Art & Entertainment

Art & Entertainment in Oro Valley

Art and entertainment Oro Valley offers is hard to match for a town this size. A serious public art program, a handful of real galleries, live music most nights of the week, and enough going on that our weekly Art+ Roundup rarely runs short.

This week in Oro Valley art

Ignacio Garcia: Las Sonoras Paintings opens September 23 at Tucson Desert Art Museum and runs through November 29, with an artist reception October 1. Desert Museum Arts is showing Sonoran Treasures, work from more than 38 member artists. Read the full Art+ Roundup for the rest of what’s on right now.

Public art, right outside your door

Since 1997, Oro Valley’s 1% for Public Art program has put more than 200 pieces into parks, schools, the library, and town buildings, funded by a share of every capital project the town builds. The easiest way to see it in person is the self-guided Oro Valley Art Tour, which maps out the pieces worth the stop.

Galleries worth the drive

Southern Arizona Arts Guild (SAAG) rotates exhibitions through the Community Center and Overlook Restaurant. Shows change often, so it’s worth checking before you go.

Ventana Gallery at Roche Tissue Diagnostics runs rotating quarterly exhibits. Appointments are required.

Desert Museum Arts and Tucson Desert Art Museum, just outside town, are both regular stops for serious collectors and casual browsers alike.

Sonoran Art, our own digital gallery, just launched Theresa Poalucci’s Coyote Collection, desert wildlife prints made right here in Oro Valley. See the collection online.

Theater and stage shows

The Oro Valley Theatre Company stages plays throughout the season, with an occasional musical mixed in. Gaslight Music Hall rounds out the dinner-theater scene with its own variety of shows.

Live music

Art State Arizona and the Town of Oro Valley run several concert series around town: Friday Night Concerts at Steam Pump Ranch, the Oro Valley Concert Series, the Oro Valley Riverfront Park Classical Concert Series and the Westward Look Concert Series. We add each one to our Events Calendar as it’s scheduled. For the full weekly lineup, see Live Music Oro Valley.

Take a class

Toscana Studio & Gallery runs adult oil painting with instructor Linda Ahearn, plus after-school classes for kids. If your kids are younger, the Children’s Museum Oro Valley focuses on ages 0 to 5 with hands-on programming built for that age group.

Mark your calendar

Oro Valley Spring Festival of the Arts, the town’s craft show, runs March 6 & 7,  with more than 100 vendors and free admission. It’s one of the bigger spring art events and worth planning around.

Where I’d take a friend

If someone’s in town for the weekend and wants a taste of the art scene, here’s the route: start with the Oro Valley Art Tour to catch the town’s public art in one afternoon. Stop at SAAG to see whatever’s currently up, since the shows rotate often enough that it’s never the same visit twice. Pull up Theresa Poalucci’s new Coyote Collection on Sonoran Art’s site, since it’s a digital gallery best viewed online rather than in person. If the timing works out, catch a stage show from the Oro Valley Theatre Company or one of Art State Arizona’s concerts to close out the night.