Coconino Center for the Arts — Life Update from Creative Flag!

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Life Update from

Creative Flagstaff!

Thank you for your continued engagement in art, science, and culture. At Creative Flagstaff, we keep you informed about what’s coming up — exhibitions, performances, events, and opportunities — but we tend to overlook sharing our recent accomplishments, both public-facing and behind-the-scenes. And, we have a lot to share! We’re launching this quarterly newsletter to help acquaint you with the faces behind our organization, with personal accounts from staff members each newsletter. We hope you enjoy learning more about us, and we invite you to become involved.

Yours, Julie Comnick
Executive Director, Creative Flagstaff & Coconino Center for the Arts

Exhibition Highlights

CCA’s final exhibition of 2025, Shifting Topographies: Extracting the Landscape, reached audiences across Northern Arizona — with relevant programming, school field trips, and press coverage from across the region. From engaging artist talks to hands-on experiences, it brought people together in meaningful ways.

Check out these reviews:
Southwest Contemporary
AZ Daily Sun
Tó Nizhóní Ání (TNA)
Navajo-Hopi Observer
Williams-Grand Canyon News

The biennial FORE! fundraiser was, once again, a community favorite. It was rewarding to see so many new faces in the building, and captivating moments, like Sarah Downing making her emcee debut, the stunning outfits for the opening tournament, and “Golf the Knar” winning the audience vote for best green. We can’t wait until next time!

CCA’s annual Youth Arts exhibition featured a record number of pieces this year, with over 500 works on display from more than 300 students. Thank you to Urian Lee, our Exhibitions Preparator, Abigail Austin, our NAU student Exhibitions Intern, and the rest of the staff for their hard work in beautifully displaying all of the artwork. And, of course, a sincere thank you to all of the participating young artists. We are always blown away by your talent.

Upcoming Exhibitions

Staff Updates

We are pleased to introduce our new team members…

Jihan Gearon: Exhibitions & Programs Coordinator.

Jihan joins Creative Flagstaff as our part-time Exhibitions & Programs Coordinator! She’ll be helping oversee exhibitions at CCA and supporting countywide reach for CCA programs.

Meg Kabotie Adakai: ARTx Event Coordinator

Meg joins Creative Flagstaff this spring on contract as the ARTx Events Coordinator. With support from our team, she is leading the charge on ARTx 2026!

Behind the Scenes: Safety First!

CCA staff members are now AED/CPR-certified, and we’re proud to continue taking steps to prioritize your safety. Thank you to the Flagstaff Athletic Club for offering these services to our community.

From the Theater…

Thank you to everyone who sponsored a CCA Theater seat—123 seats have been dedicated so far! Thanks to Coconino County and individuals like you, the refreshed theater offers a comfortable and contemporary venue to see your favorite shows. 60 seats are still available, so it is not to late for you to make your dedication.

CCA has hosted 35 performances In the past 8 months, including sold-out concerts from Mason Jennings, S.E. Willis, Mama’s Broke and Bruce Cockburn. Local favorite Nolan McKelvey returned for his annual winter show, this time bringing Jesse Valenzuela of famed Gin Blossoms.

We have 8 more shows to go before wrapping up our spring season, including a return of the Flagstaff Folk Festival June 13-14. We are grateful to all of the performing artists, presenting partners, and audiences that have made for such an exciting lineup! We can’t wait to see you again in our newly renovated theater space.

Upcoming Concerts

Arts & Science Grants

Supported by the City of Flagstaff Bed, Board, and Beverage (BBB) Tax Revenues, Creative Flagstaff is proud to have allocated Arts & Science Grants to artists and non-profit organizations: In FY26, for General Operating Support Grants, $490k was awarded to 39 projects out of 43 applicants; and for Project Grants in Innovation & Capacity Building, $125k was awarded to 16 projects out of 35 applicants. We are looking forward to announcing FY27 GOS grant recipients later this spring!

Want to get involved?

Become a member of Coconino Center for the Arts: join, renew, or refer a friend to become a member today! ART PASS+ includes enrollment in The North American Reciprocal Museum (NARM) Association, which offers free admission to over 1,300 institutions and museums across North America.

Volunteer with us! Dedicated volunteers are integral to our Creative Community, generously offering time and expertise to expand the reach of Art, Science & Cultural programs.

If you haven’t seen it yet, we’ve launched a new and improved website configuration! Take a look below to explore everything we have coming up in 2026.

Creative Flagstaff

Coconino Center for the Arts

Thank you, Corporate Sponsors!

PRESENTERS

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