MARIO DI VETTA hero arts

“When I talk performance,” he says, “I talk from beginning to end in terms of purchasing their ticket, getting to the venue, going through security, getting into the lobby, finding their seat, sitting for the performance, and then exiting. It’s not just what’s on stage.”

Di Vetta believes the work of Broadway in Tucson is essential.

Ensuring Healthy Eyes for the Arts Throughout Southern Arizona

From 2005 to 2010, Di Vetta held various marketing roles at UA Presents at Centennial Hall. In 2010, he became Marketing Manager at Broadway in Tucson. By 2015 he was Director of Marketing for both UA Presents and Broadway in Tucson.

In 2020, Di Vetta was named General Manager where he acts on a goal to deliver memorable experiences. The 2021-22 season was the biggest season in Broadway in Tucson history with 95 performances.

“There are things that are necessary to live – food, water, shelter, clothing,” he says. “I think the arts are part of that as well. I think you need to experience being in a theater with 2,500 strangers, and you’re all watching the same thing that will be different the next day, that was different the night before. You have that shared common experience that no one else will ever have. And I think you need that.”

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

Nominate him or her at onmediaaz.com

The Vibe of Tubac

At nearly 5,000 square feet of building space on two acres of land in Tubac, K. Newby Gallery and Sculpture Garden is effectively one of the largest welcome signs you’ll ever see. For owner Kim Roseman, it’s also a public display of affection.

Roseman has owned the gallery that is a mainstay in the historic arts community for 20 of its 35 years. Consistency is a hallmark of the gallery that specializes in what she categorizes as “Southwest representational with a twist.” The gallery wouldn’t have it any other way, she says.

“The energy, the vibe, of the gallery wants what the vibe of the gallery wants,” Roseman said of ensuring collectors and the artists the gallery represents connect. “The main things that people are looking for and why they gravitate here, that hasn’t changed.”

But that doesn’t mean there’s no evolution. Expansion in 2011 ushered in opportunities for the civic-minded Roseman to do more to increase accessibility to the arts and to champion local artists through the Indigo Desert Ranch art collective.

A garden of large and outdoor works situated in a xeriscape includes about 30 kinectic sculptures in near-constant motion. It’s for everyone.

“People love it,” Roseman says. “I think it adds to the charm and character of town.”

For Roseman, a former Visual Merchandiser who moved to Arizona in 1995, Newby Gallery embodies everything she loves about the state, the scenery and the people she first encountered on vacation. In buying it, she found a way to work while doing what she loves — spending time in art spaces.

There’s more work to do.