Sedona Arts Center: Six Decades of Bringing Creative People Together

In 1956, with a town of less than 400 people, an idea was born. That town was Sedona, and the idea was to make Sedona a place of artistic learning and creative expression. With an eye on Sedona’s potential, an Egyptian sculptor named Nassan Gobran (and other civic leaders) founded the Sedona Arts Center - with the hope of sharing their vision. The local ranchers, orchard workers and merchants that occupied Sedona joined in and a space was acquired in uptown Sedona. The space transformed a former apple orchard warehouse into an Art Barn.

Earning the interest of famous surrealist Max Ernst helped kick Sedona off as an artistic community. Max and his wife Dorthea lived in Sedona during the 40s and 50s where they created art. Pulling a small trailer, the couple would drive to New York with their pieces in the trailer that were destined for galleries. Both created numerous and important paintings while in Sedona including: Vox Angelica and Painting for Young People. Max also started his monumental sculpture Capricorn while in Sedona, which Nassan Gobran helped create molds from on their behalf. Many of Max’s pieces of art were first featured in the newly formed Sedona Arts Center, established by Gobran.

Today, the Sedona Arts Center continues its tradition of artistic learning and creative expression. A variety of courses are offered every year through its School of Arts. Classes encompass Art Workshops, Field Expeditions and Weekly Classes.

Weekly Classes are currently distributed to handful of categories that include: Ceramics & Sculpture, Painting and Drawing, Crash Courses, Summer Kids Camps, Art & Wine, Life Drawing and Private Classes which can range from creative journaling to iPhoneography.

To see finished pieces, the Sedona Art Center offers a gallery that represents over 110 local artists. This gallery can be visited Monday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

If that’s not enough, the Sedona Art Center also has a number of annual events. This year will be the Community Plein Art Event on June 13 and Sedona Summer Colony, an individual residency for participants, that will occur between July 21 and August 11, 2018.

“The main objective for the summer colony continues to be to support the inspiration and creation of new artistic work and cultural content by providing undisturbed time, temporary living space, regular meals, and appropriate studio or work space. Due to the collective nature of a group residency with a shared campus and meals there is ample opportunity to foster new connections and dialogue creating opportunities for cross-disciplinary interaction and thinking.”

For more information about the Sedona Art Center, visit their website at http://sedonaartscenter.org