DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun, Tucson

As soon as you get out of your vehicle in the DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun parking lot, you'll see that this is no ordinary artist's gallery!    Rather it's a composite of the desert landscapes of Southern Arizona and Sonora including an impressive adobe chapel reminiscent of the mission churches of Padre Kino, ramadas for shady contemplation, decorative arched pathways, clusters of cactus gardens and other native desert trees and vegetation, the mine shaft entry to the actual gallery and embedded DeGrazia art in many different media everywhere on a gorgeous ten acre parcel in Tucson's Santa Catalina Mountain foothillsl!

We started our visit at the Chapel, which Arizona artist Ted DeGrazia built by hand in 1953 and called the “Mission in the Sun.”   The Chapel was built in honor of Padre Eusebio Francsico Kino, the famous Jesuit who built a chain of mission churches in northern Sonora and southern Arizona in the late 17^th Century and early 18^th Century and is dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico. 

The centerpiece In the front of the chapel is the dramatic stepped adobe altar with a central large painted image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  There are hundreds of photographs, drawings and articles related to cures and miracles attributed to Our Lady of Guadalupe around the altar. There are also two smaller rooms with altars at the rear of the Chapel.

The adobe walls are filled with many colorful DeGrazia painted images of flying angels, groups of angels, angels with trumpets, angels playing violin, Padre Kino on horseback, a Yaqui deer dancer, birds, children holding candles, twinkling stars, desert plants and much more. 

The entire right wall is devoted to a large group of Indian people bringing baskets of flowers to the chapel.   The center length of the chapel has an open roof.

 

A blue painted tablet tells the story of Juan Diego and the first appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe near Mexico City in 1531.
 

People come from all over just to visit the Chapel and its exquisite architecture and beautifully painted decoration!  

Moving along to the large adobe gallery building, entry is by heavy metal double doors framed to appear like the entrance to a mine.  DeGrazia was born in 1909 in Morenci, Arizona, a copper mining town and his father worked in the mine, so the artist's early days are reflected in this entrance.  

Just inside on the left is a room with musical instruments as again, DeGrazia was also a musician and appreciated the connection between art, color and music.  His Gallery in the Sun was opened to the public in 1965.   DeGrazia always said that he built the Gallery in the Sun so that his paintings “would feel good inside!”  Isn't that a unique perspective?

"Horseback" (Padre Kino)

DeGrazia loved the color and movement of bullfights

The Gallery in the Sun is constructed so you walk through a series of gallery rooms, containing six permanent collections, each in its own room and several rotating exhibits.  Each collection is dedicated to one of DeGrazia's most prolific interests and painting subjects.  Most rooms also hold a showcase or other display of many of DeGrazia's personal collection of artifacts, especially minerals.  Here are the subjects of the Permanent Collection gallery spaces in order of display:  Padre Kino, Cabeza de Vaca, Papago Indians, Retrospective, Yaqui Easter and Bullfight.   We show a few of our favorites here.

On the right a self portrait of the early '80's

Near the end of the Gallery rooms, there is a door to the outside garden, which is well worth walking through.  The garden is a courtyard surrounded by the Gallery buildings and offices.  It is very beautifully landscaped and expertly maintained with many cactuses, succulents, trees and native plants, some flowering. There are many found objects of DeGrazia, including a French horn, heads of shovels, glass objects and much more.  A nearly lifesize Yaqui deer dancer is the centerpiece of a pond, with many koi swimming around

There is a side room off one of the last galleries with a large television playing movies of DeGrazia discussing his beginnings, the Gallery in the Sun, the desert landscape, his love of the Missions and Padre Kino,  and his close attachment to the local Tohono O'odham, Yaqui, Seri and other Indian peoples. In this room, there are large photographs of DeGrazia working on various art projects mounted on his painting easels. Each time we visit, we feel that he is telling us personal stories about his own life and why he paints certain subjects.  We did meet him once in the late 1970s and acquired one of his ceramics.  We feel a personal connection with him, unlike any other artist. 

Before Ted DeGrazia passed away in 1982 at age 73, he formed the DeGrazia Foundation to hold his collection of 15,000 DeGrazia originals, to maintain the Gallery in the Sun property in perpetuity and to continue his policy of free admission to the grounds.  The Gallery in the Sun complex was added to the National Register of Historic Places in Fall 2006.   Amazingly, photography is allowed in the Gallery with the use of flash prohibited.  That is how we are able to show you on this blog post a number of DeGrazia paintings that we particularly love!

We returned to the Gallery in the Sun a second time on the day we left Tucson to start home as we wanted to see the Chapel again and discovered that we missed more painted art.  We saw more birds, probably doves or swallows, as well as a roadrunner.  We also saw a clown on the wall—context unknown, an angel playing violin, Christ on the cross, children with balloons, an Indian playing a violin and another playing a flute and drum and finally, a group of Indians watching a cock fight!

We also knew that Ted was buried on the property and wanted to see his grave, and that of his wife Miriam, who died in 2002.

Under the tree on Miriam's grave are lots of angels---the stone pyramid is Ted's Eternal Christmas Tree

Finally, after looking at the Gallery's catalog of prints, we wanted to buy San Xavier Mission Fiesta and Children Dancing around a Saguaro to add to our home art collection.  Needless to say, these are good reproduction prints, not originals!  Even small originals can cost $5000 and much more!  Just wished I'd bought a few originals in the 80s!!

To us, DeGrazia is the quintessential Southwest artist!  Now, 32 years after DeGrazia's death, streams of visitors come 7 days a week to get acquainted with the man through his art and architecture.  Most, like us, leave amazed and delighted!  This year, 2015, is the 50^th Anniversary of the Gallery in the Sun complex!  When in Tucson, be sure to stop by and have your own DeGrazia experience!