Tomorrow’s First Saturday, but it’s not just any First Saturday, it’s time for the Summer Art Cruise! Scoopage is at ctgatucson.org and more on the Tu Scene Facebook Links tab. Adding events as I get (t0) them.

A few days ago, some artist-friends and I got into some post-game commentary over beers at Congress about a show we’d seen earlier in the evening. We’d all seen about half of the work before other other venues around town within the last year. In the heat of the discussion, I agreed with them that seeing replays was kind of a turn-off and just brought down the presentation as a whole. Now I’m not so sure how much it really matters. We’re hardcore art nerds and go to nearly every show that we can so we probably see, and I mean really look at and remember a lot more art than most people.  I think this cross-pollination exists only in our little unofficial ivory tower, since we’ve strayed so far from the casual art appreciator who may visit one gallery that caters to the tastes of their particular social scene, but not another. With this in mind, I’d like to pose a few questions to artists, gallerists, academics, and art professionals:

• Do you let your work “leak” on the web (your personal site or Facebook, Flickr, etc.) before putting it in a show? Or do you reveal it publicly in an exhibit, then put it up on the web?
• Do you prepare a body of work, then share it online? Or do you post images as you complete each piece?
• Are there (loose) professional standards for any of these practices, or are they still developing as technology expands?
• To what extent does revealing your work depend on context? For example, if you have work in a major show, do you keep everything secret until the opening? If it’s a less-important show or a short-run, do you recycle old work?

Dance, Drink n’ Draw
Tuesday, May 25, 9pm-2am
Vaudeville Cabaret
110 E. Congress

Live art installation by Josh Flood, plus DJ sets by DJ Salinger, Sid the Kid, Rip-Dee, DJ Grapla. Drink specials, ladies get in free.

Blade, Julia Latané, 2003

POSTPONED Last Chance Dance Party: Made in Tucson/Born in Tucson/Live in Tucson Part I POSTPONED
Saturday, May 29 at 8pm
MOCA
265 S. Church Ave.
Members only, $10

DJ’s, live music, and a farewell celebration to MOCA’s inagural exhibition in their new home. Click here to become a member. Check out photos from the exhibit.

Heartbreaker by Valerie Galloway

Kore Press Benefit Auction & Garden Party
Sunday, May 30, 5:30-7:30pm
The Franklin House lawn
402 N. Main
$5 advance tickets (purchase online before May 27), $10 at the door

Benefit for Kore Press. Admission includes eats and drinks from Gallery of Food, and music by sound sculptress Vicki Brown. Silent auction featuring services from local businesses and fine art. Participating artists include Valerie Galloway, Elee Oak, Ken Rosenthal, Lisa Robinson, Annie Guthrie, Ann Simmons-Myer, Patricia Katchur, Valyntina Grenier, Jude Clarke, Ellen McMahon, Wil Taylor, Gregory Sale, Rand Carlson, Eva Harris, Desiree Rios, Mykl Wells, Eric Magrane, Patrick McCardle, Tabitha Adams, Vanessa Galloway, Gene Hall, Kim Young, Linda Coolie, Simon Donovan, George Bowden, Laurel Hansen, Krista Niles, Sharon Mahoney, Sharon Thwing, and others. You can preview the work here.

Call to artists: Post No Bills
Fragment Gallery
44 W. 6th Street, Suite 2A
Deadline: June 26
Show: July 3- 31

Street Art, Graffiti, Wheat-paste Poster, Stickers, Stencil, Installation etc. Any and all street art styles from tags to illustrative are welcome. No submission fee. Submit images at least 1000 pixels (in any direction) no larger than 2MB and installation proposals to opencall@fragmentgallery.com.

Reposted from tpacartsadvocacy.ning.com. Be sure to sign the petition!

The Day of Action in Support of the Arts is finally here! And so begins our efforts in earnest to help the city council use their business sense (in the words of Karen F),  allocate wisely (Paul W.) and be brave (Ted P.) in allocating funding for TPAC.

There are many things happening today:
Arts for All, Coffee Reception, 7 – 9 AM (Arts for All, 2520 N. Oracle Rd)
The Loft Cinema,  Playing PSA videos all day (The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd)
Invisible Theatre, Draping marquee, (Invisible Theatre, 1400 N. 1st Ave)

Downtown beginning at 5:30 pm,  there will be:
Jodi Netzer, a running butoh clown (starting at Maynard’s)
Flam Chen/ Critical Stilts (between Maynards and the library)
Jeff Grubic on sax (Pedestrian bridge between El Presidio Park  and La Placita Village)
Mitzi Dasheya Cowell and pals (Scooters in La Placita Village)
Katie Rutterer and New ARTiculations (La Placita Village Plaza)
To-Reé-Neé  (near the griffin at Scott Ave & 12th Street)
Batucaxé  and Acroyoga (near Armory Park, 6th Ave & 12th Street)
Odaiko Sonora & Lorie Heald (on the Diamondback bridge)

Downtown at dusk (approx. 7:30pm):
Denise Uyehara, Adam Cooper-Teran and friends, video projections (Amtrak depot)

We’ll continue to add actions to the artsdayofaction.org site as we find out about them; send your info to tpacartsadvocacy@gmail.com or send a tweet to @tpacartadvocacy.

Participate in a Virtual Action
Donate your Facebook or Twitter status: Let others know you are participating in the Day of Action in Support of the Arts, link to the videos (artsdayofaction.org/video.php) and encourage your friends to repost.

More Actions to Take in the Upcoming Week
Email blast coming soon: On, Tuesday, May 4, the  City Manager will submit his  recommended FY 2011 budget to the Mayor & Council study;  we will be starting an email blast shortly after.  We’ll send an alert to let you know what the city manager’s budget allocates to TPAC,  suggestions for what to say in an email, and who to email.  We’ll also link to a one-stop webpage that will make it easy to send emails to the elected officials.

Show up: Tuesday, May 11 will be the public hearing on the City of Tucson FY2011  Budget… but you already have that on your calendar, right?  We’ll need everyone to show up with a few friends in tow.  We’ll also need few people ready to speak on behalf of the arts.

Blogger’s note: It’s great to some of the ideas come to fruition that were discussed in TPAC’s forums last spring.