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Artists return to the hills for two-weekend art studio tour

BY ALEX GALLAGHER Progress Staff Writer

Hot off the heels of its silver anniversary, artists from around the Valley are set to reconvene in the northern hills of the Valley for the 26th annual Hidden in the Hills beginning Friday, Nov. 18.

Joining the cast of 175 artists sheltered in 47 private studios scattered across northern Scottsdale, Carefree and Cave Creek are a mixed bag of veteran artists from the Sonoran Arts League.

They include Scottsdale-based glass artisan Mark Lewanski, who has become a staple at the expansive art gathering; and artists like Chandler-based mixed-media artist Phil Webster and Scottsdale-based international fiber artist Kristin Kleyer Magnum, who are showing off their art for the first time.

“Our philosophy, at least at my studio, is to try to have a good quality group of people who are exhibiting very exquisite work,” said Lewanski, who will house four other artists at his studio located off of Scottsdale Road and Lone Mountain road marked as studio number 15 on the map.

Though this year will mark Lewanski’s fifth year of showing off his popular glass art and opening his studio to fellow artisans, he remains as excited as ever to take to the hills for the two late-November weekends. “We have this definite sense of community and a synergy that I think echoes in everything we do,” Lewanski said. “We try to put on a nice event by providing some nice little treats for the guests and (trying) to make things a very positive experience.”

Lewanski is far from the only artist anxious to hide in the hills this year as Webster and Magnum are equally exhilarated to make their Hidden in the Hills debut. “I learned about Hidden in the Hills in November 2020 while apartment hunting with my wife and we were just blown away by the breadth and quality of the artwork,” Webster said. “I immediately knew I wanted to take part in it.

I wasn't quite ready last year to jump in but at the beginning of this year, I said ‘OK, this is the year, I'm doing it.’” Magnum, who attended her first Hidden in the Hills last year, felt the same sentiment.

“For me, it was the best way to explore the desert. I just set my navigation and went for a beautiful drive in areas I don't think I ever would have been,” Magnum said. “And then for me, as an artist, I love seeing other home studios and then seeing the wide variety of ceramics, fibers, paintings, glass, and everything, to me

Scottsdale-based fiber artist Kristin Kleyer Magnum will be bringing her one-of-akind fiber sculptures featuring fibers she collects while traveling the world at Hidden in the Hills this year. (Special to the Progress) seeHILLS page 28

Pups fund, gallery team up for benefit event

PROGRESS NEWS STAFF

After a successful event last year, the Art One Gallery and its neighbor, The Paper Place, have joined hands in hosting an event to benefit the Two Pups Wellness Fund.

Returning for its second year, the second annual Pup!Art Experience is set to double its artwork scale and feature an overwhelming number of dogs looking for a new home, according to Two Pups Wellness Fund founder Nancy Silver, coowner of The Paper Place.

The event will be held in the breezeway in front of the Art One Gallery and The Paper Place.

“We've been saving dogs left and right; the more dogs we can home, the merrier,” Silver said.

Art One Gallery manager Max Smith heard about Silver’s efforts to save dogs’ lives and began drafting a way that his nonprofit art gallery and Silver’s nonprofit could do more outside of the confines of their neighboring businesses.

Smith sees this year's event as an opportunity to auction off a plethora of animal-inspired art created by 30-plus artists, including interactive artists displaying works in progress.

Silver sees this as a perfect collaboration.

“They're helping children and they are such an incredible foundation that uses student art and they supply all the supplies and grants for students,” Silver said. “Meanwhile we're helping animals and I want the world you know what Two Pups and Art One are.”

Because of this, she is recruiting live music help, offering local holiday shopping inside her store, and bringing back the fan-favorite taco truck Taco Juan and bartenders Eddie and Al.

Though the fanfare will be plentiful, the main goal of the shindig is to drive home the missions of the neighboring businesses and nonprofits.

The event is open to the public and free to attend however, guests are encouraged to bid on artwork, buy raffle tickets, shop, seePUPS page 29

The Pup!Art experience is set to return for its second consecutive year on Friday, Nov. 18 with twice as many works of art and an abundance of animals to adopt.

BY JORDAN ROGERS Progress Staff Writer

One of the most successful touring acts of the last decade, the Zac Brown Band is making a stop — and its last on the “Out in The Middle Tour” — at Chase Field on Wednesday, November 19.

Coy Bowles, who plays guitar and keys for the decorated country band, said the tour has been exactly what the band has needed coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This tour has been going really, really well,” Bowles said. “It's pretty cathartic and there has been a lot going on in the world so not getting to play music for a considerable amount of time and then jumping back into a really well designed, well thought out tour (has been great).”

Bowles said those attending can expect a concert that really features three different acts. In addition, Phoenix specifically, has always been a rewarding stopping point for the Zac Brown Band. The group is looking forward to being here.

“It's (the shows) been feeling really good,” he said. “When you leave, you're like, ‘Wow, that was a lot of music. We gave everybody what they came and showed up for.’ So, it's been really cool. It's exciting to get to take that to all these different cities, and Phoenix has always been great to us.

“We've always had great shows out there.”

If Bowles had to pick a favorite track that he and the rest of the band have performed on the tour, he said the answer is easily the title track for the band’s latest album — “The Comeback.”

“When we were recording that song in the studio, it was really kind of an anthem of what it's going to be like for everything to come back around,” he said. “There's a certain arm hair raising up, back in the neck, whatever it is, that happens when we play that song.

For Bowles, the track “paints a picture of what we just went through and where we're at now.” He is grateful to be able to be back playing live on stage with the rest of the Zac Brown Band, and “Comeback” just encapsulates that feeling of gratitude.

“It's really hard not to let it all sink in,” he said. “It's really hard not to just go, ‘Wow, man, I'm really grateful to be able to be with my friends again on stage and make music.’” Getting to perform at baseball fields is a sticking point for the Zac Brown Band. The Georgia natives are made up of “diehard” Atlanta Braves fans, so getting to go on tour and play at baseball fields, such as Chase Field, is something the band really enjoys doing and has almost a “majestic” feel to it. In the past, the group has performed at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Truist Park in Atlanta and Fenway Park in Boston — where they currently hold the record for most consecutive sold out shows. “When we go play these baseball fields

The Zac Brown Band is bringing a high-energy show to Phoenix next weekend.

(Special to the Progress)

… it's almost like wearing a superhero cape or something,” Bowles said. “Being able to be a part of what you are so into, there's this super majestic part about the stadiums.”

To date, the group has won three Grammy Awards, sold more than 30 million singles and 9 million albums, amassed over 10 billion catalogstreams, and achieved 16 No. 1 radio singles. And while Bowles knows the band has released some incredibly special work, “The Comeback,” he said, may be the band’s best work to date.

“I remember leaving the studio and driving back home to Atlanta from Nashville and just going, ‘Wow, this might be the best album we've ever recorded,’” Bowles said.

Sydney said the songs they’ve been writing are in line with “Hang Around.” Now the “songs are flowing like crazy.” “We don’t want to stop ourselves from writing just because we have a lot of songs at this point. But, at a certain point, we will get this finished and narrow down which songs we want to use. They definitely all feel like they’re part of the same family.”

If you go:

Zac Brown Band w/Sam Hunt and Robert Randolph Band

When: 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 19 Where: Chase Field, 401 E. Jefferson Street, Phoenix Cost: Tickets start at $30 Info: ticketmaster.com

HILLS from page 26

that was just so worthwhile and it was really neat to see as an art lover.”

In gearing up for this year's art celebration, the artists have been hard at work stockpiling artworks to sell. Lewanski has over 30 glass works primed to sell at Hidden in the Hills — the most of his work that anyone can see in the country — whereas Webster plans to have around 30 pieces of wall art, roughly 15 lamps, and nearly a dozen sculptures and Magnum plans to bring nearly 40 woven pieces made from fibers she collected while traveling to countries like Czechia, Iceland, Poland, and South Africa.

“My personal goal was to go to all seven

Scottsdale-based glass artisan Mark Lewanski is returning to the hills for his fifth year as a host to show off his largest selection of glass art at this year’s Hidden in the continents by the time I was 40, so I've been to over 100 countries on all seven continents to seek out my fiber,” Magnum said, “The colors are based on the landscape and the architecture and that all plays into my sculptures.”

Though these artists will be part of a cast of four to five artists showing off their art at their respective studios, they all share the same eagerness to mingle with customers and fellow artists during the two weekends of Hidden in the Hills

“There's just so many good things about it. It's a chance to regroup with our friends every year since a lot of us haven't seen each other for several months as we've been going different ways and traveling for business,” Lewanski said. “I (also) generally do pretty well with sales so we’re looking forward to having a little bump in your income because it's a really good, successful show for us.”

If you go:

Hidden in the Hills

When: Friday, November 18, to Sunday, November 20, and Friday, November 25 to Sunday, November 27. Where: Downloadable maps and details about participating artists are available at HiddenInTheHills.org. Cost: Free Info: HiddenInTheHills.org or call 480-575-6624.

and make donations. Proceeds from the evening benefit both The Art One Foundation – a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing financial assistance to underprivileged student artists – and Two Pups Wellness Fund.

Silver founded the Wellness Fund in 2017 “as a vital community resource to give financial assistance through our shelters and rescues to those animals who have been injured, neglected and/or abandoned that are in need of life-saving care.”

If you go:

Pup!Art Experience

When: 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18. Where: 4130 North Marshall Way Cost: Free Info: 480-490-7136 or thepack@ twopups.org

Echosmith writes music without boundaries

BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI

Progress Staff Writer

Echosmith’s latest single “Hang Around” has been called a “pop masterpiece.” Singer/keyboardist Sydney Sierota thanks the band’s newfound freedom for the results.

“This song was really fun to make because we really just gave ourselves the freedom to make music without boundaries or telling ourselves, ‘We have to write this kind of song today.’ We just let it flow,” she said.

“When you get to be creative with that perspective, it’s so much better. It’s really easy to get in your head about creativity and your ‘job’ because music is our job. But it’s also a creative thing. There are some days you’re feeling it more than others. And some days, you’re like, ‘I can’t do the creative thing today — and that’s OK.”

She said the band was “just naturally inspired” and let it flow. “Hang Around” is also one of the first songs Echosmith has released that’s been written without outside co-writers.

“Hang Around” is a sonic shift, too, a return to their stripped-back roots. With its breezy vocals and delicate guitar tones, “Hang Around” was also self-produced by bassist Noah Sierota with assistant production from their big brother and former band member Jamie Sierota. “This was the first one that unlocked what we wanted to do musically, which is, of course, a huge moment for any band as you’re making new music and trying to figure out where you want to go with that,” added Sydney, who moved from LA to San Diego to live with her husband, Allstar Weekend’s Cameron Quiseng.

Echosmith is best known for the track “Cool Kids,” which reached No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold over 1.2 million copies in the United States. The song was Warner Bros. Records’ fifth biggestselling digital song of 2014, with 1.3 million downloads sold.

Recently, Echosmith released a reimagined version of “Cool Kids,” shedding the glossy pop production of the original and adding a bridge. The band revamped the song just as it began trending on TikTok, for which more than 1.3 million videos were made by people using the original song to look back at their younger selves and appreciate how far they’ve come, she said. “This song has completely defined our career and our lives,” Sydney said.

“In so many ways, when the song came back this summer and started going viral on TikTok and Instagram, we were very surprised by it and didn’t really know how or why it happened. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this song came out nine years ago.

If you go:

Echosmith

When: 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 18 Where: Crescent Ballroom, 308 N. Second Ave., Phoenix Cost: Tickets start at $25 Info: 4rescentphx.com

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