Ryn Gargulinski

Creativity on Fire

tucson artists

Bad things happen when you don’t buy local

Buying local is the best way to buy—and I’m not just saying that because I sell things in Tucson. I’m saying that because there are so many phenomenal businesses around town that deserve our support.

Besides, bad things happen if you don’t support local companies.

Many of those businesses have been kicking around for years. Others have cropped up because, in certain cases, the employment market has made it easier to start one’s own business than find a fulfilling job. Then there are still others where people are attaining their dream of being their own boss doing something they believe in and love.

Kudos to them all. Now buy something.

Some small local businesses luck out by selling items or providing services that it doesn’t make sense to obtain elsewhere—like tattoo shops or pizzerias. Shipping on large items and appliances may cost more than the actual item. And it’s always tough to set an appointment with an alarm guy or electrical expert when they have to travel from out of state.

Tucsonan Kelly Rishor knows this well. Her foothills-area business, LiteSync, provides electrical, audio, video and security services. She’s also big on keeping the local trend going, and even has a business policy to buy from area vendors.

“As a business-owner, we do everything we can to buy local,” she says. “We firmly believe it’s the right thing to do for the economy and environment.”

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Sneak peek at Tucson Weekly art box project – Coming soon to a sidewalk near you!

A lifelong goal of many artists is to blanket the world with their creations. While many of us have gotten a leg up on this endeavor by painting rocks, designing art for our cars or even creating the occasional mural on the side of building (with owner permission, of course), most of us don’t have the cash to blanket larger things like Times Square billboards.

But who needs Times Square billboards when we got the Tucson Weekly Art Box Project.

Now in its second go-around, the Tucson Weekly Art Box Project consists of transforming the plain red, metal newspaper boxes into veritable works of art. Artists are allowed to use any medium they wish to create any design they wish, although we were duly warned that boxes that end up with nudity or profanity will get stuck in a “less desirable” location.

“Is that a Tucson Weekly newspaper box in those weeds behind the saguaro?”

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Make a Difference Day Oct. 22: More funky pockets of charm coming to Tucson along Toole Avenue


Funky pockets of charm are a big part of what makes Tucson fun. Fourth Avenue’s welded trash cans. Murals and metal art peppered around downtown. A revamping of Toole Avenue, complete with new trees, new plants and gads of new art.

The sprucing-up festivities, officially known as the Toole Avenue Streetcape Project, is part of Make a Difference Day, scheduled from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22. Activities are geared toward refurbishing the yet-to-be-finished Toole Avenue Artwalk with greenery and all other hues in a planting and art fest.

Oodles of artists, community volunteers, art and civic organizations and businesses will be on location planting trees, installing dozens of other plants, finishing off existing murals and adding new artwork to the scene. Performances, art activities and other festivities will be going on along Toole and throughout the entire Tucson Historic Warehouse Arts District, including three, one-day exclusive exhibits.

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Glow 2011: Even the mud glowed at Glow at Triangle L Ranch in Oracle

A weekend drenched in unrelenting rain didn’t put a damper on Glow 2011. All it did was make the mud glow, as evidenced in the orangey pic featuring boot tips in its lower left corner. Enjoy a quick recap of some of the sights shining bright on Saturday night, Sept. 10, 2011, thanks to the hard work and dedication of Triangle L Ranch’s owner – the fabulous Sharon – and the oodles of volunteers who worked for weeks to make the annual weekend event blaze with glory once again.