it wants to be something else.

I try not to get in the way of that, and so I allow it to just be what it's going to be.

Once I glaze the piece, then it goes back in the kiln for another firing.

You don't make one piece at a time.

I have a huge kiln.

It's always like Christmas when I open up the kiln.

“I put a sculpture in that corner.

” “I might even put one in those corners too.

” “That's a thought.

” The reason why I do love clay is that before you fire it, you can actually add to it or take away from it.

And if you don't like something, you can still work with it.

So it's not like stone you take away, you can't put back.

So, it's a friendly medium.

Ill put this here and then well move this stuff up and then I'll set up this whole thing for the smaller works.

[Soft piano music] Let me talk about the piece that's Eternal Love Inside the piece is the Taj Mahal.

That was one of my first pieces.

(Crying) That was about my parents, And when I think of it, it starts with my parents.

But it just it ripples out to so many people.

I was always afraid of people seeing that piece because at first I thought they would freak out because heart is blowing open.

But that's what happens when you hold things in your entire life.

And that's why I love clay, because it's finally allowed for the real truth to come out.

And I'm grateful for that, and even though I have these tears, they're also tears of joy.

I feel absolute connection with my mom and I feel connection with a lot of people because I have another piece called Good and Plenty.

And a friend of mine, beautiful, beautiful human being, had taken her life.

I just don't know how to deal.

So I get my hands in the clay.

And when that happened, I made each and every single Good and Plenty with, you know, almost like a mantra sending this to her.

And if you believe that we're still connected after we're no longer in this physical form, then then there's something beautiful happening.

And so I wanted her to know because I thought she didn't as well as so many people, including myself, at times, you know, didn't know that she was good and plenty.

Basically good.

Inside each and every one of us, you know, and plenty that vast, you know, eternal part of each of us.

People are going through things that you don't understand, and there's just so much we can do.

So I hold people in my heart.

Oh, I feel like once I connect with my own heart, I then begin.

To be connected to everything.

Pretty magical.

And I want to bring that to my pieces and have that reflect back, also.

That is the essence of who we are.

“Nice space, right?

” “Beautiful, yeah.

” [Soft piano music fades out] Tom - Girls in STEM is an Arizona Science Center project in Phoenix thats been in existence since 2013.

Now through monthly meetups and fun activities, the aim is to inspire female identifying youth to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

(Lauren) Girls in STEM is an initiative that has been happening since 2013.

It is through the Arizona Science Center.

Today, we have a girls in STEM event that's called STEM Futures.

It is aimed at girls grade four through eight, and it is a way to get them interested and introduced to different STEM fields.

We bring in different STEM women from different fields to come in and introduce themselves and walk them through different activities.

So we have a biologist here, a fish biologist here from Game and Fish.

We also have someone from a mining company coming in to talk about some different types of mining and we have an ASU student.

She's an astrophysicist and she will be doing some presentations and walking the kids through some of those types of activities.

(Emily) We are going to dissect rainbow trout.

(Kyndall) I like coming here.

We get to do fun activities, have snack breaks.

We got to dissect a fish.

(Emily) I brought some rainbow trout from the Tonto Creek Hatchery, which is one of the hatcheries we have in the state.

And we're just going to do a simple dissection.

Take some otoliths out.

It's the inner ear bone of the fish.

They are used to age the fish, essentially.

We know how old they are because they came from the hatchery.

But it's a fun activity.

Hopefully we can gross out some girls and open some hearts and minds as well.

(Participant) So gross.

(Kyndall) It was gross, but it was cool too.

I found like it's rib, it's air bladder and even poked out it's eye.

(Emily) I'm hoping that girls will see that we can also do jobs that have been historically male dominated and that we are also capable.

What I do is a very physical job.

I often strap 50 to 60 pounds on my back and hike five miles up a mountain and there is no reason I can't do it.

So there's no reason that all girls can't do it.

We're not weaker.

(Instructor) Copper is in everything that we use and it's such a cool mineral.

(Instructor) So today, you guys are going to be creating an ocean clean-up device.

You're going to work with your team to design something, build it, and you're going to come and test it.

We're going to see if it works or it doesn't work.

(Kyndall) What I like most about learning about girls in STEM is learning about different animals and other things and their careers.

(Lauren) We hope that they learn that women are in STEM and that anybody can really do anything that they want to do if they put the time and effort in to do that.

We also want to show that.

There's also the allies of the boys being in STEM.

So also teaching young men that women are in STEM.

And if you grow up and you see them beside you in your career, then that is an appropriate place for everyone to be.

It's not just for men, it is also for women.

(Kyndall) I would like to be an environmental scientist.

(Instructor) Oh, oh, oh, okay.

Oh, is that how it's supposed to work?

Okay.

Tom - as you walk around the biennial at the Tucson Museum of Art, one theme that starts to emerge from the artist work is the international border between the US and Mexico.

Now, recently, we've seen a rise in the number of Americans arrested and accused of smuggling.

This next story from University of Arizona Journalism professor Liliana Soto looks at the reasons behind the trend.

Officials reaction to it and family's pleas to the Mexican government.

(Voiceover) At first glance, this road looks like any other Southern Arizona highway, but in reality it's one of the corridors the smugglers used to illegally traffic assault and sniper rifles, firearm magazines, among other weapons, into Mexico daily.

It's been reported gun smugglers often recruit U.S. citizens.

According to the Federal Public Defenders Institute, between June 2021 and May 2022, half of foreign people committing federal crimes in Mexico were from the U.S..

Majority of those crimes were against the federal law on firearm and explosives.

El trafico de armas.

Gun trafficking.

It's a big American business that's leading to a vicious cycle, helping fuel some of the most violent transnational criminal organizations in Mexico and the rest of Latin America.

(Rafael) 80% of the crimes committed in Mexico being homicides or other types of crimes are related to guns.

Guns that came from the U.S.. (Voiceover) Rafael Barcelo Durazo, the consul general of Mexico in Tucson, says gun trafficking into Mexico is a security threat that affects all of us.

(Rafael) The American public, The US society will be very helpful in also demanding responsibility for the people that are trading illegally with these guns or that those stores that might know they are actually selling their guns to a straw purchaser who is going to Mexico and not doing nothing about it.

[Speaking Spanish] (Voiceover) Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico's foreign affairs secretary, announced in October Mexico's most recent lawsuit, which highlights Arizona as the “hotbed of unlawful gun trafficking into Mexico.

” The 130 page lawsuit claims the five gun stores located in Phoenix, Tucson and Yuma knew or should have known that were selling military style guns and ammunition to gun traffickers.

Mexico presented about 100 criminal indictment of alleged buyers with gun trafficking records and their purchasing history.

Court documents show one person allegedly buy weapons ten times at the same Arizona dealer over three months.

(Rafael) It is very important for every government and every part of the society to fight against violence and having a rational restriction on how you buy weapons, particularly if you know those might be taken for illegal trafficking.

(Voiceover) Unlike in the United States, there's only one gun store in Mexico, which is located at an army base in Mexico City and managed by the military.

(Rafael) In order for you to have a permit or to buy a gun, you will need to conduct a very thorough process in background checks.

The kind of guns you will get, will be certain type, particularly for hunting or other sports, but never an assault or a military style.

(Voiceover) Gun laws are so strict in Mexico that the moment you cross the border with a gun or even a bullet.

(Rafael) You are committing automatically a felony and you will be in a mandatory detention because of that.

So while the trial is being conducted, you will be detained.

(Ira) I forgot to take my gun out of the vehicle.

(Voiceover) Ira Beavers was traveling with his family to Puerto Penasco, Mexico, when his gun was found during a customs search in Sonoyta, Sonora, Mexico.

(Ira) Honest mistake.

Honest mistake.

They make they make an honest mistake.

Cost so much.

(Voiceover) He spent seven months at a mexican prison on gun trafficking charges.

Unable to support his wife and children.

(Ira) They gave me two charges because I had two clips.

So they gave me one charge for the gun and the clip.

And then I got a second charge for the additional clip.

(Voiceover) While in prison, he learned many other Americans share the same story.

(Ira) I was in there with a guy.

He borrowed his son's vehicle to go to Mexico to get some supplies for his restaurant.

He didn't want to drive his truck because of the fuel.

His son forgot his gun in the car.

Theres a couple of guys that I was in there with where they got arrested and their wife got arrested.

And one guy, his wife had a baby in prison.

We reached out to the U.S. consulate asking about the number of Americans arrested in Mexico for gun possession at the Arizona-Mexico border.

Or the number of those currently detained at the federal prison in Hermosillo for gun charges.

They said in part that they were unable to provide exact numbers.

However, records show up to May 2022, U.S. citizens were the highest population among foreign prisoners in Mexico.

Ira did gain his freedom back, however.

(Ira) A week before I got out, my mom passed away.

So, that that that really, that really hurt because my mom was my everything.

(Voiceover) He's among the growing number of Americans from all walks of life detained with guns at ports of entry in Mexico.

(Rafael) We have an increase of people that have been detained because they seize an arm that was with them, but also because for Mexicans, the control of guns, it's even more relevant each year.

(Tony) Teachers, doctors, former priest, truck drivers, everyday good people because they forgot they had a weapon in their vehicle.

(Voiceover) Tony Harrisons son Drew Harrison has been incarcerated at a federal prison in Hermosillo, Sonora, for almost nine months now.

He was detained and taken into custody at the checkpoint at the border in Sonoyta, Sonora after officials found two guns in his vehicle.

The family was on their way to Puerto Penasco, Sonora.

(Tony) He was like, what's going on?

I'm not trying to hide them.

These are mine, but what's the problem?

Drew, a father of three boys, a financial adviser who graduated from the University of Arizona with no previous criminal record, received a seven year sentence before trial.

That's crazy.

Seven years.

And we were like, we... We almost lost it right then and there.

(Voiceover) His lawyer says a judge ordered la prision preventiva oficiosa for him, which means pretrial detention.

According to Article 19 of Mexico's constitution, pretrial detention is given to serious offenses such as rape, organized crime, kidnaping, crimes related to firearms and explosives, among others.

The Harrison's lawyer is fighting to get Drews sentence reduced to less than four years so he can qualify for a release on probation.

But just like Iras case... (Tony) Our family is still living a nightmare were just hoping its over soon.

We sympathize with the people that get into those troubles without knowing what they were happening without a bad intent.

We will ask for understanding from the U.S. side why Mexico has gone with these strict regulations.

(Tony) Mexico, what they're doing to try to protect their citizens from guns is great, but on the same deal, I mean, don't don't penalize people that just simply forgot that they had a gun coming into your country.

(Voiceover) About a million people cross into Mexico through the Lukeville-Sonoyta port of entry every year.

Mainly Arizonans traveling to the beaches of Puerto Penasco.

Just steps away from this port of entry is where Ira and Drew got arrested.

(Peter) They feel like victims, but by the same token, they'll say ‘all we wanted to do was protect our family while we were at the beach.

My advice is, if you're going to feel uncomfortable in Mexico without a weapon, then stay home.

(Voiceover) Peter Bachelier is a director at the Port of Entry in Lukeville, Arizona.

He says outbound searches at this port of entry are now taking place daily.

(Peter) As our technology comes in, especially the, the x-ray systems and non-intrusive inspection systems, outbound is going to become a regular process.

(Voiceover) He says they also give the traveler an opportunity to declare a weapon before crossing border lines.

(Peter) If the weapons are found afterwards, after we've given them the opportunity to declare, then CBP will have to seize the weapons.

(Voicever) If you decide not to declare it, make it past the U.S. port of entry, you will be in the hands of the military at Mexico's checkpoint.

(Rafael) For people trying to conceal the weapons into Mexico, I would suggest think twice.

(Voiceover) Because once an officer finds a weapon.

(Rafael) He or she is in an obligation to report you to the attorney general's office.

Once that happens, the process cannot be stopped.

(Voiceover) On the other hand, CBP says they're trying to do what they can to prevent arrests of everyday Americans by adding more signs like this one.

Officials say there are other signs of the road.

However, we only noticed two and one was blocked.

(Bob) There's a lot of signs on the side of the road, you know, that have to do with Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, you know, your speed.

(Voiceover) Bob Bushell is a former Border Patrol Special Operations Supervisor.

(Bob) Those signs that that warn you about, you know, firearms or ammunition going into Mexico.

They look just like a traffic sign.

(Ira) And everybody's like, ‘oh, you didn't see the sign saying no guns?

Like, no, I didn't see the sign because I wasn't looking for the sign.

(Bob) I think it might be a combination of, yeah, let's get some bigger signage out there, but let's change it up.

Let's, so they so they catch your attention more.

Nobodys special.

You're not going to talk your way out of it.

You're going to get arrested and you're going to spend a lot of time in jail.

(Ira) As Americans, we're so used to carrying our guns all the time because we're allowed to, you dont think about it.

(Voiceover) For others, the answer may be information about resources.

Have a good day.

Thank you.

Bernadette Nez is the manager at the Why Not Travel Store in Why, Arizona.

Located just a few miles from the Lukeville port of entry.

The only store offering gun storage to people in this border area.

(Bernadette) We're small family business owned.

And, you know, we're here to help as best as we can and just remind people like, hey, we offer more than just, you know, a bag of chips and gas.

(Voiceover) She says they've been offering gun storage for 20 years now, but not a lot of people are aware of their services.

(Bernadette) When we empty our trash cans, sometimes we'll find bullets in our trash bins and we'll find magazine clips behind our store.

It's only $4 a day.

It's better than spending over $30,000 in legal fees.

Ira wishes he knew about this gun storage, that he checked his car before it was too late, that Mexico had a better process to identify a regular citizen from a gun smuggler.

That he had the right to fight his case in trial, like in the U.S., that his family didn't suffer the way they did.

But most importantly, that he could see his mother again.

Tom - Thank you for joining us from the Biennial here at the Tucson Museum of Art.

I'm Tom McNamara.

We'll see you next week for an all new episode of Arizona Arizona Illustrated.