The 2025 Art in the Garden Tour, a Picacho Hills-based art event, returns on Saturday, May 10th. Scott Brocato recently spoke with two representatives of The Artists of Picacho Hills—marketing rep Karen Conley and treasurer Donna Popky—about the upcoming event.
Scott Brocato:
Karen (Conley), we'll start with you. First, talk about your organization, The Artists of Picacho Hills. What is it and when was it formed?
Karen Conley:
The Artists of Picacho Hills is an art group formed--artists that live in Picacho Hills--I believe that it was formed around 2007 or 2008 by local artists who were friends, and felt that they needed to come together as a group in that particular area of town with the goal of highlighting the artists in the community.
Scott Brocato:
And what types of art are represented?
Karen Conley:
Oh my gosh...we have really any kind of art, because as you know, an art organization, we have members coming and going: some move, some say, oh, I'm kind of done now. So we have painters, ceramicists, people that work on mosaics, fiber artists, jewelers...
Scott Brocato:
What type of art do each of you specialize in? Karen?
Karen Conley:
Well, I'm a painter. I'm mainly a figurative painter, but I do do other stuff (like) still life. I did photography for a while, but when I went back to school, when I moved here, I started painting when I was an art student at NMSU. And so when I have time to get in the studio, I'm mainly a figurative painter, and I love to paint portraits. And when I say “figurative”, I mean I'm not painting photorealistic paintings. I like to give my subjects a little twist. So I'm not going for a realistic painting.
Scott Brocato:
And Donna Popky, what kind of art is yours?
Donna Popky:
I'm primarily a painter as well. I've done other forms of art. I've done print making and things of that nature, but I'm mostly a painter now. I work mostly in acrylics. I've done some watercolor, but I primarily work in acrylics now. I really like the vibrancy of acrylic painting. I've been involved in art of some kind for most of my life.
Scott Brocato:
Donna, talk about the upcoming 2025 Art in the Garden Tour that's happening May 10th. It's an annual event. The members of The Artists at Picacho Hills have been organizing and hosting it since 2011. Talk about the concept.
Donna Popky:
Well, the concept is, it's a spring event, and we're highlighting the artists in the garden. We also have master gardeners who come, and they're part of the event, to answer questions of the public of the specific gardens. So all the host gardens provide a list of the plants in their garden that enhance the whole atmosphere of having art displayed in the gardens. Also because Picacho Hills is uniquely positioned with a wonderful vista of the mountains, of the Organ Mountains.
Scott Brocato:
And five gardens are chosen?
Donna Popky:
Five gardens.
Scott Brocato:
And how were they chosen and who chooses them?
Donna Popky:
There's a committee that's put together and they...
Karen Conley:
So we--historically we go out to the community and solicit for people if they would participate. Many times, sometimes our own members will use their homes or gardens or members, know people who are interested in participating. But we do have to do some outreach throughout the year to find those five gardens.
Scott Brocato:
And then once they're chosen--have they been chosen yet?
Karen Conley:
Oh, absolutely, yeah. They're chosen by January. And we go, our committee goes and actually looks at the gardens to make sure that the gardens can accommodate two to four artists if they have the patio space. We also take into consideration the direction of the sun, because we don't want the sun hitting the artist. So we look at those things.
And also, the gardens that we pick, some have a lot of flora and fauna, but they don't always have to have a lot. Sometimes they're just really lovely backyards that have been designed and the homeowner might want to showcase that. So we look at all those things when selecting the homes and asking a homeowner if they want to participate. No patrons go into the homes.
Scott Brocato:
Everything is outdoors?
Karen Conley:
Yes, it’s all outdoors. We want to try our best to make sure that the access into that garden space can accommodate maybe people using walkers. You know, we have to account for that demographic, the older population that might come. So we talk about that, we look at that also. In some cases, homeowners are very gracious; and if there's somebody who it might be just a little more difficult, they will allow them to go through their home to get into the garden.
Scott Brocato:
Why do each of you enjoy participating in this each spring? Let's start with you, Donna.
Donna Popky:
Well, part of the reason why I'm part of this group to begin with is to feel a connection to other artists, particularly in my community that I live in. And I think this is a very unique event. I've lived in other places and never really had a group that organizes an event just in their community, and I think that's a very unique opportunity that Picacho Hills gives the artists who live in our community to participate in this. And so it's a fun event for the artists getting together, and the committee organizes in such a way that there's a variety of artists at each home, so we don't have all painters. So we might have a painter and someone does ceramics and someone does jewelry at one house and that kind of gives a real different feel. And the people coming through the homes enjoy that variety.
Scott Brocato:
And is it an all-day event?
Karen Conley:
Yes, it's 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
Scott Brocato:
And Karen, why do you still participate?
Karen Conley:
Well, I'm not participating this year as an artist. I did last year. I'm going to take photographs this year. But it is a fun day. It's really...I mean the people coming through are really friendly and gracious. I mean, it's a beautiful day. It's fun to be out with your, like Donna said, the other people in our group, and it's just a festive day. It's like a little festival and it feels like a festival. And I really enjoy meeting the public.
Scott Brocato:
And where can folks find out more about the event?
Karen Conley:
They can go to our web page which is https://www.artistsofpicachohills.com/ The information is on there. Also you can go to our Facebook page, we have a Facebook page.
So the day of (the event), there'll be a welcome tent behind Santa Fe Restaurant when you come into Picacho Hills. And we will have flyers with maps that will show you how to get to each location. I mean, that's really helpful for the patrons and we even have kind of a recommended route. We've numbered the locations 1 through 5, so you could just start with one and work your way through the Picacho Hills.
Scott Brocato:
And all the homes are in Picacho Hills?
Karen and Donna:
Yes.
Karen Conley, Donna Popky from The Artists at Picacho Hills, thanks for coming in and talking about the Art in the Garden Tour with KRWG Public Media--and you have something to add?
Karen Conley:
I do. We really want to thank our sponsors, and we could not do this without our sponsors. So like Citizens Bank, Pic Quik, Picacho West Mesa Builders and Farmers Insurance, Household Furniture. I mean, there's more, but it's really important that we get support from the community, and we really thank those sponsors.
