Michel Sarda
Raised in Paris with deep Catalan and French family roots in both agriculture and aristocracy, Michel F. Sarda, born in March 1942, was a graduate architect from Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. Sarda successfully operated his own architecture firm for fifteen years before working with the firm of Charles Chalmers McLean Architects, Ltd in Phoenix, his new chosen home. As a champion of French culture and one-time president of Alliance Francaise and founder of the French Institute, Sarda received the Chevalier in Arts & Letters. A writer and photographer, Sarda became a book publisher. In 1988 he authored and co-published Phoenix – from legend to reality. Similar publications followed on Scottsdale, Tempe and Greater Phoenix. Sarda has published and helped others publish over 60 books. He has commissioned major music works by James DeMars, and by and with music director Scott Youngs commissioned in 2023 a Stabat Mater from Ukrainian composer Iryna Alexshechuk. It was premiered in May 2024, three months following Sarda’s death from pancreatic cancer, shy of his 82nd birthday.
Michel F. Sarda married Donnalee Ray in 1989. Together they founded nonprofit Art Renaissance Foundation.
PAST ARTIST EXHIBITS
Patsy Lowry
A third-generation Phoenician, Lowry interprets her desert surroundings through bursts of strategic yet spontaneous mark-making. Her canvases are activated by her expressive use of materials. While informed by her background in fashion, she celebrates decorative practices of patterning and repetition. Lowry personifies joy, wearing her own custom creations every day, her work transcends gallery structures and engages the power of art to enrich community.
Victoria James
Victoria James was born in London, United Kingdom. She grew up in Geneva, Switzerland, and moved to Arizona in 2017 where she currently lives and works with her husband and dogs. Her passion for developing a visual language by which she could communicate to others without the need for words started in her early teens. She majored in Art for her international baccalaureate and was offered a place at Chelsea College of Art and Design, London. She obtained a degree in Fine Art sculpture in her early twenties and has exhibited her work internationally in both solo and group shows ever since. The influence of her sculptural background can be found through her use of texturing and layering in her paintings. Victoria describes her paintings as sensorial landscapes intentionally left open to personal interpretation. Inspired by how each individual would draw personal meaning and perspective from her work, she went on to forge a style of creative expression that is today recognized for its vibrant sensitivity and unique brushwork. Her work is part of several private and public collections in Europe and North America.
Visit www.victoriajamesartist.com for more about Victoria.
Follow her on social media to keep updated on what she is making in her studio and when she is next exhibiting her work.
Instagram: victoriajames.artist
Lee Antcliffe
Raised in the Pacific Northwest with its mists and mysteries, we did not know television. We created images from reading and listening to the radio.
All mythology was fascinating, with special attention to the narrative tales and bold art symbolism of the coastal Native Americans.
When I left the University of Washington for my junior year in Mexico City, the colors and sounds of the murals, folk art and music immediately captivated me. What a fortunate collision of worlds!
Painting has been my intermittent companion in an eclectic life journey. We companionate, we part, we reunite with new found joy, ideas, and images. Please hear my paintings and dance.
G. TODD HARRIS
For years, I marveled at the artistic abilities of three generations of my immediate family. When our only daughter blossomed as a talented fourth generation sculptor and painter before my adoring eyes, I decided to take the leap.
Armed with some spare time after semi-retirement and an unappreciated easel from the garage, I started to paint.
Artistic expression to me, in all its forms, is the purest method of communication there is. Art knows no boundaries. Differences in languages, time, or status are meaningless to the to the listener or viewer. Musical notes, images, and performances all can be enjoyed without the impediments associated with lesser forms of communication.
To honor the window of opportunity to touch the consciousness of fellow human beings that art provides, I choose to only create images that bring a smile or ask a question or prompt a scratched head. How can I best honor love and nature? How can I prompt new conversation and understanding? How can I make you laugh or want to kiss your favorite person in the world?
With my modest work, I ask myself those questions, in the hope that others will then too.
RAPHAELE COHEN-BACRY
“Though mayest”: on being a free thinker
I am constantly developing my own style using what I call pictorial free association (for example, one shape, one specific color calls for another specific shape and color), always expanding the range of my abstract lexicon, a vocabulary of the eye. The lyricism in each of my works appeals to feelings and at the same time, there is a strong structure behind it. It opens and extends emotions for the viewer. My work carries deep roots in art history and sacred art, where I often find my subjects that I revisit with a contemporary approach, looking for that same grace within.
I want to always reinvent myself, while staying in touch with my inner self and connected to the world and what is truly meaningful.
TERE DERBEZ-BROWN
Tere was born in Mexico City. Her art studios are located in Scottsdale, AZ, and in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato. Since she was a child, she showed her love for painting, and when she was a teenager she began her studies of painting at the Institute of Fine Arts of San Luis Potosì, where she cultivated a deep friendship with her teacher Raùl Gamboa (a contemporary of Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, and Rufino Tamayo), Tere Derbez's favorite techniques are oil and pastels; however, she also works with other techniques, such as watercolors, acrylics, and graphite. She describes herself as a passionate woman who loves all her living experiences and enjoys the everyday small things --a child's smile, people's faces, the eyes reflecting the soul, emotions, and memories -- things we encounter in everyday life. Tere Derbez made an important transition after her first international exhibition in McAllen, Texas in 2000. From there, her international experience increased, and she has had exhibitons in several countries, including Mexico; Phoenix, Fountain Hills, Cave Creek, and Scottsdale in Arizona; Forth Worth, McAllen, and Dallas in Texas; Chicago, Illinois; Barcelona & Cadaques, Spain; Le Mans, France; and Canada. She has also had private exhibitions in Arizona, California, Texas, Canada, and France. She donates proceeds from her art sales through her foundation El Angel de Sofia to social causes that she is passionate about.
SARAH S. CURLEY
Sarah Curley has resided in Arizona for over 35 years. She has worked in the legal field for many years, but has always considered photography her passion. She currently explores the alternative photographic process of cyanotype-on-silk (a dark-room process), creating abstract images on silk. At times, she photographs the silk pieces, creating fine art prints on rice paper, adding pastels or colored pencil to the prints. She has been included in a number of juried national, regional, and local exhibitions. Her work has recently been on display at the Gallery at El Pedregal, Scottsdale, AZ, and Art Intersection Gallery, Gilbert, AZ. She is a juried member (alternative photography) of the Sonoran Arts League, Cave Creek, AZ, an adjunct professor of law at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Arizona State University, and a member of L’Alliance Française. You may explore her work on her website at https://www.sarahcurleyart.com.
AGUSTIN VARGAS
As an artist and architect, Agustin’s fascination with ancient techniques, such as egg tempera, silver point, and gold leaf, watercolor, oil and acrylic are found in all of his work. His artwork is in numerous private and corporate collections in the U.S, Mexico, and Italy.
Agustin has taught at both the University of Mexico City and the University of Juarez, Mexico and has privately instructed students at his private studio since 1985.
As the Lead Instructor of Drawing, Painting and Printmaking at
Mesa Arts Center, Agustin shares his knowledge of techniques and composition with his students.
CATHERINE ROSS
My brain whirls with possibilities as I navigate this life. The motivation for my work comes from questioning others plus my internal examination. I look around me and I am , amazed, disappointed as well as intrigued with the creativity that abounds. I find both excitement and fear when I contemplate creating an artwork.
The artworks that speak to a deep inner part of me are usually associated with fibers in some form. I have a passion for sticks...not just any sticks but ones that have a smooth surface. Fibers as seen in books, collages, sculptures, or wood tug at my interior voice asking that I work with them.
My artistic practice is based on construction rather than illusory methods like drawing or painting or reductive methods like carving. Manipulating different textures and layers together to create a new surface brings joy. My studio overflows with paper mache’, sticks, paper, books, and a variety of fibers from found to manufactured.
I am rediscovering me into the artist that I was in college. For 38 years I facilitated others in the classroom to find their voice. Now my challenge is to find the ways to be clear and purposeful about my voice.
My work is based on the ordinary parts of life, the voice and the script of the journey and metaphorically expose them.... not as a signpost but more as a reminder of the basic human truth.
INTERNATIONAL YOUNG ARTISTS
Scottsdale – Kingston Teen Art Exchange
Proudly presented by
Scottsdale Sister Cities Association
in partnership with Scottsdale Artists' School & Alliance Francais
“The Sisterhood of Cities Leads to the Brotherhood of People”
This special exhibition featured a sampling of artwork created by students from our sister city Kingston, Ontario, Canada, as well as artwork created by Scottsdale students. For the first time, these sister cities exchanged art for display in two teen art shows. Artwork from Kingston went on display at the Scottsdale Mustang Public Library in April-May 2019. In turn, the work of student artists from Scottsdale were placed on display at Kingston’s Tett Centre in June-July, 2019, in time for Canada Day.
As this program invites teens to share their creativity and conversations through art, it also welcomes curiosity and openness to learning about other cultures. Building bridges of international understanding and goodwill, the Scottsdale Sister Cities Association serves as citizen ambassadors; creating networks and partnerships with eight sister cities around the world.
DR. MERYL P. EPSTEIN
Dr. Meryl P. Epstein is an educator and creative artist with an EdD in Educational Leadership, an MFA in Fine Art (photography) and BFA in Graphic Design.
She currently teaches graphic design courses for the Art Institute of Pittsburgh - Online Division as well as works and teaches for the University of Phoenix, School of Advanced studies.
DR. Epstein, previously served as the Dean of Academic Affairs for the Art Institute of Phoenix and worked on the design teams that opened three local museums (SMoCA, Arizona Science Center and Arizona Historical Society). She is award winning designer/artist, an AIGA Fellow and an exhibit artist.
JUDY FELDMAN
Art has always been a part of my life. My mother was an artist, and I grew up with her paintings, trips to New York museums and many conversations about art. She didn’t teach me to paint, but she did instill in me the artist’s way to see the world. My brother, Jeffrey Maron, also became an artist, and is now a successful sculptor in New York.
When I lived in France as a college student, I enjoyed more exposure to great artists, as well as the charm of the French lifestyle. Return visits to different parts of the country allowed time spent in cafes, lunches in outdoor gardens and leisurely explorations of small villages. These adventures created a certain aesthetic vision for me. The works of Henri Matisse, Paul Gauguin, Pierre Bonnard, as well as the German expressionist Gabrielle Munter seemed to jive with the way I saw the world, so I studied them and tried to see their original work whenever possible. Still, I hadn’t thought of painting.
After relocating to Scottsdale, following a career as owner of a public relations firm in Florida, I decided to pursue the artistic side of my creative right brain. That’s when my art masters began to talk to me, and my previous experiences in France coalesced to inspire ideas for paintings.
For the past seven years, her paintings have been exhibited at Wilde Meyer Gallery, at their Scottsdale and Tucson locations and in private collections throughout the United States and France. Visit her website: http://www.judyfeldman.com/
CATHERINE COUANET
Catherine Couanet is originally a French therapist and an artist with a PhD. She has been trained in United States and France to Erickson's Hypnosis, Psychotherapy
and Art. She has opened an art studio in the famous mental health institution
for teenagers "Maison Des Adolescents", in Paris. She has also taught at
several Universities (ASU, Paris8, ...), and has been working with
many international institutions and schools.
CINDY A. MOSES
In 2005 Cindy Moses left California, moved to Ohio and decided to take up painting again. In the past she has painted landscapes, cityscapes, portraits and still lives, but she was not entirely satisfied, she wanted to differentiate her work from other artists. She began to look at the world around her and found familiar scenes that she wanted to capture; scenes that tell stories of everyday life and how people interact with those around them.
Cindy Moses calls her artwork a, “Moment in Time;” moments that capture the Twenty-first Century and the familiar moments in our day to day world. They are frozen moments depicting people living everyday lives. These moments are all around us, but too often bypassed, overlooked, or unnoticed. By preserving these images in her paintings, the viewer is reminded there is a life going on all around them. In every painting there is usually a person or a couple that she focused on and they start the story for her painting. For example sitting in an airport she sees a couple and imagine their life story. She wants those stories to be reflected in her paintings.
She paints in acrylic instead oil, because oil paint takes too long to dry and even acrylics make her wait. She paints in layers, putting on a base coat and building it up from there to add depth to her subjects and their surroundings. Light, shadows and reflections also interest her and those elements show up in many of her paintings. She draws her inspiration from other artists like Edward Hopper, Andrew Wyeth and even illustrators like Norman Rockwell.
MAYA KALEEM
Maya Kaleem was born and raised in Hungary and has lived in various countries such as France and the United States.
After her studies she worked as a marketing consultant for some companies and she also worked as an artistic project manager.
In addition to her experiences, she participated to several exhibitions in different countries, in particular:
- the Hungarian Cultural Centre - Balassi Institute in London, UK from March to May of 2017 for the exhibition "Sculptures come to life",
- the National Museum of Mathematics (MOMATH) in New York, NY.
ELAINE PHELPS
Elaine Phelps has been involved in the arts all her life. She began as a dancer and a poet. She combines her study of the head and figure with clay sculpture. The masks and figures she creates represent her interest in mythology, ancient cultures and world travel. She wants to inspire the viewer to imagine cultures or periods of history that are being suggested. Her love of exploring the interplay of texture, form and color provides backdrop content on panels and canvases.
Currently Elaine is using natural materials in order to help the viewer realize the beauty of the Arizona terrain. She is uses rust, metals, organics, glass and paper.
When she isn’t working on dimensional pieces she is searching for interesting materials or traveling the world in search of inspiration.
LEA NOBLE
Lea Noble photography explores season, repetitive line, and water - all metaphor for life and death itself. The peeling rust on a boat, a wall dripping with mold can become things renewed, an abstract Phoenix. The circle of life and death goes on creatively. Lea Nobles art represents reincarnation, renewal and life coming full circle.
Lea’s recent Portrait Work discovers her subject - like the gemologist, she excavates a persons true essence to discover their uniqueness, their rarity. Strength of character in an otherworldly scene create the modern, meaningful portrait for which she is becoming known.
BIO
Lea Noble has a BA in Film and Tv in and has worked as an set artist in the film industry for years. Her creative work has been seen on every major Tv station and in print magazines such as Vogue. Her new photo exhibit, Full Circle, displays images representing the cycle of life. They are a conglomeration of images taken around the world.
FRANCINE PRISTON
Francine Priston is born in Paris, France. She is gratuated from the University Superior of Paris Decoration Art where she was a student of Edouard Mac'Avoy, work famous portraitist.
She taught Art at St Croix College, near to Paris and was a fashion photographer assistant during the 1970's for Jean-Pierre Ehgner. She is also a member of the European Fine Art Academy.
Francine Priston has created the "Atmosphere" Art Exhibition and has been the director of this exhibition during the 1980's and the 1990's. She exhibited her art and won many prizes and medals in many exhibitions in different countries, such as:
- Silver medal at the International Grand Prix de la Baie des Anges in Nice, France in 1975,
- Gingerbread, Key West, Florida in 1977,
- Silver medal at the Art Expo Coliseum in New York in 1980,
- Silver medal at the Osaka International Festival in 1980.
Francine Priston is painting on oil canvas but also on glass. For her, "color is a visual emotion, the more you look at it, the bigger the emotion becomes". Color is permanent expression of herself.
SEBASTIEN RICHARD
Sébastien Richard is known for his scenes of daily life as well as for his landscapes. His work is classical; his touch contemporary. During his childhood, he spent a number of years in artists’ workshops before pursuing his studies at an art school in Paris. There, he learned numerous techniques, including hand-drawn mapping, using a fountain pen. This enabled him to develop a precision that he now blends seamlessly with his talented work using a palette knife, which he appreciates for the spontaneity of each stroke.
His first exhibition was in 1993 and he has not stopped painting since then. In 2001, he began to gain recognition throughout his country as his work appeared in various galleries and exhibitions. On several occasions he won People’s Choice awards.
Sébastien Richard does not try to shock or jolt the viewer with works out of tune with his own character. Instead, what he likes above all is to interpret the emotions he feels when he first observes his subjects, and then present them like a gift on a blank canvas. Without any doubt, his subjects reflect the image of the artist himself. Indeed, he is a contemporary yet timeless soul; continually evolving and growing through his art. He paints our daily lives, our planet … from Provence to New York by way of Egypt or tropical islands … then steps back to allow us to enter his universe.
Through these life changes he has gained experience that enhances his work. “The artist must not remain in his comfort zone. The evolution of his body of work is necessary and he must strive for balance”, says Sébastien.
Lately, he travels frequently to California, where scenes of daily life inspire him; the exploration of motion becomes his new quest. Characters come alive; the picture is no longer a single image but a moment of life. S. Richard continues to paint with a palette knife but he also uses a brush that gives a softness to the skin of his characters. Blue is often present and light permeates his large format canvases.
We join the artist at play and our imagination is imbued with the moment he gives us. 2015 rings in a new visual direction for Sébastien Richard.
LUCRETIA TORVA
Born in central Illinois, Lucretia grew up in Glasgow, Scotland and Grenoble, France. She attended a French public school, learning French at a great age to learn a language, 6-9! Her family traveled extensively and she experienced many great landmarks and artworks in person. She knows her traveling at an early age is an important influence on her love of art and history.
After receiving her MFA from the University of Illinois, she taught college art and art history for a few years. Lucretia moved to Phoenix in 1997 and have been a self-employed "artist" since 2000. She uses the term loosely since making a living at painting entails a lot of faux finishing and murals in kid's rooms!
It's only been in the last 5 years that she has been making efforts to become involved in the Phoenix art scene. She has a mural on the front of Alwun House and was chosen for a light rail mural (McDowell/Central) for the Wayfinding project. New murals are to be seen at the Foundre Hotel and ion the side of AltaFilmore apartments downtown. Her work has been on display at Chartreuse, Unexpected and Gallery 9, all along Grand Ave. Lucretia has a mural panel as part of the Phabulous Phoenix Experience on display at the Arizona Historical Society Museum at Papago Park.
She creates a lot of custom work, helping bring her clients' vision to life. Her custom work runs the gamut from portraits, cars (of course), abstracts and plenty of murals, both indoors and outside. The latest large project is 3 oversized murals for Desert Rose Steakhouse in Glendale.