Coconino Center for the Arts — Life Update & Recent Highlights!

Life Update from

Creative Flagstaff!

These last couple of months have been busy, filled with community, events, art, and Flagstaff fun. Thank you for your involvement in everything we do and for your continued engagement in art, science, and culture! Here is what has been happening at Creative Flagstaff and Coconino Center for the Arts:

Summer ArtWalk Success!

This summer’s ArtWalk season was a incredible experience, filled with amazing artwork, live music, meaningful activations, and strong community spirit!

From starting the season with the Pollinator Parade and Momentum Aerial performances to taking over the street with Steamroller Printmaking, it has been such a fun few months. Whether you were biking with Center 2 Center, gathering in the square to support local performers, buying new statement pieces at local galleries, hunting for vintage clothing, or taking part in conversations impacting our community and broader world, we are so grateful for your involvement.

This was also our first season with road closures, made possible thanks to Dapper Dre. We are overwhelmed with your positive feedback, thank you to everyone who expressed support for the pedestrian-only space! Help support next season’s activations by contributing to the Dapper Does it Fund.

We are looking forward to the upcoming Local Season and we have more ArtWalk updates to come.

NightVisions Programming Recap

The NightVisions: AMBER exhibition has officially closed. It was a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Flagstaff’s designation as the First International Dark Sky Community, in collaboration with the Flagstaff Dark Skies Coalition. We were thrilled to feature work from over 60 international artists, including 17 local Flagstaff artists.

The exhibition featured lots of programs that brought together both new and familiar faces:

– Full Moon Concerts at Buffalo Park with FDSC
– Arabic Poetry in the High Country with Danielle Adams
– Diné Constellations and Cultural Knowledge with Emerson John
– Capturing the Night: Astrophotography Basics and Insights with John Gartin
– Young NightVisionaries: A NightVisions Youth Workshop with Erika Tsouras
– Night Voices: Spoken Word and Poetry with Joshua Wiss & Friends
– A Galaxy in Diné Bizaad: Sǫʼtah Anaaʼ: Siih Náhásdlįį Film Screening in collaboration with the Navajo Nation Museum, featuring guest speaker Geri Hongeva
– Starlit Market: A NightVisions Night Market in collaboration with Flagstaff Mountain Town Market
– A performance of The Planets by the Dark Sky Quartet
– The Savor the Night Sky Dinner Experience to close out the exhibition

Thank you to everyone who participated in this programming and supported the exhibition to make it such a success!

Theater Highlights

At the NightVisions: Savor the Night Sky event, we officially announced a new name for our theater: SKYLIGHT THEATER at Coconino Center for the Arts! It was wonderful to celebrate this milestone, and we extend a special thank you to Supervisor Horstman and Vice Mayor Sweet for ceremoniously cutting the ribbon.

Also, we are thrilled to have launched our CCA Storytellers series. CCA Storytellers is our new series where we will go through and break down songs as they are performed — think Tiny Desk, MTV Unplugged, or Genius lyric videos, but live from Flagstaff. Tsoh Tso kicked off the series this month and it was such a beautiful night of reflection. Plus, we love getting to host flagstaff locals!

Upcoming Concerts

Youth Interactive Space Coming Soon

We’re partnering with Kinney Construction to build a semi-permanent, modular wall arrangement and replace all the existing temporary walls in the gallery, including segmentation for the new Youth Interactive Space to expand educational programs with year-round access for youth opportunities at CCA. This will be the gallery’s first significant remodel since it opened in 1984!⁠

Construction is underway and the remodel will be completed by the opening of our fall exhibition with a CCA remodel unveiling on October 24. We appreciate your contribution to bring this initiative to fruition. Donors of $500 or more will have their name placed on the dedication wall.

Support CCA’s Interactive Space

Behind the Scenes: ADA Accessibility

CCA’s accessible parking got a refresh. We’re thrilled to be partnering with Coconino County Management for parking improvements. Our new ADA parking is complete!

Behind the Scenes: Staff Send-Off

To celebrate Dani’s new opportunity at the Museum of Northern Arizona, we held a staff send-off bowling night! We are so happy for Dani as she transitions into this exciting new chapter.

Also, congratulations to Urian for destroying the competition!

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.