February 15, 2012 • Vol. 10, No.10
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Anthem • Black Canyon City • Carefree • Cave Creek • Desert Hills • New River • N. Phoenix • Tramonto
Black Canyon man lights up Anthem gallery MARC BUCKHOUT MANAGING EDITOR
Marc Buckhout/The Foothills Focus
Black Canyon City resident Hank Keneally will have his work on display at the Anthem Gallery from March 3 – April 26. The display of some 19 pieces is entitled Illuminating Experiences.
The name of the display that will be featured at the Anthem Gallery beginning March 3 is called Illuminating Experiences. During an opening reception from 7 – 9 p.m. on March 10 visitors to the museum will get to meet Black Canyon City resident Hank Keneally. Whether it’s viewing his art or having a conversation with the 68-year-old artist predicting an illuminating experience seems a safe bet. The former counselor spends 40 hours a week at his craft as a mixed media artist using both photography and painting. “I always knew I was meant
to be an artist,” he said. “When I’m at my best I’m able to keep intellect and ego out of it and the painting just happens freely. Sometimes I’ll close my eyes. My greatest fulfillment is when the art just flows through me.” Keeping his intellect out of the process would seemingly be a challenge for Keneally who quotes a variety of authors, artists and other figures in discussing his views on life and art. The widower, who was married for 40 years before his wife’s death in 2009 and has lived in Black Canyon City since 1976, said he often has people come up cautiously and ask him if they mind sharing what they
see in his abstract pieces. “It’s often said that all works are self portraits of the artist in a sense or to a degree, but I also think it works the same way for the viewer,” he said. “How they perceive my work says a lot about them.” After art fans tell Keneally what they see he said he tells them what he intended to create. “I intentionally keep the titles to my works very vague, because I don’t want to restrict viewers’ perception of the piece,” he said. “I think it’s very much like when you’re sitting in the grass looking at the clouds. There aren’t any
GALLERY
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Trio of North Valley teams prep for state hoops tourney MARC BUCKHOUT MANAGING EDITOR
The Boulder Creek girls basketball team and the Cactus Shadows boys basketball squads earned home games in the upcoming state tournaments thanks to wins in their sectional tournaments last week. The Boulder Creek boys basketball team on the other hand saw a disastrous first half against Pinnacle cost them a chance to host a game. The Jaguars girls (23-6) will head into the Division I state tournament as the No. 14 seed tonight. They will open at 7 p.m. against No. 19 Mountain Pointe (21-9), the second matchup between the two teams in eight days. On Feb. 7 Boulder Creek defeated the Pride 54-47 in a Sectional matchup behind
Inside:
a game-high 19 points from freshman Darian Slaga and 17 points from junior center Sam Young. The Jaguars head into the state tournament on a high, having won 12 straight games before Thursday’s 59-46 loss to Mesa Mountain View (27-2) in the sectional semifinals. The winner of tonight’s matchup will head to Phoenix to take on No. 3 seed St. Mary’s (26-0) in a 7 p.m. game set for Friday. The Knights have won by more than 10 points in all but two of their games this season, only once against a team from Arizona and have 11 wins by at least 30 points. The boys state tournaments get under way Thursday with the No. 14 seeded Cactus Shadows Falcons playing host to the No.
19 seeded Apollo Hawks (20-8) in a 7 p.m. matchup. The Falcons (14-10) secured a first round home game thanks to a Sectional tournament victory over Bradshaw Mountain, a 7536 thrashing of the Bears. In the sectional semifinal, Friday, the Falcons may have proved even more despite suffering a 64-55 loss to Raymond Kellis, the sectional’s top seed and the No. 2 seed overall in the Division II state tournament. In a game against the 24-2 Cougars, the Falcons were tied at the end of the first quarter, tied at the half, down only two going into the fourth quarter before a 10-4 spurt to open the fourth quarter by
CULTURE:
SPORTS:
New River man repeats as National hoop dance champion
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HOOPS
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Marc Buckhout/The Foothills Focus
Cactus Shadows senior Eric Johnson puts up a shot in Friday’s loss to Raymond Kellis in the Section II semifinal. The Falcons will open the state tournament at 7 p.m., Thursday at home against Apollo. To view more photos go to facebook.com/thefoothills.focus.
CONSERVATION:
Cactus Shadows settles for Cave Creek plans Earth runners-up in program’s Day event, seeks vendors, first state title appearance sponsors
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