Yuma hosts professional artists in Art Symposium
Yuma Art Symposium begins Thursday and goes through Saturday.
This event has been going on for the past 45 years, bringing professional artists from all over the world to Yuma.
Executive Director of the Yuma Art Symposium, Neely Tomkins said it started out as small workshops at Arizona Western College and now it has turned into a huge event.
“I don’t know if you’ve ever gone to a gallery and looked around and wondered what is this?” Tomkins asked News 11. “Well, you’re going to have the opportunity to listen to these artists talk about their work, where the idea came from, what were their inspirations, and you can come and look at the show with different eyes,” she said.
There are ten artists this year and they will all be presenting on what inspires their work.
“This is a total immersion art weekend,” she said.
The symposium itself is an opportunity for artists from all over to share their knowledge and to network and make new friends. Tomkins said a lot of people that come are repeat people and that it’s kind of like a reunion for a lot of people.
This is the schedule:
Thursday Feb 22, 2018
9:25 – 4:20 – Pre-Symposium a Arizona Western College
3:30 – 6:30pm – Registration & Social Gathering at Lute’s Casino. Belly up to the bar and swap some pins!
7:00pm – Introduction of the 2016 Presenters and Orientation at the Historic Yuma Theater
Friday Feb 23, 2018
8:00AM – 12:00 noon – Registration (continues) at 78 W 2nd Street
Presentations All day (Schedule will be in your registration packet)
Friday evening Presenter Exhibition, Student Show and Pin Auction at the Yuma Art Center.
Show Your Stuff at the Historic Yuma Theater
Saturday Feb 24, 2018
8:00AM – 10:00 – Registration (continues) at 78 W 2nd Street
Presentations all day (Schedule will be in your registration packet)
4:00PM – Saw, File, & Solder Sprints
6:00PM – Annual Dinner and Dance
“This is kind of our gift to the Yuma arts community and anyone who’s a patron or just curious about what’s up in the gallery down here you can come and talk personally with these people,” she said.
At the symposium you’ll see numerous different art forms.
“The reason the symposium is so unique is because it’s multi-disciplinary,” she said. “Because my husband and I are potters, everyone thinks it’s clay but it’s clay and wood and photography and printmaking and painting and metals and everything,” she said.
Tomkins believes this symposium goes way beyond the art in fact it has even changed a lot of people’s lives.
“I think coming to the symposium for a lot of people it changes their lives literally and they are the ones that come back year after year,” she said.
There are two parts to the symposium. It is partly open to the public and then there are presentations just for registered guests.
You can register for one day at half price or for the whole three-day experience. Visit YumaArtSymposium.org or Lutes Casino to register.
