PrintTubac’s Karin Newby Gallery is surrounded by beauty
EnlargeThe Karin Newby Gallery & Sculpture Garden is changing how people view Southwestern art by changing where they look at it. Originally founded by Karin Newby in 1988, the gallery was purchased by Kim Roseman in 2003. “The existing gallery was amazing,” Roseman says. “I did not change a thing for the first year.” But after she had a chance to get settled in and attuned to the gallery’s aesthetic, Roseman had a few ideas of her own, including expanding the gallery to the desert landscape outside. “Tubac is a Southwest enclave,” Roseman points out. “I wanted to show the sculptures in their natural setting.”
So she sat down with LeRoy Doyle, who has been the gallery director for 21 of the 22 years the gallery has been in operation, to come up with a plan. Doyle, an avid gardener himself, designed the organic two-and-a-half-acre sculpture garden to stay true to the local landscape, while providing a neutral backdrop for the diverse art in the gallery’s collection. Nature, however, posed some obstacles along the way. “Part of the garden was under water at one point in its history,” Roseman says. “As a result, we kept tripping over rocks that were the size of baked potatoes. As we tossed the rocks aside, we began creating unintentional rock walls.” Doyle masterfully integrated these rock walls with indigenous materials and xeriscaping to emulate the spirit of the art displayed in the garden. The result is a setting that accentuates each artist’s work. “The tallest sculpture in the garden is of two Native Americans pulling each other up a cliff,” Roseman says. “The garden provides an authentic backdrop to the piece.”
Take your time to stroll the garden pathways and view bronze works like Jim Budish’s fanciful rabbits, Gary Dolan’s kinetic turbines, James G. Moore’s Asian-inspired standing bells, and Jim Eppler’s realistic ravens and raptors. Not sure about the price? During the Tubac Festival of the Arts the gallery will have precast offerings (clay sculptures the artist has not yet cast in bronze) available from most of its bronze artists. Once the piece is published, or cast, the price generally increases. But either way, metal or clay, these artists will make an impression.
GALLERY: Karin Newby Gallery & Sculpture Garden, 19 Tubac Road, Tubac, Arizona, 520.398.9662, 888.398.9662, www.karinnewbygallery.com.
Issue: March 2010
