May 2023

Event Photos

Transcript (Unedited)

Tom Heath

Welcome back to yet another exciting installment of Meet the Artist. Sponsored by the Tucson Galleries. We’re located in 300 East Congress. The building is called the proper shops. We’re across the street from Hotel Congress, across the street from playground and Rialto theaters. Our neighbor so you cannot miss us. We have each week a different artist come in and talk about their craft and meet with some of their fabulous fans. As part of that, we always get an agreement from them to host these podcasts or work. On these podcasts, which we host on our website. You can find out all the information at thetucsongallery.com, past episodes, upcoming schedule, as well as all the cool work that our artists have. And speaking of cool work, a cool artist we’ve got Suzanne Villella. Am I saying that right?

Suzanne Villella

Yes.

Tom Heath

I want to call it Viea, but it’s Villella.

Suzanne Villella

Villella. It’s Italian.

Tom Heath

It’s Italian. See, we’re fancy around here. We got everybody represented. Welcome to the Tucson Gallery.

Suzanne Villella

Thank you. Happy to be here.

Tom Heath

So, for those that don’t know, Suzanne just got started. She’s only been doing this for a couple of weeks. Just kidding. Of course. You’ve been even in the art world for a while.

Suzanne Villella

Yeah, I had my first show in 1997.

Tom Heath

Oh, my gosh.

Suzanne Villella

Yeah.

Tom Heath

Is this a full time gig for you then? Are you able to sustain yourself off of your art?

Suzanne Villella

You know, I would love to, but I’m not at that point yet. But that’s a massive goal for me. And we moved around the world with the Air Force, so I really had to recreate myself 13 times. But now that we’re settled in Tucson, I think it’ll be a lot more doable here.

Tom Heath

How long have you been in Tucson?

Suzanne Villella

Almost five years.

Tom Heath

Okay. Yeah. So I would assume it’s hard. You build a reputation and you’re like, okay, we’re moving.

Suzanne Villella

Exactly.

Tom Heath

And were you in different parts of the world or was it always the United States?

Suzanne Villella

We lived in Europe for four years. My husband lived in Asia for a year. We’ve lived in Alaska. We’ve lived from the east coast to the west coast.

Tom Heath

So when I look at your art and if you want to see the art, you can head over to the website Tucsongallery.com to get a feel for what she’s doing. But this has a very Southwest feel to it. This screams Tucson and Arizona. My guess is that when you were in Europe, you weren’t doing cowboys in Cacti, were you?

Suzanne Villella

No.

Tom Heath

So your art kind of evolves based upon where you’ve been.

Suzanne Villella

I think it is wise to paint for your audience. And I loved I was super inspired in Europe by our travels. We went to 28 countries, took a lot of pictures, sold a lot of work overseas. That was very European based. But here, there’s so much inspiration around us, surrounding us. I went to U of A. I studied art at the U of A. I loved it. I loved the color of the desert and the sunsets and everything around the Southwest.

Tom Heath

So the U of A stint was prior to are you a Tucson native or are you born in the area?

Suzanne Villella

I grew up in St. Louis.

Tom Heath

Okay.

Suzanne Villella

And went out to U of A to study art. My aunt was a very renowned Scottsdale artist and really encouraged me to look at U of A and ASU and I fell in love with Tucson. So that’s how I ended up at U of A.

Tom Heath

Smart. Smart move for you. Good move for Tucson. So then you end up traveling the world as part of commitment to the Air Force.

Suzanne Villella

Yes.

Tom Heath

And you come back to Tucson. So this is why I think your art seems so natural to me. Then it’s not like you’re learning our style. This is who you’ve been interesting. And with the art you’re doing now, do you see, like, influences that you pulled in from other parts of the world?

Suzanne Villella

Definitely. And I actually was really influenced by teaching.

Tom Heath

Okay.

Suzanne Villella

I, along the way, would teach children and adults artwork, painting and different types of work. I started as a watercolor painter. My first show in 1997 was strictly Watercolor but large desert botanicals.

Tom Heath

Okay.

Suzanne Villella

But using different products and materials throughout my teaching kind of led me to the collage that I do today.

Tom Heath

Yeah. It’s stunning. And again, it’s hard to really describe it. I always have trouble trying to describe on the radio the art. But I can tell you the little hint that I am just learning is you have to look deeply into these pictures because you embed really cool things that just appear to be elements of the subject, but they’re really their own sort of entity.

Suzanne Villella

Yes. I love surprises and having that as part of my work. I don’t know if you remember Highlights magazine.

Tom Heath

Oh, yeah.

Suzanne Villella

Remember hidden pictures? Those really are what I love about my work. People sometimes don’t realize there is paper under my paint. And then they look closely and they see a map of Arizona, which people tend to love. Or if I do a Pete about a piano, they’ll see music notes.

Tom Heath

So the one that I saw with the map so you painted on a map. You didn’t, like, paint a map? You painted on a map.

Suzanne Villella

Correct. I use all sorts of papers. I’ve used pages from old textbooks, old maps. Maps are great to work with. They really work with the medium that I use. But people love finding where they live on a map and they love that discovery. Like, oh, there’s a map of the United States in this piece.

Tom Heath

Yeah. It was pointed out to me. I wasn’t observant enough to see it on my own. But then I thought that was just you creating that. I didn’t realize that that was the foundation of what you’re that’s fantastic. The things you learn hanging out with artists here and meet the artist at the Tucson Gallery. I should get out more. And we are lucky to have you here. We really are. As soon as we put some of your work up, people walked in like, oh, that’s like Suzanne. They know you, and they know the other artists that came with you from LAN Quintada. And SOG SOG and tell us a little bit about that venture, because I think the three we have in our gallery now are you, Lori, Kay and.

Suzanne Villella

Kathleen, arthur and Tamara and Sanda.

Tom Heath

We had Tamara first.

Suzanne Villella

Yeah, she’s how we found you. And then Lori, Kay and I spied on you all one day when you were closed. We were at lunch downtown and looked in the windows and thought, this looks like a really cool place to get involved with.

Tom Heath

But let’s talk about that venture, because that in and of itself, it’s kind of like we’re this little gallery, like we aspire to be. What you’re doing at LAN Quintada and Sock, like, you’ve got this thing figured out. You’ve been doing it for I mean, they’ve been up there for years.

Suzanne Villella

So it’s the Southern Arizona Arts Guild, and they have a gallery at LAN Quintata, and we have about 330 members in the guild and a little over 100 in the gallery. SAG has been around for 21 years, started by a wonderful woman named Diane Loving, who simply put an ad in the newspaper saying, does anyone want to get together creative people? And she had 40 people show up to that breakfast.

Tom Heath

Wow.

Suzanne Villella

And that’s how it all began 21 years ago.

Tom Heath

And your model is a little bit different than ours because your artists, they work. They’re in the gallery, right?

Suzanne Villella

Yes. We volunteer shifts. We still pay commission. You still have to be juried in. We still pay rent, but we volunteer shifts because it’s a not for profit organization, and that’s the only way we can stay in business.

Tom Heath

So they work up there. We buy them drinks down here. So we’ve got a little bit of an advantage over that. But I just love the fact that you saw this and wanted to be a part of it, because that means so much to Tony, Ray, Darren, myself, the partners in this, that someone with your background and experience saw what we were doing and thought it was worthwhile to really make a significant investment with your working here.

Suzanne Villella

Well, I love the space. It reminds me so much of the European architecture that I just adored when we were overseas. But the space is big. It’s the warehouse feel. I love the whole vibe, and I love what’s happening downtown. The restaurants, the people, the energy. It was not like this when I was at U of A. And look what is happening in Tucson. It’s incredible. And I want to be a part of that.

Tom Heath

I feel the same way, and that’s part of why we’re doing this. And our mission, which we talk about quite often, is to expose the world to the talent that we have in Tucson. We’ve got some big names that a lot of people know, but we also have names that a lot of Tucsonians know that the rest of the world doesn’t know yet. Being in this gallery now, we represent 25 some artists in the gallery. It’s a small space. We don’t have a lot of work from each of them. But it gives us that chance to really highlight to the people that are staying at the hotels or passing through. And they’re here for a couple of days and they’re just, oh, my gosh, this is fantastic.

Suzanne Villella

It’s so cool. And it doesn’t hurt that there’s a bar in here. It does not hurt that there’s and there are other vendors in this area in the proper shops and it’s just a phenomenal space and idea.

Tom Heath

We’re not paying her for this, by the way. This is not an endorsement. This is just her true emotions and feelings about how cool we are.

Suzanne Villella

Well, I think downtown is just so vibrant and booming and just coming back to life. I really wanted to be involved downtown in some way, shape or form. I love the vibe.

Tom Heath

And your work fits in perfectly with the gallery and the vibe. Are you still doing teaching? Are you working with kids and adults on classes?

Suzanne Villella

I just started offering some classes again.

Tom Heath

Oh, yeah, perfect timing. How do we find out about that? Do you have a website?

Suzanne Villella

They’re taught up at the Southern Arizona Arts Guild Gallery and you can go to their website. But I’m more than welcome to host a class here at the Tucson Gallery as well. I think that’d be super fun. Or private parties. A lot of mine are cork and canvas and the cork means you’re sipping on wine while you’re painting or cork and collage or wine and watercolor or cork and wine.

Tom Heath

If you don’t have any artistic skills there, you go. Sit there and drink and watch other people do it. That’s what I would do.

Suzanne Villella

I love the fact that most people leave feeling successful.

Tom Heath

Well, that could be the cork.

Suzanne Villella

Sometimes that goes downhill.

Tom Heath

Being involved with the guild then. Are there opportunities for artists? How do you get involved with the guild?

Suzanne Villella

Well, you have to apply online to become a member. We have student memberships for $25. We have family memberships. So if you’re married or have a child that is an artist, you can get a family membership for 75. An individual is $50. You just apply online and it gives you a lot of opportunities. You still have to jury into the gallery. But we have exhibitions all over Tucson. We have shows, we have pop up events, we have education, we have programs. So there’s a lot of opportunity for networking, which is so important.

Tom Heath

I’ve heard that from a few artists. There’s one we interviewed not too long ago. You can find the podcast on our website. Julie Bonner and she said that’s the thing that a lot of artists don’t understand is how important it is to network, not just from a business standpoint, but from an artistic standpoint. And she sees artists sometimes shrink back when they hear the word networking. And she said it’s been so valuable for her and her career in expanding how she works and how she sells.

Suzanne Villella

I could not agree more. I didn’t have a guild moving around. I would find a gallery to represent me for one to three years, and then I would have to move. When I moved here and joined a guild, I was learning things. Every time I’m around the other artist, I learned something. Whether it’s technique or how to frame your work or drings and wiring and networking, what exhibitions are out there. I think what the art culture needs to really think about is we’re not competing with each other. If we really communicated, networked, supported each other, how strong the art community will.

Tom Heath

Be, I think the competition sometimes gets caught up in the profits. And what you’re doing through SAG and what we’re doing through the gallery, it’s about exposing the art and bringing the artist out. So it doesn’t matter where they get that exposure, as long as it’s out there, we’re all happy and successful with that.

Suzanne Villella

Yeah. No, I think it’s super important. And also one of the hardest things for artists to do, really, is talk about their work. So when they’re having an opportunity at the Tucson Gallery, they are having the opportunity. Like tonight, I’ll get the opportunity to talk about my work with complete strangers. I’m a little more introverted than you would probably expect, so that can be challenging, but that’s what we have to do to share our work with the world. And it’s a great skill to have.

Tom Heath

If you haven’t been to meet the artist. Events, they’re very casual. It’s not a program. Typically, the artist certainly could, but a lot of times it’s just a cup of coffee, a glass of wine, and 510 minutes of conversation and occasionally some hugs and tears, because people get to meet someone, they’ve had their work on their walls for a while and they finally get to meet them. So it’s fun. And if you are an artist and you’re introverted, don’t worry, because we have Tony Ray Baker who is not introverted, and he will connect you with everyone in the room very quickly.

Suzanne Villella

Yes, he will. Everyone is so friendly down here, and I’m just so grateful to be a.

Tom Heath

Part of this and then for someone getting started. So, 1996, you had your first show in 19?

Suzanne Villella

97.

Tom Heath

97. So 96, you’re painting in 97. You’re showing that artist today. What are they experiencing? How do they get to skip the 13 country tour? How do they get from where you were to where you are.

Suzanne Villella

Well, I’ll tell you, a really interesting opportunity for emerging artists in Tucson is at the Little Gallery at the DeGrazia Foundation up on Swan. The little gallery was head DeGrazia’s original studio. And now in the winter months, they let emerging artists you have to apply, and the applications are typically in February for the following winter. But they let you have that space for two weeks. And it is a wonderful opportunity. And even like joining a guild, there’s a watercolor guild, we have fibers guilds, there are ceramic guilds, there are a lot of guilds to get involved with. And those always have programs for emerging artists. And that networking is so important. I was in an artist panel in Phoenix a couple of weeks ago and an older artist said was talking about how art has changed, an opportunity has changed in art. And she started talking about, well, I can just get online and look for exhibitions and apply, and I can be in online exhibitions. But I think, yes, there’s more opportunity out there online, but you have to be with the people too. It’s so important to join a guild. Like I said, I learned so much from our artists. Every day I learn something new when I’m around other artists.

Tom Heath

Yeah, just being in this gallery, as someone who does not have the artistic background, I’ve got the love for the art, but I don’t really have the understanding of it. It’s amazing to me doing these podcasts and talking with the artists, what I’m absorbing as a bystander. So if this was my career, my path, you could really be soaking it all up. So I get that. And it’s interesting because so many artists I ask, what do you tell the up and coming artists? And it seems to always be about finding that fit where you can grow. It’s not about technique and style. I mean, all that seems to come naturally. It’s getting that passion into a point where you can do it in a way that sustains you enough that you can continue to do that passion without taking so much time to earn a living on the side.

Suzanne Villella

Right. Also, in speaking with other artists for emerging artists, you can learn so much about techniques and materials. And one thing that’s really cool about Tucson Gallery and other galleries, especially like SAG, where the other artists work, there we have to learn about each other, and that is part of the networking. But then we can really talk about each other’s work. And so I’ve learned a lot about metal. Like, you guys have a ton of cool metal pieces down here. I could probably tell you more about that just from my experience with other artists that do metal.

Tom Heath

And by you guys, she meant we, because she’s part of the gallery down here too.

Suzanne Villella

Yes, happily. Thank you.

Tom Heath

I get that. And we do the Meet the Artist nights. It’s always fun because other artists show up and it just feels like a little celebrity event here. It’s always fun to be a part of that and somewhat associated with it. Well, Suzanne Villella, a world traveler, u of A, grad back home, bare down, creating beautiful southwestern Tucson, Arizona style of art. Check her out on the Tucson Gallery’s website for what’s available for reproductions. She also has some work in the gallery. And you, are you leaving any of your originals with us tonight? Or are you going to take those off?

Suzanne Villella

That’s up to you guys.

Tom Heath

All right. So we might have some originals on the wall for a very short time, I am sure. How do people follow you, though? Are you on Instagram and all that?

Suzanne Villella

I am on Instagram. I’m also on Facebook and I have a website.

Tom Heath

So instagram. And Facebook? The same thing.

Suzanne Villella

Yeah.

Tom Heath

And your last name is V-I-L-L-E-L-L-A.

Suzanne Villella

Correct.

Tom Heath

A lot of L’s and vowels. Very Italian, right?

Suzanne Villella

Yeah.

Tom Heath

All right. Well, Suzanne, just another one of our beautiful artists here in the Tucson Gallery. Again, every week we have a different artist share their story as part of this podcast. You can check them all out on our website. It’s thetussonggallery.com. And the series is called Meet the Artist, also on Spotify. And I’ll be on a few other outlets here in the near future. And while you’re on the website, check out all of the artists building out a really nice website with merchandise available for reproductions and shipped automatically to you. And we also have wonderful original work and some things you can’t get on the website in the gallery that sell itself. So come on down, explore and definitely get on our events newsletter so you can find out when the cool people like Susanna are going to be here.

Suzanne Villella

The newsletter is amazing. It is so informative. So definitely get on the newsletter list. And Tom, thanks for having me.

Tom Heath

Once again, not a paid endorsement. Thank you.

Suzanne Villella

Thank you.

Tom Heath

Thank you for listening to Meet the Artist. This is a weekly production by the Tucson Gallery, located inside of the proper shops at 300 East Congress Street in Tucson, Arizona. The mission of the Tucson Gallery is to support local artists by providing a space to show their art, a forum to engage with their audience, a virtual presence to connect with global patrons, an outlet to earn a fair price, and an opportunity to hone their business skills. Head over to Meettusongallery.com for more information about our live events, listen to other Meet the Artist podcasts and check out the wide selection of art, gifts and other items created by Tucson’s modern, thought provoking and forward thinking artists.