(upbeat music) Tom - This week on Arizona Illustrated, visit the colorful and radical world of artist, Lex Gjurasic.

Lex - For me, making art like is a very humanist thing.

Like I want thumb prints, I want, like I'm thinking about the ancients and the cave people and I'm the vessel for that tradition.

Tom - Take a trip to Flagstaff and visit the Museum of Northern Arizona that is dedicated to preserving Indigenous cultural heritage of our region.

Samantha - We usually welcome people into the museum first here in our archeology gallery.

And I think it gives people a really good overview of the history of the region, especially the people who lived here.

Tom - And a conversation about water conservation.

Corrie - Get to see things that we saw growing up now where lake levels have drastically reduced.

What worries me more is that the water will be reduced to the point where my kids won't get to enjoy things that I have enjoyed.

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

I'm Tom McNamara.

The visual artist, Lex Gjurasic moved to sunny Tucson from the rain soaked Pacific Northwest and you can feel it in her work.

Creating joy filled paintings and sculptures is her way of processing memories, experiences and emotions in a chaotic world.

Her philosophy of life is what she calls radical happiness.

[MUSIC] (Lex) - Radical happiness is the subversive act of choosing happiness and joy in life in the face of challenges and oppression.

Whatever that means to you in your culture, in your personal life, it's choosing to not allow oppression to ruin your life because that's its intention.

So it's not toxic positivity.

It's not a facade.

It's a enjoyment and a delight.

(soft music) I'm originally from Seattle, Washington, and I was sick all the time because of lung issues.

I always drew and always knew I wanted to be an artist.

And so that definitely was encouraged.

I was given supplies and told, do whatever you want.

I've always used art and made art my whole life.

Recently my daughter was reading a book about cowboys in the Southwest.

The author said, "What defines a cowboy isn't the clothes, it's doing the work."

I said, "That's the same as an artist."

Anyone could say, like, "I love art.

My life is art."

But if you're not doing the work, then you're not really an artist.

If someone out there feels that they can't make art and they're not creative, they probably aren't.

(Laughing) And that they should find joy and support artists that are doing it because we're doing it from a place of sickness and toil.

And yeah, and if you fancy yourself an artist, then do the work.

Don't just wear the cowboy hat and cowboy boots.

Like, buck a bronco.

(Kathleen) I met Lex because our kids were going to the same school and I was new here and I didn't know any of the other parents and I saw this person across the courtyard and I thought, I need to be friends with that person.

And I fell in love with Lex as a person and an artist very quickly.

I'm a storyteller and I feel like each painting of Lex's tells a story.

(Lex) Okay, colors.

I like pink.

I like neon colors.

My favorite color is toothpaste.

I like a minty feel.

Usually I just work from memory.

Flowers are just a circle with some more shapes sticking to it.

So for me, it's like I just want to get lost in that.

I start with a bit of inspiration, and then I quickly let that go.

When I'm making decisions and making choices in the moment, I just tell myself I can do whatever I want.

And doing whatever I want is what keeps me moving forward on a piece.

(Laura) One of the things that really stands out to me about Lex's work is this profusion that happens, this sort of abundance of flowers, of forms of natural materials.

Floridness, they're so happy and effusive.

They really convey such a beautiful energy, because we love looking at flowers.

We're humans, we're animals.

So I think she really taps into some things that are pretty primordial in that sense.

But also it's because I think of the energy that she puts into the work when she's making it.

(gentle music) (Lex) I'm a self-taught artist.

I draw more inspiration from the lives of other artists than I do the work of other artists.

I like to read about how they lived and feel some sort of validation for the struggle of like, what am I doing?

Like, why am I doing?

And when I'm working, I really feel like people talk about blind faith.

That's how I feel about the idea of creating and making art.

This is truly an act of blind faith.

I don't know why I'm doing this.

It has no function.

It's good for nothing.

And I don't even wanna sell it.

Like, I wanna hoard it.

It's not part of the capitalist system.

My way of funneling the experience of being alive.

(Kathleen) When I look at Lex's paintings, what I feel first is a sense of whimsy.

They're bright and they're colorful and they draw you in because they're so adorably pretty.

And the second thing I love about Lex's paintings when I'm looking at her work is that they tell a story, each one.

Each one tells the story of travel and transformation and beauty and the transformative power of color.

If you look at her work, the colors enrapture you.

I have a lot of Lex's paintings in my house because I like waking up and looking at a field of beautiful flowers where not every flower is the same.

They're all individual and distinct.

And I feel like each painting is a map to a different emotion.

And for me, art is something that I like to feel deeply and her work makes me feel that way.

Like I could sit and sink into one of her paintings for days.

(Lex) When the pandemic started, I started a series of like small landscapes on panel, and I would have to say the first one that I painted.

And I said, "I'm just going to paint this for myself."

"Oh, it's the pandemic.

You should be making work that's like pull, yeah, like the essence of death."

And I just went, "Oh, I'm creating something heavenly and otherworldly and joyful, and I might be sick because of that."

For me, making art like is a very humanist thing.

Like I want thumbprints.

I want, like I'm thinking about the ancients and the cave people, and I'm the vessel for that tradition.

Radical happiness is the philosophy.

It's also kind of a form of vengeance.

You have to practice it.

It's something that you have to build like a muscle.

So if you're listening to this and saying, okay, that's a choice I'm gonna make.

I would start small and I would start in nature and finding small sprouts between the pieces of cement and how things feel, subtle feelings of like the air and the sun and just being quiet.

And then laughter, making fun of all those things.

(laughs) Tom - Founded in 1928, the Museum of Northern Arizona protects and preserves the natural and cultural heritage of that region through research and conservation, collections and education.

Let's take a tour now to explore the people, the history and the ecology of this beautiful and diverse part of the country.

[MUSIC] (Samantha) One of my favorite parts of this exhibition are some examples of footwear.

So we have some children's sandals here.

We have some adult sandals.

And then we even have some pieces that were made out of leather.

Those would have been worn in the winter.

I'm Samantha Honanie and I'm the visitor experience manager.

So I oversee daily operations here in our exhibits building.

So the museum was founded in 1928 by Mary-Russell Ferrell Colton and Harold Colton.

And they had a great interest in sharing a love of the Colorado Plateau with the greater community and the wider world.

And they also really wanted to preserve the history and the material culture of the region.

A lot of their efforts went into talking about the arts, archaeology, anthropology, biology, zoology.

[soft music] (Kirstin) My name is Kirstin Ullman Phillips and I'm the Botany Collections Manager at the Museum of Northern Arizona.

And we are in the Easton Collection Center.

And this is where we house all of our specimens that really need to be protected in terms of environmental quality.

So this building is humidity controlled, it's temperature controlled.

So this was a project done in the early 30s.

And the idea of the project was to go to the Hopi tribe and talk to them about the crops that they were growing at that time.

They're doing an extended project where they are interviewing the ancestors of the people who gave us these corn specimens.

And the memories that they have and what these things mean to them.

And it was a really interesting project to witness about these seeds and how important the seeds and how important the plants were to their cultures and their ceremonies and their lives.

(Jan) Right now we're standing on top of the living roof of the Easton Collection Center.

It was one of the first bioregional living roofs in the American West.

Living roofs do a lot of things.

One is they prevent runoff.

And so the plants on the roof use a lot of rain.

They can help protect the building and help buffer the temperature so it stays cooler.

And then they provide habitat for birds and animals.

I'm Jan Busco.

I'm a research botany associate here at Museum of Northern Arizona.

My job here is pretty much to be a voice for and a steward for the plants here.

We're on 200 acres and a lot of that is natural space.

We have some wonderful gardens.

Really my role is to try to make sure that we do a great job of taking care of our land and all of the animals and all of the things that depend on the plants at the museum.

(Samantha) We usually welcome people into the museum first here in our archeology gallery.

And I think it gives people a really good overview of the history of the region, especially the people who lived here.

And you can see through examples of pottery, jewelry, basketry, and another good example is different tools that they used.

The Native and Indigenous people of the region have really played a large role in the history of the museum.

They were also involved in the everyday operations of the museum.

So when I graduated from college, I started working here at the museum and I was so excited to tell my family and then I told my grandpa and he said, "Yeah, you're just like your great grandpa."

And I was like, "Wow, what?"

And I didn't know that my great grandpa actually used to work here at the Museum of Northern Arizona and he worked directly with Mary-Russell Ferrell Colton.

So here's a photo of him, Mary-Russell Ferrell Colton, Katharine Bartlett, and then here's my great grandpa, Sam Shungoitewa.

So this is our Babbitt Gallery.

This gallery really does a wonderful job of showcasing a lot of items from our permanent collection.

As we go through, we can see Zuni pottery here.

And this talks about the importance that pottery plays in Zuni culture.

And then also in our Babbitt Gallery, we do have some beautiful examples of jewelry from our region.

In particular, we highlight jewelry from the people of the Rio Grande Pueblos and then also Navajo, Hopi, and Zuni.

(Tony) So this is some of our Navajo jewelry collection and obviously a lot of silver, a lot of turquoise.

In these cases we have historical pieces sitting right next to more contemporary pieces.

Really the most use that our collections get these days is from groups of Native artists themselves.

Usually an instructor will come in with a group of their students and this is a picture right here of Gerald Lomaventema.

He's a master Hopi silversmith, has a shop up on Second Mesa and he's talking about the history of Hopi silver overlay and educating his students about what that artistic tradition means to him and really trying to encourage a whole new generation of potential artists to go into that art form.

[Man speaking Zuni] (Samantha) So this is our Native Peoples of the Colorado Plateau Gallery.

So this took over five years in the making and it really highlights ten different cultures and tribes of the Colorado Plateau.

One of the coolest parts of the exhibition is our welcome wall, which as people come in they can have a seat and they can watch this video of different consultants that we've worked with for this project and they welcome everyone into the gallery in their own traditional language.

[speaking Hualapai] [speaking Havasupai] (Samantha) We worked with the consultants to pick out pieces from our permanent collection for them to really have a say in what they wanted on display.

As a Native or Indigenous person of the region, it's really refreshing to learn about who the other people are of the region and then the rich history that they have.

So you'll notice throughout the museum there are some beautiful skylights.

And that's important because it's kind of conveying a sense of time, the passing of days so the items can experience day and then night.

Landscape is such an important part of who we are and it's nice that we're able to kind of showcase that in our table here through the different words and names for the Grand Canyon and then what they mean for different people through their own personal statements here.

I think this says it so well.

So the Grand Canyon is a home, a place of origin and sacred to native peoples of the Colorado Plateau.

It's the home of deities, the source of salt and red pigment, a place of ancestor spirits, and a giver of new life.

At the beginning of the exhibition there's a quote from one of our consultants and she pointed out that knowledge is a responsibility and that we are given knowledge traditionally at a certain time and we're only given that knowledge when we're deemed ready for it.

And I think it's a good point to share with our visitors because it's really nice to kind of share with them that way of being and that way of knowing.

[Music] Tom - Typically the subject of water conservation is considered a technical issue and relegated to engineers and scientists and presented with ominous imagery and daunting statistics.

But now UA professor Andrea Gerlak has come up with The Conversation, a book about water conservation that allows everyday consumers to help preserve this precious resource.

[Music] [Desert water sounds] (Andrea) We live in a semi-arid region.

We live in the Sonoran Desert.

Water is a huge part of it.

We've been in a two decade drought here.

They're calling it a mega drought in the Colorado River Basin.

So it's not just our City of Tucson and our greater community.

It's us sitting in this larger basin that we share.

Seven states, two countries, and what happens in the larger basin impacts us.

So it's an issue that doesn't get enough attention when we talk about environmental issues in the U.S., but I think the public really understands it and knows it and feels it.

(Corrie) I think the hard thing as a consumer is the desire to have more and more things for water.

It's trying to find that fine line of how much are we needing versus wanting.

And then the other thing is kids water play.

You know, it's hot in Tucson, so the kids like to play in water.

And we reuse as much as we can of that water.

[Music] [Kids playing in water] [Turning water valve on] (Chad) We moved from the city and of course water conservation was turn off- don't leave the water running or make sure your sprinklers don't run too long.

75 to 80 percent of all the wine grapes grown in Arizona are grown in this valley.

It's got great soil, it's got slope, it's got a lot of benefits, but we definitely need to stay on top of the water part.

Especially we have a lot of Big Ag around us you know, if our neighbor's around, pump too much water and it affects us.

So it is a really big topic.

[Music] (Andrea) Everyone kind of has a story around water.

They know, you know, either where they grew up or a special place they like to vacation or hike or spend time with.

And so it's people respond to water.

They kind of understand what it means.

[Desert water sounds] (Corrie) When we get to see things that we saw growing up now where lake levels have drastically reduced, it definitely motivates us to want be more intentional with our water usage.

What worries me more is that the water will be reduced to the point where my kids won't get to enjoy things that I have enjoyed.

You know, the beauty of going out and being in a river or being in a lake because it won't exist anymore.

[Music] (Andrea) The Conversation is about different aspects of water.

And I was invited to really set up the different pieces in the book.

And in doing that I highlight what water looks like in the U.S. today.

What are the challenges that we're facing?

What are the opportunities to kind of do things better and the pathways forward?

And these speak to issues of quantity and quality and pollution.

There are issues around affordability and how people are struggling with water bills.

It's non-technical.

It's kind of jargon free.

It's very much conversations that you could have around the kitchen table.

(Chad) Whenever somebody, you know, calls a family friend or whatever, the conversation is always about water.

The conversation is moving forward.

People see the problem.

Everybody realizes the problem.

It's just trying to figure out a solution.

(Corrie) It definitely motivates us to want to engage with other people to try and make sure that the conversation is alive and happening because it's serious and it's important.

(Andrea) To have good impacts on the ground, we're realizing that you need a policy mix.

That there isn't like a silver bullet, like one thing that you do.

And what they mean by a mix is you need a little bit of regulation, then some kind of incentives, subsidies, something to help encourage or bring people along.

(Corrie) The big thing that we've done is we've created little rainwater barrel systems.

We created two little trash cans and we drilled a hole in it.

It has a little pipe that comes out and we even had a tiny little storm and we had enough to water our entire backyard.

We have little kiddie pools our kids play in and we fill those up, you know, Monday, the kids play in it and then Tuesday we water all of our backyard with it.

Honestly, the extra time that it takes us is very minimal.

(Andrea) The Tucson community has been capturing unused surface water, recharging our aquifers.

We've done a really great job of limiting and protecting our groundwater resources.

We're seeing stormwater rain as a resource now in ways that we never have.

So many communities across the U.S. historically have seen rain and stormwater as a nuisance, something to get rid of.

Our city has really taken that as a valuable resource.

[Heavy rain sound] (Chad) We aren't over grafting our groundwater at all where we're at on our farm.

I mean, we have our 50 acres, we have 14 acres under vine.

And there's years like last year where we had over 20 inches of rain where we didn't water at all for six weeks.

I mean, we had a lot of moisture.

You know, talking to geologists and things like that, there's plenty of water.

Which is deep.

Unfortunately, a lot of our neighbors in Big Ag, they're running two crops a year.

And they're kind of the ones that are using a lot of that groundwater.

And what we don't want to do is, you know, pump so much water out of the ground that we're going to have to dig 2,000 foot wells.

And then the water quality is poor.

And then our grape quality is poor.

We're looking at all different types of avenues.

And we're open for new techniques and technologies and things like that.

[Desert wind sounds] (Andrea) We're growing, but we're actually using less water per capita.

So more people are coming, but we're getting smarter about how we use water.

It's not just how we operate, you know, in the home that we live in, but it's how we operate in the world.

So I think what the individual does makes a world of difference.

(Corrie) Are the little things that we're doing making a big difference in the grand scheme of water conservation?

Maybe.

You know, it probably saves us a little bit of water.

I think it saves us maybe a little bit of money even.

But I think the important thing is it's the attitude behind it, especially for us teaching our kids that this world matters, that where we live matters.

(Chad) When you're a farmer, it's all about conservation.

You're not, I mean, you're a steward.

This, we really, you know, people can say, oh, you own this.

Now, we're just a steward of this for the next generation.

And so we do feel like this is long term.

This is about community and our neighbors.

Everybody might have to make a little bit of sacrifice, but it's like we are all together in this problem.

Let's figure out a solution.

So that's what's encouraging to me.

It's not like, oh, there's not a problem because I have water in my well.

But we're all in this together.

We're living in the same valley.

We only have so much water.

So, lets get this figured out.

Tom - For more in-depth coverage of water issues facing Arizona, check out the AZPM original podcast, Tapped.

This season focuses on how we get water from where it is to where we want it.

You can find Tapped on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon, or wherever you find your podcasts.

Thank you for joining us here on Arizona Illustrated.

I'm Tom McNamara.

We'll see you next week with another all-new episode.

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