Award-winning Tucson artist Lynn Rae Lowe; her son, Damion Alexander; and her grandson, Sam Alexander, 19, are among 13 artists featured in “United by Art,” an exhibit on display at the Mexican Consulate in Tucson, 3915 E. Broadway Blvd., through Feb. 8.
“I am honored to have an opportunity to be a part of a show that is celebrating diversity at the Mexican Consulate. In the past few years we have not been the most harmonious neighbors,” says Damion Alexander, referring to the United States and Mexico, “and doing a little part, any part, brings great joy to me and helps me do my part to achieve tikkun olam (repair of the world).”
A reception for the family’s art will be held at the consulate on Wednesday, Jan. 23, from 5-7 p.m.
Curator Sandra Bernal, a lecturer at the University of Arizona School of Architecture with a Ph.D. in Arid Lands Resource Science, says that the artists in the exhibit are united by more than art.
“We all are united by nature. The land we touch needs our help to restore the habitat of native species,” says Bernal, who also sees father, son and grandmother as united by how their art expresses “their joy for life and for each other.”
She attended a recent exhibit of photographs by Damion and Sam Alexander dedicated to an owl they called Izzy.
“I was amazed by the picture of Izzy in front of what I immediately recognized as a piece of Lynn’s art,” she says, explaining that the sense of balance in the photos, and their ability to bring the viewer into a moment, is reminiscent of Lowe’s artwork, even though their styles and media are so different. Since this is hard to express in words, she says, “I gave them an entire wall at the consulate to show us.”
Lowe says the invitation to create the three-generational exhibit is “one of the best community and familial opportunities I have ever been given … one of the greatest naches (feeling of pride and joy) of my life.”
For Sam Alexander, who is studying photography at the UA, “it is wonderful as a developing artist” to create art alongside his father and have his work hung beside his grandmother’s.
Full disclosure: Damion Alexander is a member of the Arizona Jewish Post advisory board.
