Expert Panel to Explore Phoenix Water Issues at Major Art Opening on Roosevelt Row in Phoenix

PHOENIX - May 2, 2016 - PRLog -- A panel of leading water advocates will bring their expertise and diverse viewpoints to a lively discussion of the Phoenix watershed during the opening reception forDesert Rivers/City River, the solo exhibition of New York artist Tony Winters.

The event will host innovators in the field of water resources, conservation and development, focusing on the future of Phoenix and its water landscapes. Speakers include author and developer Grady Gammage, Jr., historian Dr. Jack August, George Martinez of Audubon Arizona, and Sandy Bahr of the Sierra Club. The panel discussion and reception will take place 5pm, June 3, in Shade Gallery at the monOrchid during First Friday Art Walk on Roosevelt Row, with event sponsorship by Stolichnaya Wines and Vodka.

Panel members will present alternative expert viewpoints in response to these provocative images, which feature visions of the magical landscape, part natural, part man-made, which makes up the Phoenix watershed. From parched apocalypse to oasis garden city, debates over the future of America's west get louder each year, increasingly focused on the one subject that can't be ignored-water.

The exhibition also serves to benefit a worthy downtown Phoenix institution: Genesis City, a charity that has empowered thousands of formerly disengaged, poverty level youth to access education and jobs since 1991.  A portion of the exhibition's sales will be donated to the school's Art Program.

This new collection of paintings presents the iconic water-landscapes surrounding Phoenix. The Agua Fria, Verde and Salt Rivers flow from the mountains into giant canyon reservoirs that rise and fall during the change of seasons. The artist says, "During each stage of its journey the water animates a different landscape, and each has its own beauty."

About the Speakers

Mr. Grady Gammage, Jr. is a part time academic, a practicing lawyer, a sometime real estate developer and a former elected official. In his academic role, Mr. Gammage is a Senior Fellow at ASU's Morrison Institute, the Kyl Center for Water Policy, and a Senior Scholar at the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability.  His work there focuses on urban growth and development, quality of life, and local economic issues.  Mr. Gammage's recent book The Future of the Suburban City: Lessons from Sustaining Phoenix has just been published by Island Press.

Jack L. August, Jr., Ph.D. is historian and director of Institutional Advancement at the Arizona Capitol Museum, Office of the Arizona Secretary of State. Author of ten books and scores of articles in peer-reviewed journals on the legal, political, and natural resource history of the American West, including the development of the reservoirs and canals that serve the Phoenix watershed. His latest work is The Norton Trilogy, the story of three generations of Arizona's Norton family and their impact on western water supplies and policies.

George A. Martinez, Audubon Arizona, Director of Development. Audubon initiatives include the Western Rivers Action Network, a multi-state grassroots effort to protect rivers, and the Nina Mason Pulliam Rio Salado Audubon Center (http://riosalado.audubon.org/) in the Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Area--a 600-acre park space in the historic Salt River corridor. Located less than two miles from downtown Phoenix, the Center is a gateway to a lush Sonoran riparian habitat used by over 200 species of birds and other wildlife.

Sandy Bahr, Sierra Club Arizona. Sandy is the Chapter Director for the Grand Canyon (Arizona) Chapter of the Sierra Club. She has worked actively on environmental protection issues in Arizona for the past twenty-seven years. Current campaigns include protecting the flows of the Verde and San Pedro rivers and establishing a Sierra Club Water Sentinels program in Arizona that mobilizes volunteers to protect, improve, and restore Arizona's waters through hands-on conservation work, public education, and citizen action.

Tony Winters is an award-winning landscape artist and Hudson River Fellowship recipient living in New York City. He has exhibited his paintings nationally and been featured in both online and print publications.

Desert Rivers/City River will be on display in Shade Gallery at the monOrchid from June 3rd until June 26th, 2016.

The monOrchid is located at 214 E. Roosevelt Street in the heart of Phoenix's downtown Roosevelt Row Arts District. The building is open daily and the exhibition may be viewed during business hours. Please visit their website for more information at monorchid.com. For media inquiries or a private appointment to view this exhibition please contact Shade Projects Curator, Nicole Royse by phone at (602) 810-3449 or by email at nicoleroyse@gmail.com.

About the Artist

Tony Winters is a painter and architect living in New York City.  His website is: http://www.tonywintersfineart.com

For more information (including high-res images) contact: Contact: Helen Winters
helenwinters2@gmail.com