EMILY PRATT hero arts

Pratt was fresh out of college where she studied theater when she acted on a friend’s suggestion to move to Tucson sight unseen. A part in Borderlands Theater’s 2004 production of “A Tucson Pastorela” led to an administrative assistant job. Soon after, she became Box Office Manager at the theater, and then head of community outreach.

She has worked rewarding jobs outside arts and culture, but there was no leaving behind her creative interests. In fact, those interests grow wider and deeper. She has taken up photography, and in December, she’ll appear in “Pastorela del Pueblo,” a Blacktop Gunn Theatrics production. She is also the Tucson Co-host of CreativeMornings, a monthly breakfast lecture series in which creative types in 200 cities worldwide discuss the same topic.

Tucson’s people and its traditions, like the All Souls Procession and its special outdoor spaces like Tumamoc Hill, create a community like no other she says.

“Tucson,” Pratt says, “is a really special place that revolves and sort of thrives as a result of community. … I want to contribute to it, and I hope that I can see and share more.” sponsored by

Do you know an Arts Hero? Someone who works tirelessly to strengthen, improve and enhance the arts in our community?

The Power of the Doodle

Adriana Gallego was doodling during a college psychology class when she was struck by the artist bug. It was, as the Executive Director of the Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona describes it, a Peter Parker moment.

“Instead of analyzing an ad,” Gallego says, “I decided to draw it, and all of a sudden … . I felt like Spiderman who just got bitten by an atomic spider. It was really unexpected. It was a huge surprise. I felt like I discovered a superpower.”

Gallego, who had dreamed of being a lawyer, became a painter. But the shift in focus didn’t change her sense of purpose or a lifelong commitment to social justice.