S PAC E
RENAISSANCE WOMAN
Beth O’Donnell’s commitment to wellness is beautifully expressed in art, photography, and by founding some of America’s first holistic spas. BY ALEXANDRA POLIER • PHOTOGRAPHY BY DANE DUPUIS
Beth O’Donnell in her studio, with husband, author Paul Shaverson.
always been motivated, both personally and professionally, by self-empowerment. The acclaimed addiction facility she also built, Sierra Tucson, was a place of healing and rebirth. However, her heart was always with the artists, whom she supported locally through galleries in Arizona and Aspen. After years as an art patron, Beth became a student, studying at The International Center for Photography in New York City. In 1999, O’Donnell traded in the city streets of New York City for the acacia trees of Africa. She spent two months trekking through the slums of Kibera to produce the book Angels in Africa, a collection of photographs highlighting the efforts of women working at the grassroots level to deal with crisis. Her talents were
From her abstract landscapes to pioneering America’s first holistic spa, from her photography book on Africa to finally creating her dream home, Beth O’Donnell is a wellness trailblazer who continues to inspire by pushing beauty and hope to the forefront. “I’m not the kind of artist who is going to create a purely political body of work,” says O’Donnell. “I’m very concerned with the planet and the environment, and my emphasis as an artist is on beauty and nature. That’s how I inspire hope for the future.” Her creativity has taken on many forms over the years, including founding an award-winning spa, Miraval, in Tucson, Arizona, which pioneered wellness tourism (and popularized the hot-stone massage) in the 1990s. O’Donnell has 66
